Pride of the Pioneers: West Greene grad Wilson to be inducted into WPIAL Hall of Fame
You can’t always go by what you see on paper.
West Greene’s 1993 football team wasn’t all that impressive when one glanced at the roster, according to Rodney Wilson.
“When you looked at us on paper it probably didn’t look that impressive,” said Wilson who was a senior that season. “But each of those guys battled individually to do their job the best they could.”
What they did was win a conference championship and advance to the WPIAL final for the first and only time in program history, led by Wilson who broke the WPIAL career rushing record along the way.
Wilson was one of 15 inductees introduced by the WPIAL as its Hall of Fame Class of 2025 on Wednesday at the Senator John Heinz History Center and Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum.
Wilson was more than a football player at West Grene, although he’s most noted for racking up 6,304 rushing yards and 75 touchdowns for the Pioneers. He also excelled as a wrestler, compiling a record of 106-25-1 while helping West Greene win the WPIAL Class AA team title in 1994 and won two individual WPIAL championships and a PIAA regional title in 1992.
Wilson, who also participated in track and field and won a total of 12 letters at West Greene, wasn’t expecting to get the call to the Hall.
“The WPIAL reached out to me some time ago and informed me that I would be part of it,” Wilson said. “I was certainly shocked and surprised to tell you the truth. That’s some elite company there.
“I feel honored and all those other emotions you get with something like that. I’m excited for it for sure.”
The induction ceremony will take place on Friday, June 6 at the DoubleTree hotel in Green Tree.
Wilson preferred to discuss his team’s success in football rather than his record-setting rushing accomplishment.
“All the individual goals are kind of personal agendas in many ways but, not to be cliche, but it really is true they’re not achievable unless you have a good team around you,” Wilson said. “The one thing that always stands out in my mind was the group of guys we had. Everybody really understood their roles. Looking back on it, when some of us guys get together, we say how did we ever accomplish that?
“But it was great coaches, great mindset, competitive edge, playing with those type of people and players. We kept working and pushing each and every week, trying to get better, and good things come to people who put in the extra effort like we did.”
The Pioneers defeated Avonworth and Farrell in the playoffs before falling to Duquesne in the WPIAL final at Three Rivers Stadium.
The year before, West Greene won a memorable WPIAL playoff game against Serra Catholic in overtime with Wilson running in the winning two-point conversion to end it.
“That was certainly one of those moments that stands out for sure,” Wilson said. “I think it was the second overtime they had scored and kicked the extra point, then we scored. Our head coach Larry Piper came into the huddle and asked us what we were going to run because he said we’re ending this game right now. He put it on the team, said you guys do what you want to do.
“I can’t remember the exact play but it was something off-tackle to the right and I bounced it outside and ended up getting into the end zone.”
Wilson commended his coaches at the time.
“Larry Piper, Allen Hughes and Brian Jackson, Curt Hughes, Jay Jones, a handful of other guys that were around the program for several years there, great coaches,” Wilson said. “They instilled a lot of confidence in us.”
Wilson pointed out his 1993 team was like a blast from the past with its family tree connections.
“You get into these small communities … my dad was a tailback back in the early ’70s and his fullback was a guy who had a boy that was my fullback, Chet Tedrow, and Gary Whyte, his dad was Larry Whyte. Some of the linemen were sons of the guys that played with my dad,” Wilson said. “So you could see this sort of reinvention of success.
“You start to put the pieces together, you start to see some of that tough, grittiness. A lot of those guys were very competitive. I think that’s what made us as good as we were.”
The group provided Pioneers fans with plenty of excitement in sports.
“We felt like we had a good group of guys there for a few years that could do some things,” Wilson said, “and we’re glad we were able to provide the community and ourselves with some enjoyment during that period.”
Wilson garnered a lot of football honors during his time at West Greene. He was named to the PIAA All-State team twice, was named the Greene County Messenger Player of the Year twice and was named the 1993 Dapper Dan Class A Football Player of the Year.
Wrestling was actually Wilson’s first love but his preference gradually shifted to football.
“I had started wrestling at an early age. I won several Junior Olympics, 15-and-under type state wrestling tournaments,” Wison said. “We were in that era where we traveled far and wide each weekend trying to find the best competition. We had to rely on the international style wrestling clubs in Waynesburg.
“Cary Kolat and Justin Tracanna and guys like that were part of that group. Wrestling with those guys and following Cary around and seeing his success was a motivating factor for me at a young age.
“My sophomore year in high school was probably my best year of wrestling. I won regionals, won WPIALs and went into the state tournament ranked pretty high. I won my first match there but lost my second match. Right around then my mind sort of shifted to some of the success I was having in football and that became more of my passion from that point on.”
Wilson, the son of Arnold and Vickie Wilson, went on to be a four-year starter in football at Slippery Rock.
“I had a great career at Slippery Rock,” Wilson recalled. “People thought I was going to be a running back and I went through this recruiting process at various levels from D-1 interest to ultimately landing in D-2. I think a lot of schools looking at me were unsure if I could be a successful running back at the next level so I tried to make everyone aware I just want to play football and I’ll play wherever you want.”
Wilson went on to play defense at Slippery Rock and was twice named to the All-PSAC team, at linebacker in 1996 and defensive back in 1997.
“Slippery Rock gave me that opportunity to switch to defense,” Wilson said. “I started my freshman year and I think made an impact. We had a good run, a really good team and good coaches. We built up to where my senior year was the first year Slippery Rock qualified for the national playoffs and we made it into the quarterfinal round.
“It was one of the pinnacles of my career, my last season there. Overall, I felt I had a complete career there, got an education and met some good people and figured out how I was going to grow up.”
Wilson then harkened back to his West Greene days, where it all started.
“It was always great being around good people who were all like-minded in the sense, hey, let’s not worry about limitations, let’s go persevere and do the best we can,” Wilson said.
“That was the highlight of all of it.”