The Carbon County Hall of Sports Hall of Fame committee will hold its 2026 induction dinner and program on Sunday, May 24, at the Franklin Township Volunteer Fire Company hall.

The ceremony will honor 25 inductees from six Carbon County communities, and Coaldale and Tamaqua 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 inductees include:

Coaldale – Christa (Mantz) Evanko, John Molotzak and Dr. Karoline Vavra.

Jim Thorpe – Walt Schlenner, David Reese and Joe Rader.

Lansford – John “Jack” Steber, John Hackash Jr. and Jake Figner.

Lehighton – Glenn Neff, Jacen Nalesnik and Rick Kirkendall.

Nesquehoning – Dr. Mark Makovec, Mike Makovec, Ryan Richards and Mike Lopata.

Palmerton – Geno Roberts, Darryl Roberts and Jerry Snyder.

Summit Hill – Ed Shober Jr., Fred Cinicola and Victor Koshuta.

Tamaqua – Brayden Knoblauch, Emma Kuczynski and Amber Carroll.

Tickets to the event 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, Evan Evans, 570-645-7716, Jeff Hager, 610-737-2577, and Brandon Heffelfinger, 570-273-5555, or 570-449-6664.

The inductees representing Summit Hill are as follows:

Fred Cinicola

A heralded lineman for the Marian High School Colts in the late 1970s, Fred Cinicola of Summit Hill was among those who laid the groundwork for what became a successful Blue and Gold program.

The two-way lineman was an integral part of a two-year run that produced a record of 19-2 for the Colts under the tutelage of Chuck Rocconi in 1975-76, including capturing the P&B Trophy for two consecutive seasons, signifying the top gridiron team in the region.

Before he graduated from Marian in 1977, Fred joined his teammates in establishing new standards for the Colt football program, including setting marks that to this day are difficult to achieve.

Buying into Rocconi’s concept that football players need to be bigger, faster and stronger, Fred focused his high school athletic career strictly on football, and through a dedicated training program became part of a noted Colt line that set the tone for its teams’ success. As a tight end and defensive end, Fred and his offensive line counterparts, including Hall of Famers Kevin Trice and Ed Shober (who is also being inducted), are credited with having blocked for two 1,000-yard rushers (Pete Albano and Fred Segilia) in 1975. Not only were they the first to do so in the program’s history, but the Colts’ 10-1 record was also the best record the program had ever had.

The following year, Fred was part of a defensive front that included Trice and Shober, when Marian set a record for shutouts in a 10-game schedule, holding six opponents scoreless.

The Colt defense only allowed a total of 53 points which is the second best record in the 71-year history of Marian football, only bested by the 1982 team, with Cinicola being one of the top three tacklers.

Offensively, the Blue and Gold averaged 30.8 ppg, which is sixth all-time in Marian’s history, led extensively by the rushing ground game. It was the second straight campaign in which the Marian offense produced two 1,000-yard backs, (Jim and Joe Agosti). Having four players with 1000-yard-plus seasons back-to-back was never done in PA high school history at this time.

Cinicola’s post-season accomplishments included being named to the Schuylkill County First Team Defense and Second Team Offense (tight end), Honorable Mention All-Anthracite for Defense and selection to play in the Schuylkill County All-Star Game and the UNICO All-Star game. In the latter game, he had four receptions for 88 yards and helped his team complete an exciting 16-15 victory, being credited with making crucial tackles on the final drive to stop their opponent from scoring.

Fred was recruited by many Division 2 and 3 college teams and accepted a four-year academic/athletic scholarship to play football at Juniata.

As a freshman there, he made the varsity travel team, played on special teams and had playing time at tight end. As a sophomore, his playing time increased as the Juniata offense went to double-tight end formations, finishing his career on two 5-5 teams due to an off-season knee injury that ended his playing days.

Fred graduated from Juniata with a Bachelor of Science degree in environmental biology. His early employment started with the Bethlehem Mines Corporation, where he worked in coal sampling and quality assurance and an the acid mine drainage plants. He moved on to the Silberline Manufacturing Company where he enjoyed a 25-year career, working in the quality control labs and attained the position of senior lab manager for all of the company’s U.S. plants. Before retiring in 2021, he worked for the Schuylkill County Municipal Authority, where he operated various water treatment plants.

Fred is one of four children (Anita Hiles and Lawrence and Brian Cinicola) of the late Lawrence and Anna Cinicola of Summit Hill and has been married for the past 37 years to the former Theresa Milan of Jim Thorpe, a retired teacher. The couple has two children, Zachary, married to his wife, Brittney Jackson, and Laura, and two grandchildren, Lorenzo and Santino Cinicola.

Victor Koshuta

Victor Koshuta, Summit Hill native and a 1974 graduate of Panther Valley High School, played in as well as coached athletics and mentored students over a 50-year career as a public school educator in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming.

In his younger years, he played Little League Baseball on a team sponsored by American Legion Post 316, Summit Hill, and continued to play baseball through his high school years. He played football in eighth and ninth grades at Panther Valley, where he also ran cross country as a junior and senior.

In ninth grade, Victor found wrestling and it quickly became his favorite sport. He remains enthusiastic about it even today, a half century later.

Wrestling at the 126-pound weight class, Victor amassed a Panther career record of 30-22-2. Upon high school graduation, he attended Arizona State University, walking on its wrestling program as a freshman. The following year, he transferred to Mansfield University, where he wrestled at the 134-pound weight class. At that time, NCAA rules required athletes who transferred to sit out a year but Victor was allowed participation as an unattached wrestler affiliated to no college or university. That sophomore year, his record was 15-6 as a participant in various open tournaments.

In his junior year, Victor was hampered by an injury which led to knee surgery in December. He worked hard to rehabilitate the knee and returned to competition in time to qualify for the NCAA Division 3 National Tournament. He went 1-1 at D-3 nationals, winning the opening match at 134 before being eliminated in the second round.

In his senior year at Mansfield, his wrestling career was cut short after a second knee operation.

After graduating with a bachelor of science degree in mathematics, Victor headed west, this time in pursuit of a teaching position. His career began in Montana, where he started an intermediate wrestling program. He eventually moved to Idaho to continue his career in education and while there earned a master’s degree and specialist degree, along with various other certifications.

In Idaho, he worked at Glenns Ferry High School as a math teacher and wrestling coach, where over a six-year period he was fortunate to have over 25 wrestlers qualify for the state tournament, including four who placed at states.

In 1996, Victor was named superintendent at the Garden Valley School District in Idaho. During an 11-year tenure there, he reinstated the wrestling program that had been inactive for over 15 years and served as a volunteer assistant coach. That program went on to produce one state champion, one second place winner, two third place finishers and nine wrestlers who finished in 4-6 places.

In 2007, Victor accepted a position as superintendent of the Cascade School District in Idaho, where he again reinstated another wrestling program that had been inactive for 25 years. That program produced the first individual boys state champion, as well as the first female wrestler from Cascade to qualify for the state tournament. She later earned a scholarship to wrestle on the women’s team at Eastern Oregon University and was selected to wrestle in the National Wrestling Coaches All-Star event.

In Idaho, Victor sat on the District 3 Board of Control for six years and served a term on the IDHSAA Board (equivalent to the PIAA).

Never forgetting his Coal Cracker roots, Victor found an opportunity to give back to the Panther Valley wrestling program. He thought it would be a promising idea to take a wrestler to the NCAA Division 1 Wrestling Championships.

In 1992, then PV assistant wrestling coach Tim Robb and Victor met at the NCAA tournament. The two discussed the idea that each year Victor would sponsor a sophomore wrestler who was selected on the basis of grades, wrestling ability and who best represented the program. Victor’s support of this unique rewarding endeavor, “The Sophomore Surprise Award,” was given annually from 1993 until Coach Robb’s retirement in 2017.

In December, 2008, Victor coordinated all logistical support for Coach Robb and the entire Panther Valley wrestling team to visit and wrestle in Idaho over the Christmas break. The team participated in wrestling events for five days in the Boise and Cascade area and also had the opportunity to step on the blue turf at Boise State University.

Victor currently resides in Cascade with his wife of 44 years, Paula, and their three dogs.

Ed Shober Jr.

A 1977 graduate of Marian Catholic High School, Edward “Ed” Shober of Summit Hill was a vital cog in the history of Summit Hill athletics, as he played football, basketball and baseball over his athletic years, before helping the ascension of Colt football to supremacy.

His athletic forte was football and as a two-way standout lineman, his offensive prowess was part of a state record in which, as a starting tight end and offensive tackle on the 1975 and 1976 Colt teams, he helped four different running backs surpass the 1,000-yard rushing marks. That feat was never achieved by any other Pennsylvania high school grid teams between 1930 and 1995, which was seven years into the expansion of PIAA classifications when teams played between 12-16 games.

Before that, however, Ed started off his athletic career in grade school, as he participated in both Little League Baseball for Carnish’s Canaries and played for the St. Joseph’s CYO basketball team between grades 5-8. In eighth grade, he was named to the CYO All-Star squad and was the leading scorer and rebounder on the team. He also scored 35 points in a game against St. Ann’s (Lansford). He further participated in the Elks Hoop Shoot in Carbon County, Lehigh County, then in Suburban Philadelphia (winning all three of those competitions) and then finally in Harrisburg where he was in the State Championship, coming in second finishing with 19 made free throws in 20 attempts.

A son of the late Edward Sr. and Marie Shober and a highly-recruited Division 1 football prospect, Ed was one of the earliest D1 scholarship players from Marian, having been recruited by Army, Brown, Penn State, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Rutgers, Temple, West Virginia, Cornell and Penn.

He became the starting tight end on the Colt varsity team as a junior in 1975 and helped the team go 10-1 with two 1,000-yard rushers, Pete Albano and Fred Segilia. The following year, the Colts went 9-1 with two other 1,000 carriers, Jim and Joe Agosti. During that span, Ed was a major contributor to teams that went 19-2, winning local championships both seasons and receiving the noted P & B Trophy that went to the area’s best team.

In his senior year, with Hall of Famer Kevin Trice as the other starting tackle, Marian had what the Harrisburg Patriot called “the best tackle combination in the Southern Division of the Eastern Conference.” The Allentown Morning Call also stated in 1976, that “Shober was being touted as one of the region’s best two-way linemen.”

Defensively, Ed and his teammates delivered a Marian football record of six shutouts in a 10-game schedule, allowing only 53 points the entire season, with the starting defense only surrendering four touchdowns the entire season and with Ed being one of the top tacklers on the team as a defensive end. The 1976 Colts also had seven of 10 games where they rushed for over 300 yards on the ground, with Shober being a leader of that offensive line opening the holes. Their average margin of victory in 1976 was 25.5 ppg, the third largest margin of victory in Marian’s history. Ed and his senior teammates also finished with a two-year record of 19-2 in their junior and senior seasons, with 11 shutouts.

After All-County, Senior Charity Bowl, All Region, All-Anthracite, All-Southern Division and All East-West honors, as well as being a Big 33 Game nominee, Ed selected Brown University as his college choice, where he went on to become an offensive guard and tackle who later had workouts with the Cowboys, Chiefs, Seahawks and Jets in the NFL. Ed was also inducted into the Marian Catholic Sports Hall of Fame in 2024.

After football, he has had a highly successful executive leadership career for 45 years, first serving as senior vice president at Air Products. During his time there, he was also the chief operating officer of the company’s venture TriMEGA and CEO and board chairman of the DuPont Air Products venture, DANano. He then went on to leadership positions with Versum Materials and then EMD Electronics/Merck KGaA of Germany, a key leader in the global semiconductor ecosystem, where he currently leads the company as their Chief Operating Officer.

Ed and his wife, the former Virginia Effie Depos of Hometown, have two daughters, Christie and Stephanie, who are both healthcare administrators, and they have three grandchildren, Maria, Mark and Matthew.

Ed joins his father, the late Ed Sr., who was an outstanding player in his days at Lansford High School. He was inducted into the Carbon County Sports Hall of Fame for that community in 2008.