Garaway High School welcomes new members to Wall of Fame

Garaway's 2025-26 Wall of Fame ceremony took place Sept. 26 before the football game versus Claymont, and Pirates Nation welcomed a host of talented former individuals and teams into the Wall of Fame fold.

Chuck Zobel, the Garaway teacher who spearheads the nomination committee each year, said it is a special feeling to be able to honor so many former GHS standouts.

“It’s so cool to hear some of these greats talking about their time here and how things used to be,” Zobel said. “It’s a fun thing to be a part of, and each individual and team is so deserving of this honor.”

Zobel said the school has done a variety of things to honor the athletes and contributors to the athletic program over the decades. He said the formula used to be All-Ohio status, but the committee wanted to make this more inclusive to coaches, contributors and athletes and teams who left an impression.

He said there is a nomination process that allows community members to offer nominations, and this year’s cast of award winners was another exciting addition to the Wall of Fame.

“We had our original induction ceremony in February of 2000, and we’ve been adding since,” Zobel said. “At the end of the day, it’s a neat honor and one that we believe our athletes, coaches and contributors richly deserve.”

Jason Andreas is a 1999 graduate and a four-year letter-winner on the basketball court. His accolades include All-Ohio status in 1999. After graduation he became a member of the 2000 National Champion Michigan State Spartan basketball team. He played at Michigan State for four years on Final Four and Big Ten champion teams and was a team captain his senior year. After graduating from MSU in 2004, he played professional basketball for the Michigan Mayhem of the CBA, as well as overseas for teams in Sweden, Portugal and Finland.

Matt Andreas is a 1996 graduate and played football, basketball and track. In football he was a member of the 1994 10-0 IVC championship team. Andreas earned All-Ohio status in 1995 and was a team captain and MVP. He was an All-Ohio athlete in basketball and earned four varsity track letters, making the state meet in 1996. He attended Baldwin-Wallace for football, where he was a three-year letter-winner and two-time All-OAC and all-regional selection. Andreas earned a tryout with the Cleveland Browns in 2000, played in the CFL for the Calgary Stampeders and also played in the Arena Football League from 2001-02.

Bill Mallernee is a 1999 graduate, a multi-year letter-winner and was a starter for the Pirates in basketball, earning All-Ohio status in 1999. He also was first-team District 5 and the Eastern District Player of the Year. In high school he scored 1,099 points and had 517 rebounds. He went on to play basketball at the collegiate level at Capital University and then Youngstown State University, where he was the team captain his senior year.

Eric Johnson is a 1993 graduate and football star who played offensive tackle for the Pirates, where he was All-Ohio in 1991 and 1992. He also was a first-team IVC and Eastern District selection, playing in the North/South game in 1992. After graduating from Garaway, he went on to attend Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, playing football for four years while attaining a B.A. in Psychology in 1997. Additionally, he earned his master’s degree in school counseling from Cleveland State University in 2009.

The late Matt Rice was a 1993 graduate and multi-sport athlete, earning All-Ohio status in both baseball and football. In football he played on several successful Garaway teams under coach Don Hertler. In baseball he played on a team that made the regional finals his senior year. In that year’s tournament, Rice pitched and won five consecutive games and batted .560, which was a Garaway record at that time. He was a member of the Mt. Vernon Nazarene baseball team at the time of his passing Nov. 3, 1995, in a tragic car accident. The Baltic Little League Field was named after him in 1996.

The 1959 300-yard relay team of Claudia Stevanus-Arnold, Eileen Putt, Kay Deetz-Zehnder and Karen Miller represented Garaway in 1959 at the National AAU Track and Field Championships in Cleveland. Holding the Tuscarawas County record, the team took fourth place overall, just missing advancement to the Pan American Games. The winner of this event was a team that included Wilma Rudolph.

“Their accomplishment is truly unique, being the first Tuscarawas County team to represent at this level at this time in history,” Zobel said.

Famed football coach Don Hertler Jr. coached from 1987-94, amassing a record of 66-15. His teams won four IVC championships and made the state playoffs in 1994 with his 10-0 team. A graduate of North Canton Hoover High School, Hertler spent the bulk of his career at his alma mater and a short time at Conotton Valley. His overall record is 218-104. At Hoover he was the coach for 19 seasons, and his teams won eight Federal League titles and appeared in the state playoffs 12 times, capped by a trip to the state semifinals in 2008. Hertler was inducted into the Ohio High School Football Hall of Fame in 2019 and officially retired from coaching in 2023.

Richard “Buss” Zehnder and Raymond “Max” Regula were inducted into the Garaway Wall of Fame for service to the basketball program for keeping the book and clock for 39 years.

Zehnder was a graduate of Walnut Creek High School, where he was eventually inducted into the Holmes County Hall of Fame. He worked at Hercules Motors in Canton for 24 years and owned the Western Auto store in Sugarcreek. Additionally, he drove the bus for Garaway Schools for 16 years. He was an avid fisherman and hunter and is the father of Garaway Wall of Fame inductee Dr. Koran Zehnder. During his 39 years of keeping the book, coach Tom Andreas nominated Buss to the OHSAA to keep the book for all the state tournament games in Columbus, which he happily accepted. He passed away July 12, 2003.

Regula graduated from Baltic High School in 1945. Following graduation, he enlisted in the United States Army, where he was stationed in Japan. When he returned home, he worked at and eventually owned his father’s gas station, Regula’s Sunoco (the current site of Amish Country Doughnuts), and eventually sold the business in 1964. He then worked for Eckert Ford Sales in Sugarcreek before officially retiring in 1992. Regula passed away June 10, 2010.