Jerry Voskerichian

Jerry Voskerichian

Jerry Voskerichian was an outstanding lineman at Bennett High School. He was nicknamed the “fire hydrant” because of his stature and being virtually immovable on the line. He was nicknamed “The Perfect Guard” by his coach Nick
Magavero. Jerry played on some great teams at Bennett. The 1959 and 1961 teams were especially noteworthy. They went undefeated in 1959 and won the Harvard Cup and they repeated in 1961. Jerry was the only guard to attain All High status in both the Buffalo Evening News and the Courier Express. In 1962, Jerry had hoped to play in college and was being recruited by Brown University. Unfortunately, a serious knee injury ended any thought of his playing in college.

Although Jerry’s high school career was over he stayed involved in athletics for most of his life. He greatly enjoyed coaching his children in Little League competition. This was not an easy accomplishment as he tragically lost his wife at the age of 26. Jerry also coached his kids in the Connie Mack Little league. He coached hardball and softball at Amherst High School where he also coached his son Kirk.

Jerry also had an outstanding career in the restaurant and real estate business. Jerry’s favorite quote was from the legendary coach Vince Lombardi that sums up his life. Lombardi said, “Winners never quit and Quitters never win” and “it is not whether you get knocked down – it’s whether you get back up.”

Tom Jost

Tom Jost

Tom Jost was an outstanding cross country runner and baseball player. He participated in both sports from 1976-1979. He was All High in cross country in 1978, finishing fourth. In 1979 he achieved a memorable feat by finishing
1st in the cross country run. Awards that he achieved in sports at Bennett were being named cross country captain in 1978 and 1979, cross country Most Valuable Player in 1978-79, and baseball captain in 1980. A moment that he has always treasured was reaching the Sectional final, losing to Trott High School.

After graduating from Bennett he has been a teacher in the Buffalo school system since 1992. He has been the Hutch Tech baseball coach from 2005-2018. His teams were Cornell Cup Champions 2006 and from 2009-2012. He has been Hutch tech assistant football coach from 2007-2018.

He is married to wife Karen and they have two sons, Andrew and Bryan who played basketball, baseball and football at Clarence High School. Even though he is 55 years old Jost still plays baseball and softball four nights a week during the summer and recreation basketball 3 times a week during the rest of the year.

When Jost was notified that he would be inducted into the Bennett High School Sports Hall of Fame he said that he felt honored to be inducted with so many other outstanding athletes and will always remember the caring teachers and coaches at Bennett.

Jim Ewing

Jim Ewing

He was affectionately called “Big Jim Ewing”, stood 6 feet 7 inches and was one of the greatest basketball players to have ever played at Bennett. He also played volleyball and basketball and from 1976-77 at Cleveland Hill High School, attaining 2nd team honors in basketball in ECIC play. He transferred to Bennett in 1977-78 where he was first team All High and 8th team All State. In 1978 he was the MVP in the High School all star game. He also led Bennett to the Class BB title in 1978. He went on to play pro basketball in Portugal, Argentina and Brazil.

After high school he played college basketball at the University of Wisconsin Superior College. He was MVP All Conference in 1982 and was also co-player of the year for conference play.

Ewing contributes his basketball success to his father who taught him how to play basketball at an early age. Using his knowledge of the game he converted Ewing from being right handed to becoming left handed. His
reasoning was that it would create great difficulty for a defensive player to check him. Changing Ewing to become a left hander led to his being an outstanding scorer and great rebounder.

Ewing said that he thanks God for the opportunity of being selected to the Bennett High Sports Hall of Fame. He had always hoped that he would be selected because of the success of the team that he played on. He appreciated the way he was accepted at Bennett and also the chance to play basketball for legendary coach Larry Veronica.

Monsignor James N. Connelly

Monsignor James N. Connelly

To be nominated for the John W. Zeitller Memorial Award nominees must have the following specific qualities : They must have an extraordinary dedication to community and family life. They must have an outstanding reputation as a “spiritual” leader in the community. They must have been a significant mentorship of students and families. They must have recognized dedication to education and leadership. Finally, they must have established leadership and administrative skills.

This years nominee Monsignor James N. Connelly has all of these skills and more. It is hard to believe that Monsignor Connelly is 97 years old and is still active. Tonight he will be receiving the 1st Annual John Zeitler W. Memorial Achievement Award. Monsignor was a lifetime friend of the legendary John Zeitler. Zeitler was an assistant at St. Joseph Parish years ago and worked closely with Monsignor Connelly at the school. He said, “John Zeitler was an amazing friend. He was in charge of our youth program at St, Joseph and did the coaching and the intramural athletics. His knowledge of athletics was second to none. He was a wonderful person who was a great role model for our children and is greatly missed.

When Monsignor Connelly went to Bennett High School he took part in varsity baseball, track and cross country. He has great memories of Bennett and is honored to be receiving this prestigious award.

Daniel A Goldie

Daniel A Goldie

Daniel A. Goldie had a storied sports career at Bennett High School. He was All High in baseball in 1984/1985 and 1985/86 and was honorable mention All WNY when he hit 3 home runs in one game. In ice hockey, he was All High in
1983/84 and 1984/85 and in football in 1985/86. At Buffalo State, he excelled in hockey all 4 years and was all conference three years. He played pro hockey for two years in Germany and one year for the Erie Panthers who were affiliated with the Los Angeles Kings.

It really isn’t surprising that he had an outstanding athletic career. As a youngster, he would play different sports with his friends. At Bennett he had great camaraderie with all of the athletes and a great school spirit that helped him play at a high level.

Goldie was noted for his mental toughness, being level headed, disciplined and a fierce drive to succeed. He said, “No matter what the sport was, I hated to lose. That was my mindset. He also gave a great amount of credit for his success to Bennett coaches Larry Veronica, Jerry Berkman and John Vella. “They were always helpful and were great friends and mentors.”

Goldie said, “I made friends at Bennett that I am still close to and who I will always have great memories of. When I was notified that I was being inducted into the Bennett Sports Hall of Fame I was deeply humbled and thankful for this great honor.”

Daniel A Goldie kicking football