The Carbon County Hall of Sports Hall of Fame committee will hold its 2024 induction dinner and program on Sunday, May 26, at the Franklin Township Volunteer Fire Company hall.

The ceremony will honor 21 inductees from six Carbon County communities and Coaldale who were selected for the honor by committees representing each of the towns.

The doors will open at 12:30 p.m. and the banquet will commence at 1:45 p.m.

The honorees include:

Coaldale – Bernie Krasnisky, Joseph J. Hedash and Charles Sproule.

Jim Thorpe – Phil Redline, Craig Zurn, Joe Eichorn and Jim Strubinger.

Lansford – Dan Wynn, Lacy Gonzalez Horan and Caz Kosciolek Sr.

Lehighton – Mike Tkach, Duane Heydt and Jennifer Lobasso.

Nesquehoning – Joe Tout, Esther (Hoffer) Dycziewycz and Dr. Scott Marek.

Palmerton - Lori Ann Weaver and Steve Endres.

Summit Hill – Trevor Lawrence III, Jill Zwiesdak and Trish O’Gurek.

Tickets to the event ($40 for adults and $25 for children) are available from the following: Dan McGinley, 570-325-3550, Vince Spisak, 570-645-4542, Jake Boyer, 610-751-6634, Trevor Lawrence, 570-645-4722, Bill Gardiner, 570-669-6564, Bob Gelatko, 570-645-7565, and Evan Evans, 570-645-7716.

The Times News will begin running the biographies of the inductees by town on Saturdays. The inductees representing Nesquehoning are as follows:

Esther (Hoffer) Dyczkiewycz

Esther (Hoffer) Dyczkiewycz graduated from Panther Valley High School in 2000.

She found her love of basketball in middle school and credits Ted Gauronsky with teaching her true fundamental basketball.

Esther was involved in Amateur Athletic Union basketball, playing for Anthracite Action and Lady Lightning for many years.

At Panther Valley, she was coached by Rob Kovac. She helped the Lady Panthers to three District 11 appearances in 1998, 1999 and 2000. They won the District 11 championship in 1999, and made a deep run to the PIAA state quarterfinals that same year.

During her career at PV, Esther was a 1,000-point scorer, tallying 1,299. She also held the mark for the highest percentage of free throws made, both among boys and girls, for many years.

Esther went on to play Division 1 basketball at St. Joseph’s University, Philadelphia. Coached by Cindy Griffin, the Lady Hawks were regular season champions in 2002 and 2003, during which time Esther was a favorite among St. Joe’s fans.

She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business in 2004 and completed her master’s degree in education in 2007 at East Stroudsburg University.

Esther resides in Newbury Park, California, with her husband and three daughters. She teaches kindergarten and coaches soccer.

When not running the girls to practices and games, Esther loves running, hiking, taking pottery classes and playing beach volleyball.

She is a daughter of Ken and Miriam Hoffer, formerly of Nesquehoning.

Dr. Scott Marek

Scott Marek is a 2000 graduate of Panther Valley High School. A gifted all-around athlete, he contributed to Panther Valley athletics as a three-sport athlete during his years there, earning nine varsity letters.

A three-year starter on the Panthers’ baseball squad, Scott took over the role of starting catcher in his sophomore year. On the hardwood, he was named a Times News First Team All Star during his senior year, as well as a Second Team All Area for Boys Basketball.

But where he truly excelled was on the gridiron in his junior and senior years. His talent helped boost his team to the Eastern Conference championship where they won in his junior year, and to a bid in the District 11 playoffs in his senior year. During his senior year, he received Times News First Team accolades.

Easily argued as one of the most versatile football players in Panther Valley history, Scott could effectively work both sides of the ball, as well as special teams, including positions of defensive end, strong safety, quarterback, fullback, punter, kicker and, finally, found his home at tight end.

Highlighting his versatility, he accounted for 320 rushing yards and 413 receiving yards in his senior year, as well as touchdown passes during fake punt opportunities while positioned as a punter on special teams. During his junior and senior years, head PV football coach Rick Bennett identified the skills Scott possessed as a quality interior blocker, as well as a pass-catching receiver, and positioned him ideally at the position of tight end. It was his shining moments at tight end that ultimately got him college looks.

Scott continued his football career, playing for Lebanon Valley College, where he became the program’s first played to be named a consensus First Team All American. His other achievements at Lebanon Valley included 2,134 receiving yards (currently fourth all time), 132 receptions and at the time of his graduation, he held the school record for career touchdowns with 19. On the heels of his senior season, he had a College Pro Day with the Philadelphia Eagles. Scott later was inducted into the Lebanon Valley College Hall of Fame (2016).

While at Lebanon Valley, Scott earned a doctorate degree in physical therapy and met his wife, Erin. They married in 2009, reside in Drums, and are the parents of Adalyn and Mason.

Scott continues to be active in athletics, giving back to the sports that gave so much to him. In addition to spending many hours coaching his own children and their teammates in their various youth sports over the years, Scott is also a PIAA registered official for basketball and football, and will be entering his second season as an assistant coach with the Marian Catholic Colts’ football team.

Joe Tout

Joe Tout graduated in 1995 from Panther Valley High School, where he was a three-sport athlete – baseball, football and wrestling.

He was named Times News Athlete of the Year in 1995, and continued participating in sports after his high school graduation as a collegiate athlete and high school football coach.

Joe was a three-year letter winner on the Panthers’ football team, and a two-way starter in his junior and senior years. He was a member of the 1992 PV team that was ranked as high as No. 2 in the state as a Class A school. That year, he rotated at nose guard for the 10-3 Panthers, who went on to play in 1992 Eastern Conference championship game.

During his junior and senior years, Joe was one of the top three players in tackles for both seasons and led the team with eight fumble recoveries in his junior year. Following his senior season, in which he captained the Panthers, he was named Second Team All State defensive tackle by the PA Associated Press, and was also named to the Schuylkill County All Squad Team. Joe was coached by Tom Bonner, George Whary and Rod Lechleitner, and was also greatly influenced by his line coach, Cazzie Kosciolek.

Joe grew up playing basketball, but during his sophomore year he decided to go out for wrestling following the advice of PV wrestling coach Jay Hoffman. He wrestled for three years and was the 1993 District 11 wrestling champion in the heavyweight division. He became Panther Valley’s first district champion in 11 years. During his wrestling career, he became a three-time district place winner, placing first, third and fifth. In addition, Joe placed third in the 1995 Schuylkill Wrestling Championships, and was a three-time Southeast Regional participant. He led the team in pins in his junior and senior years, and was ranked as high as No. 4 in the state as an AA division heavyweight. Joe was coached in the sport by Hoffman and Tim Robb.

The third sport Joe lettered in for PV was baseball. He played his freshman and sophomore years, however, a shoulder injury prevented him from playing as a junior. He joined the team again in 1995, his senior year, when he and his teammates had a tremendous year, winning the Schuylkill League Division III title and defeating Mahanoy Area in the first round of the district playoffs. The Panthers finished the year with a 17-5 record in a season in which they were picked to finish fourth in their division.

The 1995 PV team was the first to win any type of baseball championship in the program’s history. Joe’s baseball highlights included hitting a grand slam home run against Marian in an early division showdown that the Panthers won. Another highlight occurred in the final game of the regular season when he hit a walk-off single to seal a victory over Weatherly. PV would have shared the division title had they not won that game.

In the Panthers’ playoff victory over Mahanoy Area, Joe and teammate Greg Kosciolek pulled off a double steal in the bottom of the seventh inning in a tied game. Greg scored on the steal, and the Panthers won their first playoff victory in school history. Following the season, Joe was named to the Pottsville Republican All Region First Team as a first baseman. He was coached by John Schreiner.

Following high school, Joe went on to play in college. He played football at the University of New Haven, and later transferred to Kutztown University where he joined the wrestling team. He wrestled at heavyweight for three years for the Bears and placed fourth in the 1998 PSAC Wrestling Tournament, which was the highest place achieved by a Kutztown wrestler in five years. Joe also held the record for the quickest pin in school history at 18 seconds.

Coaching high school football was the next step for Joe. After graduating from Kutztown, he became an assistant coach for Northern Lehigh under legendary HOF coach Jim Tkach, and was a member of the staff when the Bulldogs won the 2003 and 2005 Colonial League championships. In 2003, the Bulldogs won the District 11 AA Title, and made it all the way to the state championship game.

Joe was named head coach at Northern Lehigh in 2006, and has been in that role for the past 18 years. He recently became the winningest coach in the program’s history with 117 wins.

Under Joe, the Bulldogs have won two Colonial League and three District 11 titles, the latter three including 2019 (state quarterfinalist), 2021 (Eastern finalist) and 2022 (state quarterfinalist). Joe has been blessed to have the support of great assistant coaches throughout the years. He hopes he has had a positive influence on the players who have gone through the Bulldog program.

Joe has been employed as a Social Studies teacher for the past 22 years, including the last 18 years at Northern Lehigh.

He currently resides in Lake Hauto and would like to thank his parents, Joe and Joan, and sister, Kirsten, for always supporting him.