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Contact – Tim Stried, OHSAA Director of Media Relations, [email protected]

 

 

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio Prep Sportswriters Association has announced the 2024 induction class into the OPSWA Hall of Fame, which includes Rick Cassano from Southwest Ohio Sports Daily, and the late Chuck Ridenour from the Shelby Daily Globe. In addition, the OPSWA will present a Media Service Award to Gary Baumgartner, who has coordinated statewide tournament data for several sports at BaumsPage.com since 1999.    

 

The OPSWA Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place during the OHSAA boys basketball state tournament at the University of Dayton Arena on Sunday, March 24, during the 5:15 p.m. game. They will join 73 sports writing greats previously enshrined in the OPSWA Hall of Fame.

 

Biographical information for all three inductees is below. The OPSWA inducted its first Hall of Fame class in 1983. The complete list is posted at: https://www.ohsaa.org/news/OPSWA/HOF

 

The OPSWA was created in 1972 to support, promote and recognize the coverage of high school sports across Ohio. More information is available at: https://www.ohsaa.org/news/OPSWA

 

Rick Cassano started covering sports for his local newspaper when he was a high school senior more than 40 years ago. He was part of the Southwest District football and basketball all-district panel for many years and served as district chairman. Cassano has won numerous OPSWA writing awards and has been named Writer of the Year three times. He graduated from Badin High School in Hamilton in 1982 and played football and baseball for the Rams, kicking a field goal in the 1980 Division III state championship football game.

 

Cassano earned a journalism degree from Ohio University in 1986, then worked for 14 months at the Watertown (N.Y.) Daily Times, covering high schools, colleges and a Mike Tyson boxing match. He returned home to work for the Hamilton JournalNews in 1987, focusing on high school sports while also contributing to Miami University coverage, including NCAA Tournament events in basketball and hockey. He stayed with the JournalNews, which was purchased by Cox Media, until June of 2019, when he founded the Southwest Ohio Sports Daily website that covers high school sports in Butler and Warren counties. Cassano was inducted into the Badin High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2016.

 

Chuck Ridenour was a 40-year veteran of the Shelby Daily Globe and was loved by the Shelby community for his tireless dedication to local sports coverage, from t-ball and YMCA sports to Shelby High School competing for state championships. Chuck devoted his life to promoting kids and telling their stories through sports.

 

Chuck was a newspaper delivery boy for the Daily Globe when he was growing up. He then worked in the composing room during the summers for five years before becoming sports editor at the newspaper in April of 1981.

 

He was honored with the OHSAA Media Service Award in 2020 and the Charles C.W. Williams Sixth Man Award by the Shelby basketball team 2017.

 

Chuck passed away on Dec. 23, 2022, after a battle with various health issues. He was 61. His family, including wife, Pam, and children, Charlie and Brooke, will accept Chuck’s Hall of Fame plaque during the ceremony.

 

This is the 30th year that Gary Baumgartner has worked at the head table for the OHSAA State Wrestling Tournament and his 50th year being involved with wrestling tournaments in Ohio. In 1983, Gary wrote one of the first computer programs for managing wrestling tournaments, and in 1999, BaumsPage.com was created to facilitate online entries and provide quick and accurate results for coaches, athletes, media and fans of wrestling.

 

In 2014, Gary’s son Toby adapted the original computer program to the current BaumsPage Wrestling App that is used in over 450 tournaments each year. In one way or another, Gary has since provided computer support for over 7,000 wrestling tournaments.  

 

Gary and his staff coordinate the online entry and seeding for the OHSAA Sectional and Pre-Regional Tournaments and handle the movement of qualifiers all the way to the state tournament, including the brackets that you see printed in the official state tournament program. He provides similar services for the OHSAA Sectional, District, and State Golf Tournaments.

 

Gary began his teaching career at Middletown High School and in 1971 started the Middletown Invitational Wrestling Tournament. Gary also coached football, wrestling, track and golf and retired as technology coordinator for the Edgewood City School District in Trenton, Ohio. Although retired and living with his wife Pauline in Sarasota, Florida, Gary still assists the OHSAA and district athletic boards with data and seeding for track, soccer, volleyball, baseball, softball, and gymnastics.