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Contact – Tim Stried, OHSAA Director of Media Relations, [email protected]

 

 

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio Prep Sportswriters Association has announced the 2023 induction class into the OPSWA Hall of Fame, which includes Steve Junga from The Blade in Toledo, Bob Rossiter from The Repository in Canton, and Karl Pearson from the Star Beacon in Ashtabula, who will be inducted posthumously.

 

The induction ceremony will take place during the OHSAA boys basketball state tournament at the University of Dayton Arena on Sunday, March 19. They will join 70 sports writing greats previously enshrined in the OPSWA Hall of Fame.

 

Biographical information for all three inductees is below. The OPSWA inducted its first Hall of Fame class in 1983. The complete list is posted at: https://www.ohsaa.org/news/OPSWA/HOF

 

The OPSWA was created in 1972 to support, promote and recognize the coverage of high school sports across Ohio. More information is available at: https://www.ohsaa.org/news/OPSWA

 

Steve Junga is currently in his 36th year covering sports for The Blade. He has been on the Northwest District football and basketball all-district panel for 23 years and has been an Associated Press poll voter during that time, as well. Junga has won awards from the Associated Press, OPSWA and the Professional Bowlers Association. After graduating from Toledo Waite High School, where he played baseball and basketball, and the University of Toledo, Junga got his start with Metro Press/Suburban Press in 1985. He moved onto The Blade in 1987 and has specialized in high school sports while also covering college sports, ECHL and NHL hockey, MLB, NFL, NBA, PGA, LPGA, PBA and auto racing.

 

Bob Rossiter is the first photographer to be inducted into the OPSWA Hall of Fame. He began his career while he was a student at Canton McKinley High School and was hired full-time by The Repository in 1972 after he graduated in 1971, establishing himself as one of the most respected photographers in Northeast Ohio. Rossiter has covered everything from United States presidents to Super Bowl champions, but high school sports has been his passion. He has won numerous awards from the Associated Press and Ohio News Photographers Association. Rossiter retired from full-time work in 2019 but continues to work on a part-time basis for The Repository.

 

Karl Pearson passed away in 2011 after a hall of fame career in Ashtabula County. He was at Star Beacon for 35 years, serving in capacities of sports writer, assistant sports editor and sports editor. He was inducted into Ashtabula County Basketball Hall of Fame, the Ashtabula County Football Hall of Fame, Ashtabula County Bowling Hall of Fame and received the OHSAA Northeast District's media service award. In Pearson’s honor, a high school golf tournament is held in his name every fall and Ashtabula Lakeside High School holds a dual meet wrestling tournament in the winter. He was a 1971 graduate of Madison High school and a 1976 graduate of Cleveland State University.