John Bragg
John Bragg was born in Upland, Indiana but spent most of his youth in Fort Wayne. The Fort Wayne summer baseball league was enjoyed every year and honed John’s skills, love of athletics and competitiveness. John graduated from Fort Wayne South Side High School in 1946 where he was a standout basketball and track athlete. As a Morse Code specialist, John spent two years (1946-1948) in the Navy aboard the minesweeper USS Macomb. After transferring from Butler University, John played basketball at Taylor University for Coach Don Odle from 1948-1952 and graduated with a degree in education....Read more
Wayne Duncan
Wayne Duncan’s basketball career got its start with a basketball goal (no net) on the side of the barn at the farm in Swayzee. It is here some epic battles were waged with older brother Homer. Wayne has been credited with being a pioneer of the one-handed jump shot in the area. Although he does not remember exactly how that came about he says it could have been from his elementary days at Point Isabel Elementary School. Here the ceiling was very low and if your shot hit the ceiling, it was considered out of bounds. Thus, a more line drive less arch shot was needed. In high school, Wayne...Read more
Connie Garrett
Connie Garrett grew up in Marion and attended Marion High School graduating in 1962. Her parents were Dwight and Clara Garrett and they resided in Marion until they went to a nursing home facility in Flora at age 73. They raised a family of four boys and three girls and Connie was the middle child. In high school Connie was on the yearbook and newspaper staff, was a member of the Girls Pep Block, and a member of National Honor Society. The first of her family to attend college, Connie was fortunate to receive full academic and financial needs scholarships to attend Franklin College. She p...Read more
Arlen Thomas Hasty
Arlen Thomas Hasty, 77 of Fairmount died on Friday February 9, 2018 at Community Hospital, Anderson, Indiana after a brief illness. Known to many in the Fairmount area as Mr. Madison-Grant, he was an avid sports fan but especially Madison-Grant Junior and Senior High sports. He followed the teams wherever they were playing and would attend most of their sporting events. He could tell you the achievements of most of the talented athletes from Grant County. He was a member of the committee for the Grant County Sports Hall of Fame since its inception in 2008. He was a former school board mem...Read more
Geneva (Betty) Hulse
Born in the mountains of Tennessee, Betty Hulse came from very humble beginnings. She and her husband were sharecroppers. In 1953, a close friend urged them to move to Marion, Indiana where the dream of owning a home could be a real possibility.Once here in Marion, she started bowling in the late ‘50s and traveled statewide to compete. Betty was a top bowler in Grant County for several years. Tuesdays and Thursdays were spent at the local Crest Lanes and JoCo bowling alleys for league nights. JoCo, in fact, for years displayed a 7-foot, 3-inch sailfish that Betty once caught after an hour of...Read more
Mike Mitchener
Mike graduated from Mississinewa High School in 1985. He was an all-conference athlete in football, basketball, and baseball. In Mitchener’s senior year, he led Mississinewa to a conference championship in football, a winning season in basketball for the first time in 20 years, and a state-ranked baseball team.In addition to his success on the field of play, Mitchener was a classic example of the student/athlete. He graduated Mississinewa with a 3.96 GPA, which ranked him sixth in his graduating class. Upon graduation from Mississinewa, Mitchener took a full scholarship to Armstrong Sta...Read more
Tony Thompson
Anthony “Tony” Thompson was born to Thomas and Mae Thompson in 1965 and raised in Marion. At the age of seven Tony began to hit rocks behind his home with a 2x4 he found after watching his father play in the slow-pitch softball team Little Harlem. Recognizing his innate talent Tony’s father immediately began teaching him the fundamentals of baseball. By age nine, Tony was playing Lincoln Field Little League and was the first and only Little League player to be in Sports Hotline’s, “Sports Spotlight” feature. Tony went on to play throughout his youth, including Jone’s Junior High,...Read more
Mel Wysong
The Marion baseball coach and assistant athletic director, Wysong had a tremendous impact on many during his lifetime. His significant contributions to Marion, its youths and anyone he came in contact with will remain.Wysong will be remembered for the success he enjoyed in 13 years of coaching Marion baseball. He compiled a 275-127 record and won more games than any other Marion coach. He took the Giants to the state championship game three times, winning it all in 1984 and finishing second in 1986 and 1991. Wysong also played for the state runner-up Giants in 1968.He became head coach of the ...Read more
Mark Yordy
Mark Yordy graduated from Gridley, IL High School, Taylor University, and Ball State University. After one year at Blackford Community Schools. Mark was hired by Oak Hill High School as the Aquatics Director and started the swimming & diving program. He would spend the next 38 years teaching and coaching for the Golden Eagles.Mark began his coaching assignment at Oak Hill as the girls track & field coach where he compiled a dual meet record of 54-4, won 5 conference championships, 4 undefeated seasons, 11 invitational championships, and 3 state finalist. Coach Yordy also coached the bo...Read more
Team Category
1926 GIANTS BASKETBALL
The Marion Giants won over Martinsville, 30-23 in the State Championship in 1926. Both Marion and Martinsville had been in the Final 16 the year before. A Marion newspaper writer, Bern M. Boxell, picked Kokomo to win the 1926 State Championship. The Giants players were not impressed and beat Kokomo in the Kokomo regional, 24-8. The Giants closed out the 1926 season with 15 straight wins. Head Coach Gene Thomas led the Giants to a 27-2 overall record in 1926 and coached both the basketball and football Giants for 5 seasons. The Giants were led by Charles “Stretch” Murphy and Bob Chapman. Bo...Read more
1969 Marion Football
The 1969 Marion Giant Football team coached by Wayne Jones were undefeated with a 10-0 record. The team’s high power offense averaged 56 pts. per game and held opponents to an average of 12 pts. In the 5th game of the year, Huntington gave the Giants a great test. While the game was close at half-time, the coaches changed the defense, and the final score was 68 to 26. This new defense became the most formidable defense in the state. The Giants only allowed 6 pts. in the last 5 games, in 6 of the 10 games, the opponents never scored a point. No team came within 3 ...Read more