WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The 41st annual induction ceremony for the West Liberty University Athletic Hall of Fame will be held Saturday, Sept. 24 inside the university's Academic, Sports and Recreation Complex.
This year's 8-person class features Bill Berg (football), John Bradshaw (men's tennis), David Burnquist (baseball), Robert Clayton (football/wrestling), Tim Cortazzo (football), Ben Staggs (football), Emily Taylor (women's golf) and Dr. Victor Wood (contributor).
Festivities begin at 8:30 a.m. with a social gathering in the lobby of the ASRC. Breakfast and the formal induction ceremony follow at 9 a.m. in the R. Emmett Boyle Conference Center. The WLU Hall of Fame Class of 2022 will be recognized on the field at West Family Stadium during halftime of that day's football game against West Virginia Wesleyan.
The event is open to the public with tickets priced at $12. Reservations can be made by calling Office Administrator
Robin Brunner at (304) 336-8046.
Following are information capsules for this year's honorees:
BILL BERG (Football)
A sure-handed wide receiver for West Liberty football teams of the mid-1980s, Bill Berg was the Hilltoppers' all-time leader in pass receptions and receiving yards when he hung up his jersey for the final time in 1987. The four-year letterman led West Liberty in receiving for three straight years and was a two-time All-WVIAC selection.
Berg finished his career with 161 catches for 2,199 yards, saving the best for last with 55 grabs for 824 yards in 1987. His six 100-yard receiving games and career-high 168 receiving yards against Shepherd in 1987 set school modern-era records that have since been eclipsed.
After graduation, Berg began a highly-successful career in the hospitality industry at the Marriott Resort on Marco Island, Fla. He is currently assistant general manager at Windstar on Naples Bay.
Berg and his wife, Susie, have been married for 31 years and have a son named Freddy. The couple resides in Naples, Fla.
JOHN BRADSHAW (Men's Tennis)
One of the top men's tennis players in West Virginia Conference history, John Bradshaw became West Liberty's first WVIAC Men's Tennis Player of the Year in more than two decades when he won the 1997 award.
Bradshaw came to the hilltop after winning back-to-back Pacific Coast Athletic Conference singles titles at Grossmont Junior College in San Diego, Calif. and picked up right where he'd left off.
Bradshaw was unbeaten in West Virginia Conference play as a junior and swept his way through the No. 1 singles bracket at the WVIAC Tournament to earn Player of the Year honors. He lost only two matches as a senior, falling to eventual WVIAC Player of the Year Kenneth Biggs of Charleston in their regular season meeting and the tournament championship match.
A 1998 West Liberty graduate, Bradshaw is the Business Development Director for CMTA, Inc. a consulting engineering firm. He and his wife, Jilly, reside in Wheeling with their children: Madeline (14), Molly (12) and Hudson (10).
DAVID BURNQUIST (Baseball)
A slick-fielding first baseman with plenty of pop in his bat, David Burnquist helped lead the West Liberty baseball team to three WVIAC titles as a player and one as an assistant coach during the late 1980s.
Burnquist started every game for the Hilltoppers from 1984-87 as the Black and Gold posted a dazzling 62-16 record in conference play. He contributed to three straight WVIAC Tournament titles (1985-87) as a player and tacked on another as an assistant coach in 1988.
A first-team All-WVIAC pick in 1986 and 1987, he was co-captain of the 1987 team and held school single-season records for doubles (17) and RBIs (43) at the time of his graduation.
Burnquist worked in sales and management with the Pittsburgh Pirates for 11 years. He now works for the O.E. Meyer Company in Columbus, Ohio and has been instrumental in maintaining connections for the 1984-90 baseball alumni through the GrayBush Classic Golf Tournament.
He has one daughter, Justine, and resides in Westerville, Ohio.
ROBERT CLAYTON (Wrestling/Football)
A dynamic two-sport athlete, Robert Clayton was equally dominant on the wrestling mat and the football field at West Liberty during the mid-1990s. The Virginia native was a two-time All-America heavyweight for Coach Vince Monseau's wrestling powerhouses.
He earned NAIA All-America honors with the Hilltoppers' national runner-up team in 1995 and was an NCAA Division II All-American and team captain in 1996 as West Liberty finished sixth. A regional champion, Clayton also won the 1996 West Liberty Invitational.
On the gridiron, Clayton anchored the Black and Gold offensive line as a three-year starter at center. A two-time All-West Virginia Conference selection, he was a football team captain as a senior in 1995.
Clayton graduated from West Liberty with a Business degree in 1996. He has been employed as a senior operator in the processing department with Sabra Dipping Company in Colonial Heights, Va. for the past 12 years.
Robert and his wife, Martha, have two sons, Mike and Micah. The couple resides in Richmond, Va.
TIM CORTAZZO (Football)
A record-setting running back who helped lead West Liberty to the 1979 WVIAC championship, Tim Cortazzo went on to an outstanding high school coaching career stretching over nearly four decades.
Cortazzo was a four-year letterman and three-time All-WVIAC running back and two-year captain who racked up a then-school-record 2,537 rushing yards from 1977-80. He earned honorable mention NAIA All-America laurels with a single-season record of 909 rushing yards as a junior on the 1979 WVIAC title squad.
After graduation, Cortazzo earned multiple awards as a coach, teacher and athletic director in the East Allegheny and Penn-Trafford school districts for 37 years before his retirement in 2018. Elected to the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 2010, he is the founder/owner of FSQ Sports Training in Pittsburgh.
Tim and his wife, Lisa, have two children, Tim and Taylor, and two grandsons. They reside in Penn Township, Pa.
BEN STAGGS (Football)
Tabbed as the nation's best NCAA Division II lineman as a senior, Ben Staggs was a dominant left tackle for West Liberty's high-powered football offenses from 2006-09.
A first-team NCAA All-American, Staggs received the Gene Upshaw Award as the 2009 NCAA D2 Lineman of the Year and earned an invitation to the prestigious East-West Shrine All-State Game in Orlando, Fla. The Hilltoppers posted a sparkling 33-13 record during his four varsity seasons. The 2009 WVIAC title team led the nation in total offense and earned an NCAA playoff berth.
Staggs was a member of the Criminal Justice National Honor Society and earned a master's in Criminal Justice at the University of Cincinnati following his 2010 graduation from West Liberty.
A Wooster, Ohio native and the son of Mike and Barbie Staggs, he works as a deputy for the Marshall County Sheriff's Department in Moundsville, W.Va. Ben and his wife Hope, also a West Liberty alum, have two children, Charlotte and McCager.
EMILY TAYLOR (Women's Golf)
Emily Taylor made her mark as one of the top female golfers in West Virginia Conference history while leading the West Liberty women's golf team to three WVIAC championships. A rare four-time first-team All-WVIAC honoree, Taylor finished her spectacular collegiate career with a flourish as a senior at the 2010-11 WVIAC Tournament.
The Hilltopper veteran ran away from the field at the mountainous Canaan Valley Golf Course to win the individual title by a whopping 10 strokes. That lifted West Liberty to a three-shot victory in the team competition and all but clinched 2010-11 WVIAC Women's Golf Player of the Year honors for Taylor.
Taylor graduated from West Liberty in 2011 with a degree in Business Administration. She works in downtown Cleveland as a commercial lines account manager with the Evarts Tremaine agency.
Taylor and her husband, Jason Franz, reside in Mentor, Ohio.
DR. VICTOR WOOD (Contributor)
Former West Liberty student-athlete and internationally-renowned healthcare innovator Dr. Vic Wood has been a major contributor to his alma mater, serving as team physician for Hilltopper athletics for more than three decades.
Wood was a multi-sport athlete at West Liberty during the mid-1970s. A 4-year letterman in football (1973-77), he also earned two letters in track and was a sprinter on the Hilltoppers' 1975 WVIAC championship team.
After graduating from West Liberty in 1978, Wood spent five years as a West Virginia State Trooper before deciding to pursue a medical career. A graduate of the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine, Wood is owner and CEO of Doctors Urgent Care in Wheeling, St. Clairsville and Barnesville.
Wood was a 2009 inductee into the WLU Wall of Honor in recognition of his groundbreaking work in developing the Primary Care One healthcare model. Wood has three children – Justin, Kaitlynne and Alec – and four grandchildren.
