by Jeff | Feb 17, 2023
The Syracuse twins, Jack and Richard were the prime movers in getting varsity soccer brought to Bennett H.S. In 1987. Soccer was played as a “club sport” in the Buffalo high schools, but not yet at Bennett. When the skilled soccer playing brothers were asked by a friend to play with him at Lafayette H.S., another team in the league (Hutch Tech ) protested that the players should only be allowed to play for Bennett, which of course did not have a team. The brothers took the issue to the Buffalo Board of Education. The Board then decided that if the boys could get a commitment from 30 other players at Bennett, they could enter a team in the league. Jack and Richard prevailed, got their 30 plus signatures on a petition, and soccer was born at Bennett H.S. Bennett joined the club soccer league, with the boys father as volunteer coach. In 1988, soccer became a regular interschool varsity sport in the City of Buffalo. Bennett was represented with the late Wally Thompson as head coach.
The brothers soccer prowess soon came to the fore. Both Richard with 23 goals and Jack with 16 goals finished 1 – 2 in the league in scoring. Both were named first team All-High and All-WNY selections in soccer after the 1987 and 1988 soccer seasons.
After high school, the brothers attended Ohio Northern University where they played soccer for one year, after which they returned home to tend to the family business. Today they are the proprietors of Gecko’s Bar and Grille, 1462 Hertel Ave. Jack and his wife Rachel have a son, Santonio, aged 4. Richard and his wife Diana have three children, Talia 9, Ariana 7, and Enzo aged 3.
by Jeff | Feb 17, 2023
William Harty went to Bennett High School where he graduated at an early age. He attained All High honors in tennis in 1934 and In 1936 he was ranked 22nd nationally in the boys 18’s singles in the United States. He went from Bennett to Dartmouth College where he was captain and played first singles. After serving in Iran during WWII, in the Persian Gulf Command, he returned to Buffalo where he won the Niagara Frontier Tennis Championship – the forerunner to the MUNY Championships in 1946. Harty married Teckla Cederquist in 1946 and retired from competitive tennis, focusing on his work at The Exolon Company where he became president and worked until his retirement in 1980.
His life centered around his family, his friends, and his love of Buffalo where he helped raise his four boys, Donald, Douglas, Mark and Tom. (His son Mark, during high school, would rise at an ungodly hour and play tennis with another aficionado , fellow Bennett Hall of Famer, Charlie Garfinkel, where they would pound the courts at Amherst High School in the early hours of the morning..)
He shared his love of tennis with all his boys. Mark followed in his footsteps and captained the Dartmouth College tennis team.
William Harty passed away in 1981, leaving a tennis legacy as one of the finest tennis players to have ever played for Bennett High School.
by Jeff | Feb 17, 2023
Jimmy was a three sport athlete at Bennett after transferring over from East H.S. A three year Cross Country runner, Jimmy helped the Tigers win the Columbia Cup in 1964 and 1965. He played two years of varsity basketball, and was on the 1966 Yale Cup champion team. Jimmy played two years of varsity baseball as a first and third baseman, and made first team All-High both seasons. Following high school, Jimmy was signed to a professional baseball contract by the Detroit Tigers. During his high school years, Jimmy was also Buffalo men’s table tennis champion from 1963 to 1966. After his attempt at professional baseball, Jimmy enrolled at the University of Buffalo, earning a BA degree in Business Ed. While in college, Jimmy won the National Intercollegiate Table Tennis championship.
Jimmy’s interesting working career saw him working befor the F.B.I. for 10 years, and he taught school in Detroit, MI, as well as 1 year at Bennett H.S. Today Jimmy is a professional fisherman on a national level, competing in fishing contests January through November.
Jimmy Dixon has two children, James Jr. and Dina.
by Jeff | Feb 17, 2023
Tony Cipolla started his high school athletic career at Technical H.S. At the start of his junior year he transferred to his neighborhood school, Bennett. Tony continued his athletic career at Bennett playing varsity basketball and baseball for the Tigers. As a sophomore, Tony was third team All-High in basketball at Technical. In his two varsity years at Bennett, Tony was “Honorable Mention” as a guard, and first team All-High in his senior year. Tony’s 14 ppg scoring average helped lead Bennett to the “Yale Cup” in 1953.
Tony also excelled in varsity baseball during years 2,3 and 4, leading the Tigers to play in the “Cornell Cup” championship game at Offerman stadium in 1954, a close, hard fought loss for the Tiger nine. Cipolla’s baseball skills were good enough to land him a full scholarship to Michigan State University. Tony played two years of baseball and basketball at MSU, and finished with a degree in Chemical Engineering in 1959.
Tony Cipolla is now retired after a 34 year career working for “Allied Signal Corporation”. His long career in management took him to many states across our country. Tony and his wife Patricia now live in retirement in Naples, FL. The Cipolla’s have two children. Daughter Lisa (Hazelton) is in med school, and son Tony Jr. has recently finished with the U.S. military service.
