The Butte Sports Hall of Fame will celebrate its 30th anniversary this weekend with the induction of 10 individuals and four teams.
Individuals getting the call to the Hall are Mark DeVore, Eric Dunmire, Anna Fabatz, Dan Hodge, Mark Johnston, Rick Lyons, Fraser MacDonald, Joe Petroni, Randy Street and Jamie (Wolstein) Toivonen.
State championship teams inducted will be the 1988-89 Butte High wrestling team, the 1991 Butte High football team, the 1991-92 Butte Central boys’ basketball team and the 1992 Butte High softball team.
Hall of Fame weekend kicks off Friday with a 1:30 p.m. with a nine-hole golf scramble at the Highland View Golf Course.
The Green Jacket ceremony will be held Friday at the Butte Civic Center. The event begins with a cocktail hour starting at 6 p.m. The ceremony, which will include the unveiling of a Mike Hamblin painting of Pat Kearney, begins at 7:30.
The Green Jacket ceremony is free and open to the public.
A Green Jacket breakfast will be held at 9 a.m. Saturday at Perkins. This event is for all Green Jackets and their families.
Team no-host breakfasts will also be held on Saturday morning. A breakfast for the 1992 Butte Central boys’ basketball team is set for 10:30 at the Maroon Activities Center. A breakfast for the 1988-89 Butte High wrestling team, 1991 Butte High football team and the 1992 Butte High softball team will be held at 10:30 at Butte High School.
Cocktail hour for the banquet begins at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Civic Center. Dinner is set for 7, with the induction ceremony following.
The events of both nights can be watched online.
Following is a look at the Butte Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2017.
Mark DeVore
Mark DeVore was an outstanding all-around athlete at Butte High in the 1970s. DeVore was a two-year starting running back for the Bulldogs in 1973 and 1974. In his senior year in 1974, he had 33 rushes for 145 yards leading Butte High to a dramatic 6-0 win over Butte Central, ending the Maroons’ 28-game winning streak. For the season, Mark carried the ball 128 times for 807 yards.
DeVore was the captain of the 1974 team that played in the state championship game against Great Falls. He was selected first team All-State following the season. For his career, he had 168 carries for 1,016 yards, scoring six touchdowns. Mark also competed in basketball and track for the Bulldogs. He was a member of the 1974 and 1975 Butte High boys’ track teams that won the state championship. Mark won the javelin competition at the 1975 state meet with a throw of 208-6.
DeVore went on to play football at Montana State. He was the starting inside linebacker on the Bobcats’ 1976 national championship team.
Eric Dunmire
Eric Dunmire was a four-time state champion wrestler at Butte High School. He became only the 10th wrestler to win four state crowns and the first one from Butte to ever accomplish the feat.
Dunmire had a record of 152-2 against high school competition. He never lost to a Montana opponent during his high school career. His two loses came to wrestlers from New Jersey and Washington. He won his first state title in 1995 at 105 pounds. Eric went 40-0 with 25 pins for the season as Butte High won the state championship. He is the first and only freshmen at Butte High to go undefeated for the season. In 1996, he went undefeated with a 36-0 record. He won the state crown at 112 pounds. Dunmire was selected as the Southwest Region Wrestler of the Year by the AAU Little Sullivan Award committee. In 1997, he won the state crown at 119 pounds as the Bulldogs won the state championship. His record was 36-2 for the year.
In 1998, Dunmire went undefeated at 125 pounds to capture his fourth straight title. He had a record of 38-0 for the season. Following his prep career, Dunmire wrestled at Northern Iowa. He won a pair of tournaments his freshmen year after red-shirting in 1999. Dunmire transferred to MSU-Northern in 2001. He placed third in the National NAIA meet in 2002. Prior to his high school and college career, Eric was a dominant force in USA wrestling.
Anna Fabatz
Anna Fabatz is one of the most — if not the most — decorated all-around female athletes Butte High has ever seen. In her years competing for the Bulldogs, Fabatz earned 12 varsity letters (in softball, volleyball, basketball and track). She is believed to be the first Butte High female to ever earn 12 letters. At Butte High, she was a member of a state championship team (1994 volleyball) and a first-team All-State selection (1997 volleyball). Overall, she was selected to four All-State teams, seven All-Conference teams, played in three state tournaments and received Academic All-State honors seven times.
Fabatz was a leader for the Butte High basketball and volleyball teams. She earned second team All-State in basketball in 1995. Fabatz’s 817 points in 81 games ranks No. 3 in school history. She earned second-team All-State in volleyball in 1996. Fabatz placed second in the Class AA state track meet in the javelin.
She went on to play collegiately for MSU-Northern, back when the Skylights were the premier team of the Frontier Conference. In three of Fabatz’s four years at Northern, the Skylights played in the NAIA National tournament.
Dan Hodge
Dan Hodge was an outstanding all-around athlete at Butte High competing in football, basketball and track. Hodge, who was voted into the Hall by the Green Jackets in the veteran category, was a member of the 1961 state championship football team. He was the starting quarterback for the Bulldogs in 1962. Dan received All-State honorable mention following the season. He was selected and starter in the 1963 Montana East-West Shrine game in Great Falls.
In basketball, Hodge was a starter in his senior year of 1963 for the Bulldogs. In track, Dan was a three-year letter winner competing in the hurdles, javelin and long jump. He was a member of the 1963 state championship track team at Butte High.
Hodge played football at Montana State. He was a three-year starter for the Bobcats as a running back and defensive back. The Bobcats won the Big Sky Conference titles in 1964 and 1966. After his senior year, he was voted first team All-Big Sky Conference as a defensive back. In track, he was a four-year letter winner for the Bobcats, setting a school record in the triple jump during his senior year. After his college days, Hodge continued to compete in softball. He was inducted into the Montana Softball Hall of Fame in 1987.
In 1972 Hodge started coaching football and track in Kalispell. Hodge has led the boys’ program in Kalispell for 42 years, has seven state track titles, seven second- and five third-place finishes, eight Track Coach Of the Year awards, and was inducted into the Montana Coaches Hall of Fame in 1998. Dan was named the National High School Track Coach of the Year in 2012 and was inducted into the National High School Coaches Hall of Fame in 2015.
Mark Johnston
Mark Johnston was a standout wrestler for the Butte Central Maroons. While wrestling for the Maroons, he had a career record (1977-80) of 80-4. Of his four losses, three came from the same opponent, Mark Tarr of Whitefish. He had only two losses during his sophomore year, however both losses occurred at state. As a junior, Mark was a divisional champion. His only loss during his junior year occurred at state and he finished third in the state. In his senior season Mark became a three-time divisional champion for the Maroons. He capped his prep career with an individual state championship in 1980, defeating Tarr at the Butte Civic Center.
After high school Mark went on to wrestle for the Montana State Bobcats (an NCAA Division 1 wrestling program at the time) in the Big Sky Conference.
In 1991, Mark took over head coaching duties for the Glasgow Scotties wrestling team in Glasgow, Montana. In 1993 he led the Scotties to their first state championship since 1977. He followed that up with four more state championship runs in 2001, 2002, 2007, and 2008 giving him five total state championships as a coach.
Mark’s 2001 team had five individual state champions. That is still a Montana state record for most individual state champions in a season for all classifications.
Rick Lyons
Rick Lyons was an outstanding golfer, basketball player, handball player and baseball player. He is most-notably a golfer. At the age of 39, Lyons won the 1999 Montana State Amateur Championship at the Butte Country Club. Lyons also won the 1991 and 1995 Montana State Mid-Amateur titles. He won the 1991 title at the Butte Country Club and the 1995 crown at the Green Meadow Country Club in Helena. He was inducted into the Montana State Golf Hall of Fame in 1996. In high school, Lyons helped lead Butte Central to the 1978 Class A state championship.
Lyons was a member of the 1978 Class A state championship Butte Central basketball team. He earned an All-Conference nod as a forward for the Maroons. He scored 354 points (13.6 points per game). In all, he played 44 varsity games and scored 431 points.
In 1989, Lyons won the B Division at the Montana State Handball tournament. He also was a member of Butte’s first Little League Baseball state championship team.
Fraser MacDonald
Fraser MacDonald was a long-time contributor to the sports scene in the Mining City. He was voted in by the Green Jackets in the contributor category. He served as an assistant football coach at Butte High and was on staff during two Butte High state championship teams, in 1967 and 1968. He was an assistant on the 1969 team that finished runners up. He was the head basketball coach at Butte High from 1968-1972.
As an athlete, MacDonald lettered in football, basketball and track at Butte High. He also played American Legion baseball before playing baseball at Western Montana College.
MacDonald was also a well-known radio announcer. Starting in 1967 and carrying on for decades, Fraser was the voice of the Butte High Bulldogs, Montana Tech Orediggers, Butte Copper Kings and much more.
MacDonald served as the Executive Director of the Montana State Golf Association from 1974-1999. During that time he also oversaw the state’s junior golf program. He was inducted into the Montana State Golf Association Hall of Fame in 1999.
MacDonald is also in the Montana Western (formerly Western Montana College) Hall of Fame as a baseball player, the National Foundation of Football Coaches Hall of Fame as a sportscaster and the Butte Sports Hall of Fame as an assistant on the state championship teams. He was a member of the original committee that established the Butte Sports Hall of Fame in 1987.
Joe Petroni
Joe Petroni was an outstanding trap shooter who competed for fifty years in the sport. Joe began trap shooting in 1960. He won his first state championship in 1962. Later that year, Petroni received the Miller Trophy. He went on to win various state titles five more times.
He took the state singles crown three times in 1967, 1984 and 1989. Joe won the state doubles title in 1981 and the State all-around crown in 1982. In 1983, he won the state’s highest honor, the Butte Rod and Gun Club Medal established in 1898. Petroni was captain of the Montana All-State team four times in 1971, 1982, 1986 and 1987. He made the Montana first team twelve times between 1964 and 1988.
In 1987, Petroni had the highest average in the state handicap. In local competition, Joe won the city championship eight times and also took the plus-65 title twice, in 2005 and 2010. Petroni competed in the Grand American National Trap Shoot in Ohio three times. His best performance came in 1989, when as a member of the 500 x 500 club. It was only the twelve time ever in the competition that such a performance has been achieved. In addition to competing, Joe gave back to the sport serving as the longtime President of the Montana Trap Shooters Association. He was selected into the Montana Trap Shooting Hall of Fame in 1995.
Randy Street
Randy Street was three-time state champion wrestler at Butte High School. He is one of the few Bulldog athletes win a state wrestling title and also be selected as a first-team All-State football player.
In wrestling, Street was a member of four state champion Bulldog teams from 1985-1988. An injury late in his freshman year kept him out of the state tournament, ending a season in which he was favored to win the state title in his weight class. His replacement on the Butte High team won the state title. In 1986, Street won the state title at 119 pounds, posting a 25-1 record. He went 27-0 as a junior in 1987, winning the state crown at 132 pounds. As a senior, Street captured his third state title, going 32-1 in the 140-pound weight class. In his four years as a Bulldog, Street posted a record of 94-4.
Street started at defensive back for the Butte High football team, helping the Bulldogs advance to the state championship game in 1986 and 1987. As a junior he earned an All-State honorable mention. He was a first-team All-State selection as a senior.
Street went on to wrestle two years at the University of Nebraska. Following an injury, he competed in wrestling for two years at MSU-Northern. In his first year with the Lights, Street win the NAIA national title at 150 pounds. He went through the season undefeated. The following season, Street went 23-1 and placed third at the NAIA National Tournament.
Randy Street tragically passed away at the age of 42 in 2012.
Jamie (Wolstein) Toivonen
Jamie was a standout three-sport athlete for Butte High School in the early 1990s. She earned 11 varsity letters while playing for the Bulldogs. That includes four letters in volleyball and track, and three in basketball. She was a member of Butte High’s only state championship volleyball team, earning All-State honors as a setter. She also took home All-State honors at setter as a senior in 1995. Wolstein played in four state tournaments for the Bulldogs before she took her talent to the University of Montana volleyball team. Wolstein played for the Grizzlies from 1996 through 1999.
As a senior at the 1995 Class AA State track meet, Jamie won the state title in the long jump. She also placed fourth in the high jump and ran leg on both relay teams. As a freshman, Jamie won the Montana AAU high jump title. She placed second at the regional meet. Jamie took home Butte High’s prestigious Outstanding Female Athlete Award following her senior season.
Currently, Jamie is the head track coach at Superior High School. In 2013, her Bobcats captured the Class C state title.
1988-89 Butte High wrestling
The 1989 Bulldogs won the Class AA state title for a Montana record 10th straight year, completing a decade of dominance in the 1980s. Coach Jim Street’s team was featured on ESPN’s Scholastic Sports America following the state title.
At the State tournament at the Billings Metra, the Bulldogs scored 202 team points. Billings Skyview placed second at 175.
Senior Corey Bolton completed his second straight undefeated season with a 30-0 mark. He won the 160-pound state title, which was Butte High’s lone individual title that year.
Butte High saw 13 members of its 14-man roster place at State. Senior Keith Haberman (152 pounds), senior Neil Bolton (135) and senior Joe Johnston (125) all placed second at state. Third-place finishers were junior Jamie Harris (105), sophomore Brian Bolton (119), senior Chad Lembke (189) and Lance Allen (275). Sophomore Vince Bolton placed fourth at 112, and freshman Robin Moodry took fifth at 140. Sophomore John Hardesty (98), senior Corey Corbitt (130) and senior Jody Hollingsworth (145) placed sixth. Also, Shane Hollingsworth wrestled at state at 171 pounds for the Bulldogs.
1991 Butte High football
The Bulldogs went from dark horse to juggernaut in 1991, storming to the Class AA state title with a 12-0 record. Butte High was picked in the preseason to finish low in the Class AA standings. Instead, the Bulldogs outscored their opponents 396-112 on their way to head coach Jon McElroy’s third state title.
The Bulldogs started the season with a 62-20 win over Butte Central in what ended up being the final game of the Butte High-Butte Central rivalry. They closed it with 34-7 victory over Missoula Hellgate in the championship game in Butte.
Junior quarterback Josh Paffhausen led the Class AA with 2,746 all-purpose yardage on his way to becoming the Class AA Offensive Player of the Year. He threw 24 touchdown passes, including five in the championship game. Paffhausen, who was inducted into the Butte Sports Hall of Fame in 2013, is one of eight first-team All-State players from the 1991 Bulldog team. Randy Riley, Lance Steilman, Jon Smitham, Ben Racicot, Shawn Galetti, Darrell Story and Jeremy Whitlock were the others. Paul Flynn, Josh Vincent and Brian Toone were named second-team All-State, while Brian Seymour and Dave Dunstan received an All-State honorable mention.
1991-92 Butte Central boys’ basketball
During the 1991-92 season, the Butte Central boys’ basketball team registered a 20-4 record and delivered the school its fifth state championship.
The Maroons took a 17-4 record into the Class A State tournament at the Billings Metra. Two weeks earlier, the Maroons beat Anaconda 56-49 in the Central A Divisional championship game at the Butte Civic Center. BC headed to state having avenged all four of its losses.
Senior Sean Walsh earned State tournament MVP honors after scoring 75 points in the three games. That includes 33 points in BC’s 65-58 win over Whitefish in the semifinals. Walsh, who scored 16 points in BC’s 48-44 tournament-opening win over Miles City, scored 26 points in the 68-56 win over Stevensville in the championship game. Fellow senior Ryan Maloney scored 18 points, including a fast-break dunk off a pass from sophomore R.J. Olson to put a cherry on BC’s title-game win.
Walsh, Maloney, Ryan Murphy and Tim McHugh were seniors who started for the Maroons along with junior Brodie Kelly. Seniors Rick Solmonson and Mike Benner were also members of the state-tournament team, along with juniors Cam McQueary, Mark McLaughlin, Mike McLaughlin and John Keely, and sophomore Zach Murphy.
Former Montana Tech assistant Tom Berg was the head coach of the Maroons. The 1991-92 season was Berg’s first with the Maroons. BC’s 20-4 record included a 64-55 win over Butte High.
1992 Butte High softball
The 1992 Butte High softball won the Class AA state championship in just its second year competing in the sport. After going 11-11 in 1991, the Bulldogs finished the 1992 campaign with a 21-3 record.
Coach Jim Hope’s Bulldogs completed the regular season with a 17-3 record. That included a 10-2 record in the Western AA as the Bulldogs captured the division title. Butte High then went 4-0 at the Class AA State tournament in Bozeman.
Senior Christine May and sophomore Gayle Clark gave the Bulldogs an incredible 1-2 punch in the pitcher’s circle. May went 13-2 with six shutouts, including a shutout in Butte High’s 2-0 win over Billings Skyview in the championship game. May went 3-0 in the state tournament, back when pitchers were limited to 14 innings per day. Clark went 8-1, including a victory at state.
At the state tournament, the Bulldogs beat Billings West 4-0 before knocking off Skyivew 9-3 and Billings Senior 16-2 to advance to the title game. Skyview would have had to beat the Bulldogs twice to win the double-elimination tournament.
Senior first baseman Dawn Nadeau led Butte High’s powerful offensive attack. She hit .447 with four home runs, five triples and five doubles. Clark batted .443 with three homers, seven triples and six doubles. Senior left-handed catcher Melissa Hansen hit .433 for the Bulldogs, who batted .341 as a team.
Senior outfield Cindy Sparks hit .378, senior shortstop Amy Schenk batted .375, and junior second baseman Dani Svejkovsky batted .367.
