Minooka Community High School (MCHS) committee for the Athletic Hall of Fame is pleased to announce the Class of 2026 inductees.
The 2015 Girls’ Cross Country Team will be inducted as a team. Under the direction of head coach Kevin Gummerson, they won the Class 3A IHSA state title. After winning four invitationals during the regular season, they took home conference, regional, and sectional titles. At the state finals, Ashley Tutt (4th), Emily Shelton (19th), and Mackenzie Callahan (20th) all earned all-state honors with their finishes. At the time, the combined race times for the runners was the 4th-fastest in state history.
Dave Betzwiser, Class of 1982, will be inducted as an individual athlete. Betzwiser was the Class A IHSA wrestling state champion at 126 pounds in 1982. He led in the final match from the beginning and held on for a 3-2 victory. Betzwiser finished the year with a 38-3 record and was named team MVP.
Larry Grote, Class of 1983, will be inducted as an individual athlete. Grote was the Class A IHSA wrestling state champion at 105 pounds in 1983. The final match went into overtime where Grote shut out his opponent 2-0. He finished the season with a record of 38-1-1. A two-time all-state wrestler, Grote was the MVP on the Minooka team that finished 5th in the state in 1983. He also finished 4th in the state at 98 pounds as a junior.
Tracy (Moss) Bareither, Class of 1999, will be inducted as an individual athlete. A standout in three sports, her greatest successes came in track and field. Her senior year, she was 2nd in the discus at the Class 2A IHSA state finals. She was also all-state during her junior and sophomore years in the discus, finishing 3rd and 8th, respectively. She qualified for state in the shot put all three of those years, as well. She also was an all-conference basketball player, and started on the volleyball team. After high school, she continued to compete in track and field at the University of Illinois, where she was All-Big Ten three times.
Scott Moss, Class of 2002, will be inducted as an individual athlete. He won several accolades in both football and track and field. His senior year of football, he was named All-State Special Mention from the Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette. He had both 2,300 career rushing yards on offense and 150 career tackles on defense. In track and field, Moss won the Class 2A IHSA state championship in the discus his junior year, setting a school record that still stands as of 2026. He also finished 6th in the state in shot put as a junior. After high school, he played four years of football at the University of Illinois, finishing his career there with more than 70 tackles.
Bernie Ruettiger will be inducted as a coach. Under Ruettiger’s leadership, Minooka would win the 2010 Class 3A IHSA wrestling state championship, two state runners-up trophies, and finish in the Elite Eight eight different times in his 17 years as head coach. He had a winning season every year at Minooka except one. He coached three individual state champions and numerous other all-state wrestlers. He was inducted into the IWCOA Hall of Fame in 2009. Ruettiger also served as an assistant football coach and assistant softball coach during his time at Minooka. He also coached wrestling at Minooka Junior High, where he won state championships in 2022 and 2023.
Bert Kooi will be inducted for Special Merit. Kooi came to MCHS in 2004 and had an immediate impact in everything he did. He served as the department chair of the physical education/health/driver’s education department, where he hired and mentored numerous individuals who went on to become head coaches at MCHS. Kooi was the head football coach at Minooka for eight years, beginning in 2004. Under his direction, they won the conference in 2009 and made the playoffs each of his final three years as head coach, even reaching the Class 7A quarterfinals in 2010. He retired from teaching in 2019 and currently sits on the MCHS District #111 Board of Education.
This is the fourth class to be inducted into the MCHS Athletic Hall of Fame. The first class was inducted in 2019. The Athletic Hall of Fame committee reached out to the community through social media, and via a variety of other marketing outlets, and asked for community members to submit nominees. From those nominees, the Class of 2026 was selected. Nominees not chosen for this year’s class will automatically be considered for next year’s class.
The 4th Annual Hall of Fame Class of 2026 will be introduced at the Homecoming game on Friday, September 18, 2026 at the conclusion of the sophomore football game vs. Joliet West High School. Sophomore game starts at 5 p.m. and will end approximately at 7 p.m. The Varsity game begins at 7:30 p.m.
The Minooka Athletic Hall of Fame Committee will honor the Class of 2026 and their families at a dinner on Saturday, September 19, 2026 at Aces Garage Bar & Grill in Minooka at 6 p.m. More information can be found on the Athletics web page at www.mchs.net/page/athletics. Questions? Contact AthleticHallofFame@mchs.net.