L-P announces 2022 Hall of Honor class

Eight individuals and two teams will be inducted into the La Salle-Peru Hall of Honor in the Class of 2022.

The class was approved at Wednesday’s Board of Education meeting.

Individual inductees are William Blum (Class of 2000), Charles “Pete” Hosutt (’51), Bob Jakse (’65), Jose Medeles (’91), Bob Ott, Jeana Carrico Pekol (’95), Anthony Raccuglia (’51) and Don Wilmot (’49), while the teams being honored are the 1965 football team and the 1969-70 boys basketball team.

Blum was a two-time wrestling medalist, three-time state qualifier, four-time regional champion, two-time sectional champion, three-times conference champion and finished with 152 career wins, which ranks third in school history.

Hosutt played football at L-P and Knox College before a career as an army chaplain and paratrooper. He retired as a colonel and served as the pastor at the Church of Christ in Ohio. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Jakse was a three-sport athlete in football, wrestling and baseball. He was the MVP of the 1965 football team and the 1965 baseball team. He earned the 1965 Joe Cerro Award for highest batting average, the 1965 Blow Medal and the 1065 D.A.R Good Citizenship Award.

Medeles was a member of the L-P band and became a professional drummer. Medeles has supported the L-P bad with scholarships for students studying percussion in college. He is the author of “The Stoic Drummer” and owner of Revival Drum Shop in Portland, Ore.

Ott was an L-P season ticket holder for 53 years, attending nearly 4,000 L-P athletic events. He was inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame as a “Friend of Basketball.”

Pekol was honorable mention all-state for the 1994 volleyball team that went 32-6 and won the NCIC with a 10-1 record, won a regional title and reached a sectional final. She was NewsTribune First-Team All-Area in 1993 and 1994 and was NT Volleyball Player of the Year in 1994. She also played basketball and competed in track and field.

Raccuglia played football and baseball at L-P, helping the Cavaliers reach the state finals in baseball as a senior. He was signed by the Washington Senators in 1952 and played from 1952-55 for the Charlotte Hornets. He was a Korean War veteran, served as an L-P Board of Education member from 1970-87 with two terms as board president and was the La Salle County state’s attorney who prosecuted the Starved Rock Murders case.

Wilmot was part owner of Arkin’s Drug store and supported L-P athletics with ads in sports programs and newspapers. He was president of the Illinois Valley Pharmacist Association and the Kiwanis Club and gave drug addiction and abuse talks to the school.

The 1965 football team went 8-0-1 and won the Northwest Division title in the North Central Conference. The Cavaliers, coached by Gene Cherney, allowed just over four points per game. Nine members of the team played college football.

The 1969-70 boys basketball team went 29-3, won the Pontiac Tournament and advanced to the Elite Eight in the state tournament.

The Class of 2022 will be inducted the weekend of Jan. 13 with recognition during the basketball game on Friday and with a dinner/ceremony on Saturday.