West Greene Athletics Hall of Fame will add 2
Observer-Reporter
ROGERSVILLE – The West Greene Athletic Hall of Fame will add two new members Friday night during the Pioneers’ homecoming football game against Bentworth.
The homecoming queen will be crowned during pregame festivities that will begin at 6:20 p.m. Following homecoming, Bill Devore and Gary Whyte will be inducted into the athletics hall of fame.
Devore is a Washington native and graduate of East Washington High School. He was a multi-sport letterman for the Ghosts and earned a basketball scholarship to Morris Harvey College, which is now known as the University of Charleston (W.Va.). He graduated in 1970 and then enrolled at West Liberty, from where he earned his teaching certificate.
Hired at West Greene in 1976, Devore spent 30 years with the school district. He coached varsity basketball, middle school football, varsity football and softball. Among Devore’s best wins was a middle school football game in which West Greene defeated rival Waynesburg, which was led by Lee Fritz and Lanfer Simpson.
Much of Devore’s coaching success came in softball, a program he led for 15 years. His 1981 team had a 17-3 record and won a section title. The 1983 team won another section title and advanced to the WPIAL semifinals. The Pioneers finished third in the WPIAL and advanced to the PIAA tournament, where they defeated Southern Fulton before losing to Iroquois. That Pioneers team finished with an 18-5 record.
Whyte was a four-year letterman in both football and wrestling and also lettered in track and field.
In his junior year, Whyte, who played tight end and linebacker, helped West Greene’s football team reach the WPIAL semifinals. The next year, Whyte and the Pioneers had an undefeated regular season and defeated Avonworth (58-0) and Farrell (7-6) to advance to the WPIAL finals where West Greene lost to Duquesne.
As a wrestler, Whyte led West Greene to the WPIAL team tournament semifinals in four consecutive seasons. In 1994, the Pioneers won the program’s first WPIAL team title, defeating Southmoreland in the finals.
Whyte was a two-time section and WPIAL champion and a three-time placewinner. He won the PIAA Southwest Regional twice, and was a two-time PIAA placewinner, finishing fourth in 1993 and second in 1994. He was selected to participate in the Dapper Dan Wrestling Classic after his senior year.
Whyte attended college at Waynesburg and has been a teacher at West Greene since 2000.