Wayne County Sports Hall of Fame to induct 25th class June 20 in Wooster

The Wayne County Sports Hall of Fame will induct its 25th class June 20 at Greystone Event Center in Wooster. This is the second of a two-part series on the Class of 2026.

Ruth Coney

Ruth Coney started the girls soccer program at Chippewa High in 1995, laying the foundation for one of the area’s true powerhouses.

Her 467-69-46 record over that time has Coney ranked among the best coaches not just in Ohio, where she currently is fifth in all-time wins, but in the country, as her total is now 75^th among all girls soccer coaches in America.

During her 30-year tenure as head coach, Coney has coached 30 All-Ohioans and six All-Americans. Her teams have won 27 league titles, including 19 Wayne County Athletic League titles, 16 district titles and eight regional titles. On eight trips to the state semifinals, the Lady Chipps advanced to play for the state crown four times, as recently as 2025.

Travis Snyder

Tim Pettorini had a lot of great hitters at The College of Wooster and found one of his best right next door as Travis Snyder carried a big stick both for Triway High School and from 1996-99 for the Fighting Scots.

By the time he graduated from Wooster, Snyder held three single-season hitting records — most hits, doubles and total bases — and was in the top five in 14 other categories, both for a season and career.

He also helped the Scots win their first Division III World Series game in 1997, belting seven hits in three wins. Although Wooster fell short in the title game, Snyder hit a home run that gave COW a Div. III-record 104 for the season.

Snyder, who also lettered in football and basketball at Triway, was the second player in COW program history (now one of four) to log at least 250 hits, 200 runs and 150 RBI over a career.

Joy Taylor

Playing sports at Wooster High from 1992-96, Joy Taylor amassed 12 varsity letters in her years there — four in soccer, basketball and softball.

Taylor was a three-time first-team All-Federal League soccer selection and graduated with 10 school scoring records. She also stayed busy in the spring playing softball, helping WHS win its first sectional title.

But the basketball court is where she had her biggest impact. As a freshman guard, Taylor played a key role in Wooster’s run to the Div. I state championship game, and as a senior, she led the Generals back to the same spot. Although they fell short both times, Taylor was recognized three consecutive seasons with All-Ohio status.

Moving on to Div. I Charleston Southern, Taylor became the starting point guard in her first game and started every game of her four-year college basketball career. Her 1,265 points put her eighth on the school’s all-time scoring list, and she is second in free throws made for a career and 14^th in made 3-pointers for a career.

Adam Wallace

On Dec. 3, 2011, Adam Wallace outdueled Ohio’s Mr. Football, quarterback Maty Mauk, and led Norwayne to the Div. IV state championship with a 48-42 win over Kenton, the Wayne County Athletic League’s first and only state football crown.

All Wallace did at quarterback was account for seven touchdowns and 422 total yards, and the future Ashland University linebacker also tacked on 8 ½ tackles in the memorable contest.

It capped his brilliant sports career at Norwayne, where Wallace was a four-year letterman in football, basketball and track. Although he was a key contributor in the latter two, it was on the gridiron where he made his biggest impact.

As a rare freshman starter, Wallace helped the Bobcats reach the football playoffs for the first time, three times overall as the quarterback, and as a senior, passed for 2,959 yards and 40 touchdowns, rushed for 1,042 yards and 21 more scores, and set a school and WCAL record with 188 tackles. Among his honors as a senior were being picked as the Northeast Inland co-Offensive Player of the Year and a first-team All-Ohioan.

Collegiately, Wallace lettered four times at AU, starting three years at outside linebacker. He was a three-time All-Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference pick, including a second-team selection as a senior.

Crystal Ward

Crystal (Barber) Ward was a true trailblazer at Rittman High from 2009-12, blazing numerous school and area sprint records and also reviving the sport of track and field at the school, paving the way for the success it is experiencing today.

Ward was one of the top small-school sprinters in Ohio and didn’t even have a track to practice on. Rittman didn’t even field a girls track team in 2006, three years before she entered high school. That didn’t stop her, as she went on to All-Ohio honors seven times during the indoor track season and eight times outdoors. She anchored the Indians’ outdoor state champion 4x100 relay team her sophomore season, was first in the 200 as a junior at state and capped off her outstanding RHS career with three state titles as a senior, winning the 100, 200 and 4x100 relay.

Ward still has the area’s fastest time in the 100, and the school’s 4x100 time is still tops. After earning a track scholarship to Malone, she continued to set sprint records. Indoors, she lowered the school’s best times in the 60 meters and 200 meters and was a member of Malone’s record-setting 4x200 and 4x400 relays outdoors.

Jess and Beth Hamman

The 2026 Harold Oswald Special Contributor Award will go to Beth and Jess Hamman, two names synonymous with all levels of sports in Wayne County as the 45-year owners and operators of Berkey Trophies in Smithville. In 2025, the Hammans retired from the trophy business but still reside in the same Smithville home that Berkey Trophies operated out of for nearly nine decades. Beth’s father, 1978 Wayne County Sports Hall of Fame enshrinee Wilbur Berkey, began the business and ran it for 43 years, giving the business 88 prosperous years in the area.