WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The 34th annual induction ceremony for the West Liberty University Athletic Hall of Fame is set for Saturday at the university’s Academic, Sports and Recreation Complex. This year’s class includes Bryan Bunch (wrestling), Gregg DeSantis (baseball), Herb Minch (coaching) and Alan Saunders (track/cross country).
The group will be guests of honor at a social gathering in the lobby of the ASRC from 8:30-9 a.m. with breakfast and the formal induction ceremony to follow at 9 a.m. in the R. Emmett Boyle Conference Center. The event is open to the public with tickets priced at $10. Reservations can be made by calling Athletic Secretary Robin Brunner at 304-336-8046.
The inductees will be recognized on the field at West Family Stadium during halftime of Saturday’s home football game against West Virginia State. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. Following are information capsules for this year’s honorees:
BRYAN BUNCH, Wrestling
One of the top wrestlers in school history, several of Bryan Bunch’s records remain on the books nearly three decades after he hung up his singlet for the final time.
A 4-year starter and 3-time NAIA All-American for Hall of Fame coach Dr. Vince Monseau, Bunch notched a fourth-place finish as a sophomore at the 1985 NAIA Championships and followed that up with third-place finishes in 1986 and 1987. He also wrestled in Europe for an American college all-star team and was a 4-time West Liberty Invitational champion.
Bunch’s career record with the Hilltoppers was a sparkling 123-16-1 (.882). The 123 wins remain a school record. He also ranks No. 1 all-time for most individual team points and most wins by a freshman.
After graduating, Bunch worked as a corrections officer with the Federal Bureau of Prisons. He provided armed security and protection for federal buildings in the Kansas City metropolitan area and also worked as a security officer for the Department of Homeland Security.
A Steubenville, Ohio native who played on an undefeated Steubenville Big Red football team in 1982, Bunch was honored by his hometown a year ago as a recipient of the 20th annual Pathfinders Award.
Bunch is part of the Direct Care Staff at the El Pueblo Boys & Girls Ranch, an adolescent treatment facility in Pueblo, Colo. The father of two boys, Darius, 9, and Xavier, 6, Bryan resides in Pueblo.
GREGG DeSANTIS, Baseball
One of the most versatile players on West Liberty’s dominant baseball teams of the mid-1970s, Gregg DeSantis was a key figure on three consecutive West Virginia Conference championship teams.
A 1973 graduate of Weirton Madonna High School, where he starred in football and baseball, DeSantis played one year of college baseball at Miami Dade North Junior College before returning to the valley and enrolling at West Liberty.
A two-time All-WVIAC selection who also earned NAIA All-Area honors as a senior, DeSantis helped lead Coach Jim Watson’s Hilltoppers to WVIAC titles in each of his three seasons on the hilltop (1974, 1975 and 1976).
DeSantis, who played nearly every position during his West Liberty career, started every game as the Hilltoppers compiled a dazzling 44-11 (.800) record in conference play before making his mark in the business world.
After graduation, DeSantis took a position with Convenient Food Marts and is currently President of the CFM Development Corp., based in Wheeling. The former Brooke County Commissioner is also in charge of site acquisition for the Silver Companies in Boca Raton, Fla.
Gregg and Mary, his wife of 35 years, reside in Wellington, Fla. They have two children and four grandchildren. Their son Tony is IT Director for Allied Health Systems in Clark’s Summit, Pa. while their daughter Alyssa is Human Resources Manager for Pepsi Beverages Co. in Jacksonville, Fla.
HERB MINCH, Coach
One of the winningest softball coaches in West Virginia Conference history, Herb Minch led his Lady Hilltoppers to nearly 400 victories during his 17 years at the helm while serving double duty as the school’s Head Athletic Trainer for all intercollegiate sports.
Minch helped establish the West Liberty softball program as perennial WVIAC championship contenders with 16 consecutive WVIAC Tournament bids and three 30-win seasons during a stellar coaching career, highlighted by a school-record 42-16 mark in the 2004 season.
Included in that impressive stretch was a 1999 WVIAC Tournament championship. That title run touched off a remarkable stretch that saw his Hilltoppers battle their way to the WVIAC Tournament championship game six times during an eight-year span (1999-2006).
In addition to his school-best 396 career wins, Minch also coached 25 first-team All-WVIAC honorees and 21 WVIAC All-Tournament selections before stepping down to focus on his duties with West Liberty’s expanding Athletic Training education program.
Now well into his second decade as the school’s highly-respected Head Athletic Trainer, Minch serves on the West Liberty faculty as an Instructor and Clinical Education Coordinator for WLU’s Athletic Training Program.
Herb resides in Valley Grove, W.Va. with his wife – fellow Hall of Famer Ashlea Bland-Minch. He has three children, Kailey, Zachary and Alivia.
ALAN SAUNDERS, Track/Cross Country
A four-time All-West Virginia Conference cross country standout who qualified for three NAIA National Cross Country meets, Alan Saunders is still regarded as one of the top distance runners in school history.
Saunders had been an all-state track and cross country standout at nearby Wheeling High School before coming to West Liberty as a freshman in 1969 and didn’t miss a beat when he put on the Black and Gold.
He was a 4-time first-team All-West Virginia Conference cross country pick in a time when only the top five runners in the WVIAC championship meet received first-team honors. Saunders’ talents also played well on the national stage as he qualified for the NAIA National Cross Country Championships in 1970, 1971 and 1972.
Along with helping lead West Liberty to multiple WVIAC cross country titles, Saunders also played a key role on the Hilltoppers’ powerful track squads by placing in the WVIAC Track Meet in the mile and half-mile runs all four years.
After graduation, Saunders taught for nearly two decades in Fort Myers, Fla. before joining the investment world with A.G. Edwards, Inc. He retired from the First National Bank of Christiansburg, Va. in 2007.
Alan and Cinda divide their living time between Chiang Mai, Thailand and Fort Myers, Fla. He has two sons, Chad and Zachary, and a step-daughter, Kathryn.