WVU Sports Hall of Fame Class Features Beilein, Women's Sports Legends
By Connect-Bridgeport Staff on August 07, 2026
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Seven outstanding contributors to Mountaineer Athletics make up the 36th class of honorees in the West Virginia University Sports Hall of Fame, announced today by Vice President and Director of Athletics Wren Baker
The class of 2026 includes John Beilein (men’s basketball), Kadeisha Buchanan (women’s soccer), Dennis Fowlkes (football), Bria Holmes (women’s basketball), Alex Kasich (men’s cross country and indoor/outdoor track & field), Ashley Lawrence (women’s soccer) and Craig Turnbull (wrestling). This class brings the total number of inductees to 250.
Induction ceremonies will take place on Saturday, Oct. 10, prior to the West Virginia-Arizona football game.
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John Beilein
Head coach John Beilein led the Mountaineer men’s basketball team to the 2005 NCAA Elite Eight, 2006 NCAA Sweet 16 and 2007 NIT championship from 2003-07.
On April 18, 2002, Beilein was named WVU’s 20th head men’s basketball coach. Under his direction, the Mountaineers compiled a record of 104-60 and earned four consecutive postseason berths, including two straight Sweet 16 appearances in 2005 and 2006. In 2005, WVU advanced to the championship game of the Big East Tournament and advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight for the first time in 42 years and for the first time in Beilein’s coaching career.
After just missing out on an NCAA Tournament bid in 2007 after 21 regular season wins, the Mountaineers were given the No. 1 seed in the NIT. Following three wins, West Virginia advanced to its first NIT semifinal appearance in 26 years. At Madison Square Garden, the Mountaineers used a buzzer-beater against Mississippi State to advance to the championship game before downing Clemson to win the second NIT crown in program history and first since 1942.
West Virginia finished with 22 victories in 2005-06 and an AP Top 25 ranking. The Mountaineers won two games in the NCAA Tournament, marking the first time the school had made consecutive trips to the Sweet 16 since the tournament expanded in 1975. It was just the second time the school advanced to the regionals in consecutive years since the 1959 and 1960 seasons.
In 2004-05, Beilein led the Mountaineers to wins over a school-record eight ranked teams (Texas Tech, Wake Forest, Boston College, Villanova, Pitt twice, North Carolina State and George Washington) and an AP Top 25 ranking. West Virginia finished the postseason ranked No. 12 in the USA Today/ESPN poll.
Beilein led the Mountaineers to an unbelievable run in the Big East Championship, advancing to the finals by winning three games. The Mountaineers became just the third Big East team to reach the finals without a bye.
Then in the NCAA Tournament, the Mountaineers earned a No. 7 seed and reached the Elite Eight for the first time since 1959, reeling off wins against No. 10-seed Creighton, No. 2-seed Wake Forest and No. 6-seed Texas Tech. West Virginia just missed reaching the Final Four, falling to No. 4-seed Louisville in overtime.
In 2003-04, the Mountaineers took a major step forward by winning two games in the NIT. In his first season at West Virginia, Beilein led the Mountaineers to 14 wins with just seven scholarship players. West Virginia posted impressive wins over No. 8 Florida, Tennessee, Miami, at Villanova and at Rutgers. The Mountaineers made the Big East Tournament after not qualifying in 2002.
Beilein coached three players who reached 1,000 career points, including his son, Patrick. Beilein mentored Kevin Pittsnogle, who became WVU’s first men’s basketball All-American since 1972. In addition, Johannes Herber was honored as the ESPN/CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year for men’s basketball and a Big East Men’s Basketball Scholar-Athlete in 2006, while Mike Gansey was one of the 10 finalists for the Oscar Robertson Award.
Beilein crafted his trade at virtually every level – community college, NAIA, Division II, Division I and the NBA. What set him apart from his peers is that at every stop, he was always a head coach, never an assistant.
During his 41 years as a collegiate head coach, Beilein compiled a career record of 829-468 (.639), recording 20-plus win seasons on 23 occasions and finishing with a winning record in 35 seasons. Beilein ranks 22nd for career victories among Division I head coaches with 754.
Following his stint at West Virginia, Beilein coached at Michigan and led the Wolverines to a pair of national championship game appearances (2013, 2018) while also becoming the winningest coach in school history.
Under Beilein, Michigan made nine NCAA Tournament appearances while also winning two Big Ten regular season and two Big Ten Tournament titles. Overall, Beilein helped mentor nine Wolverines to the NBA Draft.
Beilein came to WVU from Richmond, where he compiled a 100-53 (.654) record in his five seasons with the Spiders, making him the second-winningest coach in terms of percentage in the school’s basketball history and reached the century plateau faster than any coach in Richmond history.
Prior to arriving at Richmond, Beilein spent five years as the head coach at Canisius. During his tenure with the Golden Griffins, Beilein led the team to three consecutive postseason appearances, including the 1996 NCAA tournament.
Before assuming the coaching responsibilities at Canisius, Beilein turned a once-dismal LeMoyne squad into a Division II contender. In 1987-88, LeMoyne won a school-record 24 games, was crowned Mideast Conference champions and earned a berth in the Division II tournament.
Beilein served a one-year stint at Nazareth College in Rochester, New York, from 1982-83, leading the program to a 20-6 record. He accepted his first collegiate head coaching position in 1978 at Erie Community College in Buffalo, New York, posting a 75-43 record in four years.
Beilein began his coaching career at Newfane Central High in Newfane, New York, for three years before heading to Erie CC.
Beilein played college basketball at Wheeling College (now Wheeling University) from 1971-75 and served as team captain his junior season. He received a bachelor's degree in history from there in 1975 and earned a master's degree in education from Niagara in 1981.
Beilein was elected to the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in 2022. Prior to retiring from basketball, he served as the Senior Player Development Advisor for the Detroit Pistons after serving as head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2019-20.
A native of Burt, New York, Beilein and his wife, Kathleen, have been married for 48 years. They have one daughter, Seana (Hendricks), and three sons, Patrick, Mark and Andrew. The Beilein’s have eight grandchildren.
Kadeisha Buchanan
The most decorated athlete in WVU women’s soccer history starring from 2013-16, Kadeisha Buchanan ended her Mountaineer career sweeping the sport’s major awards.
A three-time semifinalist and two-time finalist, Buchanan became the first Mountaineer to win the prestigious Missouri Athletic Club (MAC) Hermann Trophy in 2016. She also earned the Honda Cup Award for soccer and was named the espnW and TopDrawerSoccer.com Player of the Year.
The Brampton, Ontario, native capped her four-year career with her third straight National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) All-America First Team honor.
Playing for coach Nikki Izzo-Brown, Buchanan is the only player in program history to earn an All-America honor in each of her seasons in a WVU uniform.
A finalist for the 2016 Senior CLASS Award, she was named to the award’s All-America First Team. Buchanan also was named the NCAA Tournament Defensive MVP, as well as the Big 12 Championship Defensive MVP. Additionally, she was nominated for a 2017 ESPY in the Best Women’s College Athlete category.
A team captain, Buchanan led the WVU defense to a program-best 23 wins and 18 shutouts in 2016. WVU advanced to the NCAA College Cup for the first time in program history and finished as the national runner-up. The squad was nationally ranked each week and sat at No. 1, the team’s first-ever No. 1 ranking, for eight weeks.
The four-time Big 12 Conference Defensive Player of the Year, Buchanan, also a four-time All-Big 12 First Team honoree, was the second athlete in conference history to claim four straight outright postseason awards. She led the Mountaineers to a sweep of the Big 12 titles in 2016, their third sweep in four seasons, and WVU won seven Big 12 titles during her career.
Buchanan started 90 of 91 career matches, and the WVU back line allowed just 62 goals and posted 55 shutouts throughout her four-year career. She also tallied 25 career points (8 G, 9 A).
Prior to her senior season, Buchanan helped Canada win Bronze at the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics. She signed a professional contract with Olympique Lyonnais in January 2017.
The Best Young Player honoree at the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup, Buchanan’s third All-America honor followed a season that saw her solidify her spot among the world and college soccer’s elite. In addition to her WVU award, Buchanan also was named to the FIFA Women’s World XI Team and the WWC All-Star Team and earned the Canadian Player of the Year honor. Collegiately, she earned the 2015 Soccer News Net Women’s College Boot Award, was a finalist for the MAC Hermann Trophy, the school’s first, and earned her third straight Big 12 Conference Defensive Player of the Year and All-Big 12 First Team awards.
Instrumental in helping the Mountaineers reach the 2015 NCAA Tournament Elite Eight, Buchanan anchored a WVU defense that posted 15 shutouts and allowed a program-low 11 opponent goals. One of three team captains, she led WVU to 19 victories and its fourth straight Big 12 Conference regular-season title.
Buchanan became the first Mountaineer sophomore in program history to score a first team All-America honor in 2014 when she earned her first career NSCAA All-America First Team award. The only sophomore on the list, she was WVU’s first NSCAA First Team All-American since 2003 and the program’s fourth first-team honoree since 2000. Buchanan also was named the 2014 Soccer America Women’s MVP First Team, the publication’s equivalent to a first team All-America honor. She was the third Mountaineer named to the MVP First Team and the first since 2007.
The 2014 honors capped a brilliant sophomore season that saw her earn her second straight Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year award and All-Big 12 First Team honor. A MAC Hermann Trophy semifinalist, she also was named to the TopDrawerSoccer.com Best XI First Team while earning First Team All-Region Canadian U-20 Player of the Year honors.
Buchanan helped the Mountaineers to the Big 12 Conference regular-season and championship titles in 2014 and was named the Big 12 Championship Defensive MVP. She and the WVU defense posted 12 shutouts and did not allow a goal on the road in Big 12 play.
The Mountaineers advanced to the NCAA Tournament and finished the year riding a 19-match unbeaten streak.
The first Mountaineer rookie to earn NSCAA All-America honors, Buchanan was selected to the 2013 NSCAA All-America Second Team following a fantastic freshman campaign that saw her earn conference honors. She started all 23 matches and helped the WVU defense post 10 shutouts, including four in postseason play, while holding opponents to 24 goals.
The Big 12 Conference Defensive Player and Rookie of the Year, Buchanan earned a spot on the All-Big 12 First Team and Newcomer Team. She helped lead the Mountaineers to their second straight Big 12 Conference regular-season title and first Big 12 Conference Championship title. WVU posted three straight shutouts in the conference’s postseason tournament, and Buchanan was named the Championship Defensive MVP. She also earned a spot on the TopDrawerSoccer.com Best XI Freshman First Team.
In addition to winning Olympic Bronze for Canada in 2016, Buchanan helped her country capture Gold at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. She has represented Canada at three FIFA Women’s World Cups and three Olympic Games.
Buchanan was a three-time Canada Soccer Player of the Year (2015, 2017, 2020). She has played professionally for Olympique Lyonnais (2017-22) in France and with the Chelsea Football Club (2022-present) in the English Premier League.
Dennis Fowlkes
Dennis Fowlkes was one of WVU’s top tacklers as an inside linebacker during his football career from 1979-82.
Playing for Hall of Fame coaches Don Nehlen and Frank Cignetti Sr., and recruited to WVU by Nick Saban, Fowlkes helped lead WVU to 29 victories, including nine wins in each of his last two seasons. Fowlkes played in two bowl games: a win in the 1981 Peach Bowl over Florida, recording seven tackles and two tackles for loss and had eight tackles in the 1982 Gator Bowl against Florida State.
The native of Columbus, Ohio, finished his career with 459 tackles with 286 of those unassisted. Fowlkes ranks second in school history in solo tackles and third in school history in tackles. He finished with 18 tackles for loss, nine sacks and seven interceptions.
One of Fowlkes’ top games was against Virginia Tech in 1980, recording 16 solo tackles, one shy of the school record. He had two sacks against Syracuse in 1982 and recorded 20 tackles in games against Rutgers and Pitt.
Fowlkes combined with All-American Darryl Talley to rank as one of the top linebacker duos in school history. It was Fowlkes’ outstanding playing in the middle that allowed West Virginia to utilize Talley on the outside in unique ways during that time period.
His freshman contributions included two interceptions and two fumble recoveries. Against Pitt, he tallied a season-high 10 tackles and an interception, while he made seven tackles, two tackles for loss and an interception against Virginia Tech. Fowlkes played his freshman season under Cignetti.
As a sophomore in 1980, Fowlkes transitioned into a full-time starting role under first-year head coach Don Nehlen. He recorded a career-high 150 total tackles, along with five tackles for loss and three interceptions.
Fowlkes tallied 120 tackles as a junior with five tackles for loss and three sacks, helping the Mountaineers achieve a 9-3 record and a Peach Bowl win. Fowlkes’ run defense played a key role in limiting Florida to less than 100 rushing yards.
Fowlkes capped his senior year in 1982 with another strong campaign, recording 132 total tackles, six tackles for loss, four sacks and two interceptions. He helped WVU to another nine-win season.
Fowlkes is a two-time member of the All-East Team and a member of WVU’s all-time team of the 1980s.
Fowlkes played four seasons in the NFL, three with the Minnesota Vikings from 1983-85 and one with the Miami Dolphins in 1987. He played in 43 games with 11 starts during his NFL career. Fowlkes forced four fumbles during the 1985 season with Minnesota.
Fowlkes recently retired and lives in Columbus with his wife of 37 years, Janice. He has two sons, Marcus Allen (Kim) and Trey Fowlkes, and three grandchildren, Kimora, Layla and Marcus II.
Bria Holmes
Playing from 2013-16, Bria Holmes is one of four women’s basketball players in school history to score more than 2,000 career points and was the then-highest WNBA draft pick in school history at the end of her career, selected as the 11th overall selection in the first round by the Atlanta Dream.
A native of New Haven, Connecticut, Holmes finished with 2,001 points, 483 rebounds, 309 assists, 731 field goals made, 189 3-point field goals made, 350 free throws made, 171 steals and 101 blocks.
Playing for coach Mike Carey, Holmes was a three-time unanimous All-Big 12 First Team selection from 2014-16. She was a two-time Associated Press All-America Honorable Mention pick, a two-time WBCA All-America Honorable Mention selection, a two-time WBCA All-Region honoree and a Senior CLASS Award Second Team All-American. Holmes was named to the Big 12 All-Freshman Team.
At the conclusion of her Mountaineer career, Holmes ranked in the top 10 in 14 different statistical categories: first in games played (138), second in double-figure scoring games (99), second in field goal attempts (1,707), third in total points (2,001), third in 20-point games (34), third in field goals made (731), fourth in 30-point games (5), fourth in 3-point field goals attempted (668), sixth in free throws attempted (544), seventh in blocked shots (101), eighth in scoring average (14.5 ppg), eighth in 3-point field goals made (189), eighth in free throws made (350) and eighth in minutes played (3,855).
Holmes became the first Mountaineer to score 500 or more points in three consecutive seasons. She averaged 16.8 points as a senior, 18.8 points as a junior and 15.2 points as a sophomore.
Holmes had career highs of 36 points against Seton Hall, 11 rebounds against Kansas State and 10 assists versus Marshall. She had three double-doubles and had five 30-point contests. In her final two games as a Mountaineer, she had 26 points and a school NCAA Championship record with eight assists versus Princeton and reached the 2,000-point plateau with 21 points against Ohio State.
Holmes graduated from WVU in 2016 with a bachelor’s degree in criminology.
She had the longest WNBA player career by any WVU alum, playing five seasons with Atlanta, Connecticut, Los Angeles and Las Vegas. In 136 career games with 32 starts, she averaged 6.5 points. Holmes averaged a season-high 7.8 points with Atlanta in 2017.
Holmes lives in New Haven, Connecticut, with her daughter, Diona.
Alex Kasich
Alex Kasich was one of the top distance runners at WVU during his cross country and indoor and outdoor track & field career from 1972-76.
After finishing 153rd in his first NCAA Cross Country Championship appearance the year before, Kasich rebounded in 1975 to earn a 16th-place finish with a time of 29:14.6 at the NCAA Cross Country Championships in State College, Pennsylvania, to earn All-America honors.
As a junior in 1974, he became the first WVU harrier to go undefeated throughout the regular season, outlegging the field in eight races. Kasich was the USTFF Cross Country National Champion in 1975.
Kasich was named the 1975 Ray McCoy Track Athlete of the Year by the West Virginia Sports Writers Association (WVSWA), recognizing him as the top male track performer in the state.
A native of Hermitage, Pennsylvania, Kasich was the WVU cross country athlete of the year in 1973, 1974 and 1975. In track, he set school records in the indoor 2-mile (8:39.7) and 3-mile (13:35.8) and outdoor 3-mile (13:43.0) and 6-mile (28:32.4).
Kasich was an NCAA finalist in the indoor 3-mile in 1976 and the outdoor 6-mile in 1974 & 1975. He was an IC4A Eastern Qualifier in indoor track in the 1-mile, 2-mile and 3-mile in 1976 and in the 2-mile in 1974 and 1975 and in outdoor track in the 3-mile and 6-mile in 1974, 1975 and 1976.
Kasich served as a graduate assistant coach in cross country and track at WVU from 1976-78 before becoming one of the best road racers in the United States and at the international level from 1978-86.
Some of the highlights of his career include 1978 Phillipi 4-mile Classic, 1st, 18:39.0 (world best that year and American record); 1978 AAU 15- Kilometer Road Race National Champion: 1980 Olympic Trials qualifier in the marathon (20:20:16); 1980 Olympic Trials 10,000-meter track finalist (16th place); 1981 New York City Marathon, 9th place (2:13:19); 1982 American record holder at the 30-kilometers (1:33:56); 1983 New York City Marathon (22nd); 1984 U.S. Olympic Trails qualifier in marathon (2:14:22); and the 1986 Nike OTC 25 Kilometer champion (1:16:30, world best that year).
Kasich played a major role in turning the sport from amateur to professional status. He was banned from the New York Marathon in 1981 for openly accepting prize money at the Nike OTC Marathon. Through Nike, an injunction was filed to stop the marathon from occurring. Within a few days, TAC, the USA governing body, changed course and granted him permission to run the race. With his ninth-place finish, Kasich won substantially more money as an amateur “under the table” at the New York City Marathon than he did as a professional at the Nike Marathon, creating a problem for TAC. Within a month, the rules were changed to allow competitors to receive prize money payments professionally in all of track and field and road racing.
Kasich was a winner and elite level performer in many other competitions and served as a product consultant to Nike. His training consisted of running between 100-140 miles per week and once finished a 50-mile race in less than seven hours. Kasich was inducted into the Mercer County (Pennsylvania) Hall of Fame in 2010 and the Dick’s Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon Hall of Fame in 2020.
He received his bachelor’s degree in business administration and his master’s degree in business management from WVU.
Kasich currently resides in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. He and his wife, Elena, have two children, Katia and Michael. Kasich does very little running now and instead, swims, boxes and competes in competitive darts in the Philadelphia area.
Ashley Lawrence
One of the best midfielders to play women’s soccer for West Virginia, Ashley Lawrence earned three All-America honors from 2013-16.
A Toronto native, Lawrence earned her second consecutive National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) All-America First Team accolade as a senior, playing for coach Nikki Izzo-Brown.
A two-time semifinalist for the Missouri Athletic Club (MAC) Hermann Trophy, Lawrence also was a finalist for the 2016 Senior CLASS Award and was named to the Senior CLASS Award All-America Second Team.
A team captain, Lawrence led WVU to a nation- and program-best 23 wins in 2016. WVU advanced to the NCAA College Cup for the first time in program history and finished as the National Runner-Up. The squad was nationally ranked each week and sat at No. 1, the team’s first-ever No. 1 ranking, for eight weeks. She also led the Mountaineers to a sweep of the Big 12 titles in 2016, their third sweep in four seasons, and WVU won seven Big 12 titles during her career.
Lawrence finished the season ranked No. 1 in the Big 12 and No. 19 nationally with a team-high 10 assists, the third-best total for a WVU senior and the fourth-highest season total in Mountaineer history. She started 87 of 91 career matches played and dished out 29 career assists, the third-best total in school history.
A four-time All-Big 12 First Team honoree, Lawrence also was named to the 2016 NCAA College Cup All-Tournament Team and the Big 12 Soccer Championship Most Outstanding Offensive Player. She signed a professional contract with Paris Saint-Germain in January 2017.
Prior to her senior season, Lawrence helped Canada win Bronze at the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics.
Two years after staking her claim as one of college soccer’s top playmakers, Lawrence earned her first career All-America honor, as she was named to the 2015 NSCAA All-America First Team. She landed on the team alongside Buchanan, and the duo was the first pair in WVU women’s soccer history to earn NSCAA All-America First Team honors in one season.
A member of the Canadian National Women’s Soccer Team, Lawrence opened her junior campaign on the world’s biggest stage, starting all five of Canada’s matches at the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup and scored the team’s lone goal in a 1-1 draw against the Netherlands.
At WVU in 2015, she was named a MAC Hermann Trophy semifinalist and earned her third straight All-Big 12 First Team honor. She finished the season ranked No. 3 on the team, No. 5 in the conference, with 18 points (5 goals, 8 assists), a career single-season high. She paced the Mountaineers with eight assists, the second-best Big 12 total, and her five goals ranked No. 3 on the team.
Lawrence played a key role in helping WVU reach the 2015 NCAA Tournament Elite Eight. The team finished with a program-best 61 goals and 19 wins.
In addition to winning Olympic Bronze for Canada in 2016, Lawrence helped her country capture Gold at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. She has represented Canada at three FIFA Women’s World Cups and three Olympic Games.
Lawrence began her professional career with Paris Saint-Germain in 2017, becoming the most-capped international player in the history of the club’s women’s team with 178 appearances. She won three trophies in Paris and reached the UEFA Women’s Champions League final in 2017. She was named Canadian Player of the Year in 2019, finished eighth in the 2021 Ballon d’Or and was selected to the IFFHS Women’s World Team that same year.
After joining Chelsea in 2023, Lawrence won two English League titles, the FA Cup and the League Cup. She currently plays for OL Lyonnes, where she won three domestic trophies in her first season and reached the 2026 UEFA Women’s Champions League final. She is Canada’s all-time appearance leader in UEFA women’s club competitions.
Craig Turnbull
The winningest coach in West Virginia wrestling history, Craig Turnbull built the Mountaineers into one of the strongest and most accomplished programs in the nation during his 35-year tenure from 1979-2014.
Turnbull recorded 287 victories during his illustrious career, ranking in the Top 100 all-time in career victories for college wrestling coaches in all divisions.
Turnbull coached three wrestlers to five national titles: Scott Collins at 142 pounds in 1991, Dean Morrison at 177 pounds in 1994 and Greg Jones at 174 pounds in 2002 and two at 184 pounds in 2004 and 2005. Jones was named the 2005 Most Outstanding Wrestler at the NCAA Championships.
The Erie, Pennsylvania, native, coached 166 NCAA national qualifiers and had 18 wrestlers combine for 26 All-America honors. As a team, the Mountaineers finished in the Top 25 at the NCAA Championship 12 times, including a program-best sixth-place finish in 1991.
Turnbull coached most of his career at WVU in the prestigious Eastern Wrestling League, leading the Mountaineers to EWL Tournament titles in 1996, 2002 and 2004 and EWL dual meet titles in 1990, 1991, 1998, 2002, 2003 and 2005. In all, Turnbull coached 42 EWL individual champions.
He was named EWL Coach of the Year four times (1990, 1998, 2002 and 2004) and coached nine EWL Hall of Fame inductees. He was selected to coach in the prestigious National Wrestling Coaches’ Association All-Star Classic in 1992.
Turnbull’s appointment as coach of the Mountaineers in 1979 came one season after WVU joined the EWL. Inheriting a team that went 10-26 the two years prior to his arrival, Turnbull did not wait long before guiding WVU to success. During his first season, the team produced a 9-4-2 record, and Mark Cagle became WVU’s first wrestling All-American since 1955. Those feats earned Turnbull Division I NCAA Rookie Coach of the Year honors.
One of the driving forces behind the success of Mountaineer wrestling was the construction of the WVU Wrestling Pavilion, which Turnbull was instrumental in planning. The $1.4 million building was constructed in 2006 and continues to be the home of Mountaineer wrestling today.
Turnbull has been inducted into numerous Hall of Fames: Clarion University (his alma mater), Eastern Wrestling League, the Wesleyville-Iroquois-Lawrence Park Hall of Fame, the Metro Erie Chapter of the Pennsylvania Hall of Fame, the Pennsylvania Hall of Fame, the Erie Hall of Fame and the West Virginia Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.
Turnbull was a board member of the National Wrestling Coaches Association and was awarded the Lifetime Service to Wrestling Award by the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. At WVU, Turnbull coached five wrestlers who have been inducted into the WVU Sports Hall of Fame (Dominic Black, Scott Collins, Greg Jones, Vertus Jones and Dean Morrison).
Turnbull wrestled at Clarion, earning All-America honors in 1973 before graduating with a bachelor’s degree in special education. He earned a master’s degree in sports psychology and counseling from WVU in 1978 and a second master’s degree in counseling psychology 10 years later. Turnbull also took doctorate level courses in counseling psychology.
Turnbull and his wife, Sue, now live in North Carolina. They have two children, Kyle, a former WVU wrestler, and Carrie, and five grandchildren.
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