Published: October 06, 2008 11:47 pm         

FSU Athletic Hall of Fame to induct six

FAIRMONT — Six individuals will be inducted into the Fairmont State University Athletic Association's Athletic Hall of Fame during homecoming weekend at the school on Friday, Oct. 24 at 6:30 p.m. in the school's Falcon Center.

The 2008 inductees include Jack McIntyre (basketball, baseball), Roy Michael (football), Wayne Denham (basketball), Matt Fortier (football, wrestling, track), Luc Tousignant (football) and Tim Murphy (basketball).

The banquet, which is being sponsored by R&E Electric, will be preceded by a social which will be held beginning at 4:30 p.m. in the Falcon Center. Tickets are $25 and are available by contacting the FSU athletic department at (304) 367-4220. The deadline to purchase tickets is Monday, Oct. 20.

Also during the banquet, Fairmont State will honor the 50th anniversary of the first Fairmont State athletic teams to compete in national championships. Those include the 1958 golf team and the 1958 baseball team.

Here is a biographical look at this year's inductees:

Jack McIntyre (basketball, baseball)

McIntyre came to Fairmont State after a stellar high school career at Farmington and lettered in basketball for the Falcons from 1953-57. He scored 1,798 points during his career, averaging 23.0 points per game. He graduated from Fairmont in 1957 and at the time was the school's second-leading scorer. Today he still ranks 12th in FSU history in scoring.

McIntyre was named to the West Virginia Conference's All-Tournament Team as a freshman after scoring 39 points against Morris Harvey.

He also lettered in baseball for the Falcons and was a first-team all-conference pitcher.



Roy Michael (football)

Michael was a standout quarterback for the Falcons, who became the first person in school history to throw for over 2,000 yards in his career. In four seasons (1966-69) he passed for 2,572 yards, averaged nearly 14 yards per completion and threw a then-school record 24 touchdowns. His career touchdown passes still rank fourth in school history. He also led the team in total offense as both a junior and senior.

Michael helped lead Fairmont State to a pair of West Virginia Conference titles and the NAIA National Championship in 1967 when the Falcons toppled Eastern Washington, 28-21, in the title game played at West Virginia University's Mountaineer Field.

After graduating from Fairmont in 1970, Michael continued to have a strong impact on athletics locally becoming a successful football and wrestling coach at both Mannington High School and North Marion High School. He won a pair of Class A state titles in football (1976, 1977) at Mannington and two more Class AAA state championships (1980, 1981) at North Marion.

In wrestling his Mannington teams of 1978 and 1979 won Class A/AA state titles, while his 1998 wrestling team at North Marion also claimed a state championship in the AAA ranks. In addition, he produced 23 individual state championship wrestlers.



Wayne Denham (basketball)

Despite not playing high school basketball, Denham, under coach Joe Retton, developed into one of FSU's all-time greats and still holds the school record for career rebounds with 2,035. His 644 rebounds during the 1967-68 season is still a Fairmont State and West Virginia Conference single-season record.

The four-year letter winner scored 1,643 career points, which currently ranks 20th in school history.

A three-time All-WVC selection, Denham helped lead the Falcons to a pair of regular-season conference titles and one league tournament championship. He also played a big role in helping Fairmont to earn a pair of national tournament berths, including a run to the NAIA title game in 1968 where FSU fell to Central State, 51-48.



Matt Fortier (football, wrestling, track)

A three-sport standout for Fairmont State, Fortier was a three-time conference champion on the mat at heavyweight from 1968-70.

In football the four-year letterman and two-time, first-team All-WVC selection at defensive tackle was the conference's co-defensive player of the year in 1969. He also started for Fairmont on its 1967 NAIA National Championship team.

In addition, he lettered in track and helped lead the Falcons to their only conference championship in the sport in 1968.

The 1972 graduate of Fairmont State received the Jasper H. Colebank Award from the school in 1970 and was selected in the 10th round of the National Football League Draft by the New York Giants.



Luc Tousignant (football)

Tousignant, a native of Canada, lettered in football for Fairmont State from 1978-81 and re-wrote the Falcon record book in terms of passing. His 4,737 passing yards and 30 career touchdown passes were records which stood for 14 years. He still ranks third in school history in both of those categories as well as career total offense (5,311).

He was a second-team All-America honoree, the West Virginia Conference's offensive player of the year and a first-team all-league selection as a senior in the fall of 1981 when he led the Falcons to a conference title, a 9-2 overall record and a berth in the NAIA Playoffs where they were defeated in the first round by Hillsdale, 12-7. That year he completed 157-of-288 passes for 2,216 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Tousignant also garnered second-team all-league honors twice during his career and as a sophomore helped guide Fairmont to a 9-1-1 overall record and a league championship.



Tim Murphy (basketball)

The current head men's basketball coach at Fairmont State, Murphy was a standout player for the Falcons from 1982-85. The Buckhannon native and two-time, first-team All-West Virginia Conference selection scored 1,908 points during his career at Fairmont State, a total which still ranks ninth in school history.

His 19 made field goals in a 95-84 victory over Geneva, Pa. in 1985 is still a Fairmont State single-game record.

During his senior season (1984-85) he garnered NAIA All-America honors when he averaged 22.0 points and 9.0 rebounds per game. He was named the West Virginia Conference's Player of the Year and helped lead FSU to the conference tournament title game where the Falcons fell to West Virginia Wesleyan.

Fairmont claimed the league tournament title in 1984 when Murphy was a junior and averaged 19.9 points per outing.

Fairmont State has not had a men's All-America selection in basketball since Murphy.

FSU sports information director Adam Zundell contributed to this article.

     

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