WHEELING–Two multi-sport high school personalities who rose to prominence at the major college level have been selected for induction into the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference Hall of Fame.
Bellaire St. John Central’s Dick Reasbeck and Weir High’s Mike Tomasovich are chosen to be inducted from the 1950s decade. They will be inducted at the 19th annual ceremony Saturday, Aug. 12 at WesBanco Arena in Wheeling. The OVAC Hall of Fame and Sports Museum are located inside the WesBanco Arena.
Reasbeck and Tomasovich will join previously announced inductees for the Class of 2023 in Ted Tomasovich of Weir, Mike’s brother; Wheeling Central’s Al Salvadori; Warwood’s Steve Doe; Lance LaFollette of Woodsfield; Tim McCrate, Jessica Hines and Jennie Castle of Barnesville; Shawn Straughn of Bishop Donahue; Fred Ray of Martins Ferry; Koel Davia of the Union Local; Justin Fox of Magnolia; and Weirton Madonna’s Max Nogay.
The OVAC Hall of Fame is sponsored by the Robinson Auto Group.
Here is an overview of the latest selections:
DICK REASBECK, Bellaire St. John Central (Class of 1959) — He was a sharp-shooting Irish guard who won 1st team, the largest five-man Class AA in all of Ohio as a senior. Also a 1st team All-OVAC Class AA and All-District, he scored 501 points for an average of 27.1 per game and appeared in the annual Ohio North-South All-Star Game.
As a junior, he sported an 18.9-point standard and earned first-team All-District and an All-Ohio honorable mention.
He was also a baseball regular for three years and played football for two seasons.
The basketball sniper earned a scholarship to Ohio State where he served three years on nationally ranked teams after competing on the freshman team while the varsity team , led by Jerry Lucas and John Havlicek, won the NCAA crown.
In his sophomore year, the Buckeyes went undefeated in the regular season, 27-1 overall, and finished second in the NCAA against Cincinnati. He has an average of 3.1 points.
As a junior, the Buckeyes (26-2) again finished second in the NCAA at Cincinnati with Reasbeck averaging 8.2 points in a sixth-man role.
He was a senior regular as the Buckeyes finished with a 20-4 record. Reasbeck averaged 15.1 points per game and was granted the All-Big Ten Conference second team. He scored a game-high 32 points against Purdue.
After college, he signed in 1963 with baseball’s Los Angeles Angels and pitched two seasons for San Jose’s Class AA minor league team.
Reasbeck resides in Yorkville.
MIKE TOMASOVICH, Weir (Class of 1959) – He was a 6-foot-4, 205-pound, highly honored nine-letter athlete who earned five all-state honors while helping the Red Riders win state football titles and baseball and also winning an all-state basketball tournament.
In football, he was a junior starter at quarterback on an 11-0 record team that captured OVAC’s top Class AAA title and WVA’s Class AAA crown with a 19-12 win. in the final against Fairmont Senior at Wheeling Island Stadium. As a senior, he started at defensive end-and-half on a record 9-1 team that repeated as OVAC champion and had a 21-game winning streak ended in the regular season finale by the Eventual Parkersburg State Title List. He won 1st team All-State and All-OVAC upon completion.
In basketball, the eldest led the Red Riders to sectional and regional titles to qualify for the state event where he earned full tournament honors. He was also a 1st Team All-OVAC Class AAA pick and selected All-State “Big” Third Team All-Class. As a junior, he helped Weir to a 21-4 record and a section crown.
In baseball, he was a three-time all-state class winner as a pitcher. As a senior, Weir won the one-class state title with a 16-2 record and a 6-2 state tournament title win over state powerhouse East Bank.
He hit .400 with a mound record of 7-1. As a junior, he got the 2nd unique class team as a pitcher. As a sophomore, he was the 1st team in a class, all states with a 6-1 record while hitting .350 with three home runs. His only loss on the mound was a 2-1 8-inning loss in a state tournament to Martinsburg as he struck out 13 batters.
After his senior season, he rejected a professional minor league contract to sign a Georgia Tech scholarship. At Tech, he was a three-year-old man of letters, and a two-year starter in basketball and a two-year man of letters as a pitcher-outfielder in baseball.
In basketball, he played in 74 games with a norm of 9.2 points, with a game-high 30 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. He was the 3rd team in the All-Southeastern Conference as a senior cager with an average of 10.2 points and 7.0 rebounds.
The Georgia Tech Hall of Fame inductee and Weir High Wall of Fame winner resides in Atlanta.
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