BEDFORD - Sam Beegle and Roger Lamens both went to the same elementary school.
They were close friends, so close that Beegle's mother sent Lamens home with a loaf of bread for his mother. But Lamens ate it before he got home.
Then, the two went to Bedford Middle School together, and Beegle urged Lamens to go out for wrestling. After Lamens' father was forced to switch jobs, though, the two became separated - Lamens wrestled went to Chestnut Ridge High School, while Beegle continued at Bedford.
The two were reunited on Saturday night in the Bedford County Sports Hall of Fame.
Bruce Fisher of Bedford, Scott Jones of Everett, Mike Keel of Hyndman, Glenn Young of Tussey Mountain, the 1972 Everett football team and the 1962 Greenfield-Kimmel football team were inducted along with Beegle and Lamens.
"He's my buddy," Lamens said of Beegle. "He convinced me to go out for wrestling."
Lamens was a wrestling standout both at Ridge and West Virginia University. As a high school senior, Lamens went 16-2. In college, he posted a career record of 62-11-1 with 56 pins.
Beegle, meanwhile, won three District 5 championships for the Bisons, and was 43-7 in his high school career. Beegle went on finish second in the state his senior season.
"[Wrestling] taught me how to be the person I wanted to be," Beegle said.
Along with his wrestling career, Beegle became both a horse trainer and a harness racing jockey.
"It's hard to put into words what this means to me," Beegle said.
Fisher was inducted posthumously. His son, Tim, spoke on behalf of the former Bedford football star, who went on to play at Virginia Tech in the 1940s.
Bruce Fisher led Bedford to an undefeated season in 1945.
"He put all of his energy into being the best," Tim Fisher said. "My dad was a rare breed. Picture John Wayne. He was a man of few words."
Jones was inducted for his pole vaulting for the Warriors and at Marshall University. Jones won Everett's first PIAA track and field gold medal in school history in 1986.
The pole Jones used during his senior season was bought especially for him. He took that pole with him to Marshall.
"I don't know if the school could afford that pole, but it was a pretty good investment," Jones said.
Young was inducted after a long career in baseball. Young played for Tussey Mountain and went on to play at West Virginia University.
He went on to coach the Titans for 17 years, guiding them to a District 5 AA title in 1986
"This is a very special day for me," Young said. "I believe that an athlete needs [good support] to be successful. My support group was the best."
The Greenfield-Kimmel is still the school's only undefeated team, going 9-0. Twenty members of the team came to the event along with coach Ted Delozier.
The Bulldogs averaged 27 points and allowed six. The team won both the Inter-County Conference and Mountain League championships.
Eighteen members of the 1972 Everett football team attended the banquet. Joel Brown was the coach of the 9-0 Warrior team. Brown read a congratulatory letter sent from the late Penn State coach Joe Paterno.
Keel of Hyndman was inducted after a long career as both a baseball player and coach in Bedford County. Keel went on to play baseball at Allegany Community College. Keel also coached in the 90s for Hyndman.
This was the Hall of Fame's seventh induction class.
"It's an honor to be an athlete from Bedford County, Pennsylvania," Lamens said.
