Buehner part of a long line of standout athletes
Submitted photo
Bill Buehner before officiating a WPIAL basketball championship game.
Submitted photo
Laurel Highlands Bill Buehner (44) goes up strong to the rim during a game against Uniontown.
Former Laurel Highlands football and basketball standout Bill Buehner came from a family of athletes.
His father Bill played at South Union and Laurel Highlands, and uncles Jack and Bob were Mustang standouts. His mom Diane was a cheerleader.
Buehner’s course in athletics was set at an early age.
“My family background was a big help, but it also put some pressure on me,” stated Buehner. “I just wanted to be like them and I think it lit a fire in me to just want to go to the next level. When I saw the lights at Penn State when I went up there to watch Uncle Jack play in the spring game, something in me said that I wanted to try and make it to Division I. It was a big goal of mine.
“My family was encouraging and very helpful.”
“They were my biggest fans and biggest support system,” added Buehner. “My mother, to my father, to my Uncle Bob and Uncle Jack, they were my biggest, biggest support system.”
As you would expect Buehner got an early start in athletics.
“As soon as we could get the pads on and a basketball or baseball in the hands, I was playing,” recalled Buehner. “My dad was coaching. It was fun and it was pressure in the house.”
When Buehner got to the high school level at Laurel Highlands he played on Mustang squads that went 4-6 in 1984, 6-4-1 in 1985 and 3-8 in 1986.
“My sophomore year I played a little bit,” said Buehner. “I broke my thumb in the first scrimmage at West Mifflin, and I probably didn’t comeback to play after going to Dr. Bradley and getting a soft cast. It was probably one of the first times anyone played in a soft cast. I played cornerback, probably the last five or six games of that season.
“My junior year we were very, very competitive. We missed the playoffs on a missed extra point at our place against Southmoreland and that was terrible, but all in all, we had a really good team.
“My best friend Paul Kovell ended up playing at IUP and made the Philadelphia Eagles practice squad. Eric Hamm was a really good running back. Jody Shelby was the quarterback. There were a bunch of athletes on that team.
“We were hit by graduation losses in 1985 and slipped a little bit.”
Buehner played offense and defense as a junior and senior. He played running back both years and was at cornerback as a junior and linebacker as a senior. Buehner scored nine touchdowns as a junior and 12 touchdowns as a senior, playing for Bill Elias.
“Coach Elias was great,” Buehner stated. “He was good to play for and fair. He treated me very well.”
Buehner was 1-1 in his high school football career against archrival Uniontown.
“We were the first Laurel Highlands football team to beat Uniontown,” Buehner said. “That was my junior year and we won 27-7, and I had two touchdowns in that game. That was a great night for us.”
Buehner played basketball for LH, finishing 13-7 in 1984-85 with a 82-72 loss to Latrobe in the WPIAL playoffs.
The Mustangs were 14-7 in 1985-86, and downed Penn Trafford (83-74) and Baldwin (82-70) in the WPIAL playoffs before falling to Kiski Area, 78-65. The Mustangs beat Brashear in the PIAA playoffs, 64-58, and lost to Farrell in tight game, 64-62.
LH posted a record of 11-11 in Buehner’s senior campaign in 1986-87.
“We were pretty good my junior year,” recalled Buehner. “We had some good players like Greg Beckwith, Kovell, Kent Brookings and Shelby.”
Buehner scored 478 points in his LH basketball career playing for head coach Mark John.
“My senior year I had 22 points in a 85-84 loss to Uniontown,” remembered Buehner. “That was a heck of a game.”
Buehner had good feeling about coach John.
“He is a great guy,” offered Buehner. “I had a great experience with all of my high school coaches, including Tom Landman in baseball. They all treated me very well. I played baseball my senior year and had a decent season.”
Looking back, Buehner has fond memories of his high school days.
“Yep, wouldn’t change it for the world,” Buehner said.
When Buehner graduated from LH in 1987 he had quite a few Division II football offers, but was hoping to go Division I.
“I had a ton of D-II offers, and I visited West Virginia and they wanted me to walk on,” explained Buehner. “Then Coach Mark Thomas from Tulsa, who played with my Uncle Jack at Penn State, came to watch me play baseball. I had a good game and did some athletic things, and he said why doesn’t he come to Tulsa. I got on a plane about two weeks later, took a visit and I never looked back.”
Buehner redshirted in 1988 and then was on Tulsa teams that went 6-6 in 1989, 3-8 in 1990, 10-2 with a Freedom Bowl win over San Diego State in 1991 and 4-7 in 1992.
“My junior year was unbelievable,” Buehner gushed. “Beating Texas A&M, 35-34, when they were No. 15 was a great win and then beating Marshall Faulk and San Diego State in the bowl game. We had a miracle season, they call it the miracle on 11th street.”
Buehner played offense for Tulsa.
“It was called an H-back and I lined up in the backfield and did a lot of motion,” said Buehner. “I was a running back/slash blocker in our high-powered offense.”
Buehner had 35 career pass receptions for 330 yards and five touchdowns. He also had to kickoff returns for a total of 22 yards.
He played for coach Dave Radar at Tulsa.
“I played for Coach Radar and at that time he was the youngest head coach in college football,” Buehner offered. “He just related to all of us and it was an incredible atmosphere. Going to Tulsa was one of the best decisions of my life.”
Buehner got a degree in education and stayed in Tulsa for two years and taught school.
“I had a baby and came back to Uniontown. I got a job with Anheuser-Busch, first with Mark Thompson and now Frank Fuhrer Wholesale. He’s been in the beer business for going on 24 years,” said Buehner. “When I first got back I did some substitute teaching and was on my Uncle Jack’s staff at Laurel Highlands, and really enjoyed it.”
Buehner, 54, resides in Uniontown with his wife Amy, his wife of 10 years. He has a son Colt, who is 29 and lives in San Diego. He has three step-children, Hannah, Cain and Conner.
“I’m still involved with sports,” said Buehner. “My side job is officiating. The last couple of years in basketball I’ve worked six WPIAL championships. I’ve worked two WPIAL football championships and one PIAA state final in football.
“I’ve had a great career so far.”