Tennis standout Ronit Yurovsky is among the 2024 inductees into the Plum Sports Hall of Fame

From: Michael love


Saturday, October 26, 2024 | 11:01 a.m

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The Plum High School Sports Hall of Fame will induct its Class of 2024 on Nov. 14 at Edgewood Country Club.

This year’s inductees are Scott Benzel (class of 1993), Nolan Cressler (2012), Andrew DeFazio (1995), Richard Foutz (1970), Scott McGough (2008), William Rometo (1970), William Wilmore (1990) and Ronit Yurovsky ( 2012) and the 1968 and 1969 WPIAL golf championship teams.

The reception will be at 5:30 p.m. and dinner will be at 7:00 p.m. Admission is $50 per person. A table for eight costs $400.

Checks can be made payable to the Plum High School Sports Hall of Fame and mailed to PO Box 114006, Pittsburgh, PA 15239.

To reserve tickets or for more information, email phsshof@gmail.com. The deadline for submitting tickets is November 7th.

This week the Advance Leader will profile the remaining four individuals and the new team addition.

Ronit Jurowski

Even at the age of three, Yurovsky showed a natural talent for tennis.

Her parents, Victoria and Doug, spent a lot of time traveling with her so she could compete in various tournaments.

Yurovsky won major USTA regional and national titles before entering high school and was ranked No. 1 in the Middle States during the years she played junior tennis.

She also placed second at the International Tennis Federation Major Junior Hard Court Championships.

Yurovsky, a 2012 Plum graduate, made it to the WPIAL Class 3A individual championship game all four years and won the title three times.

She finished her junior and senior seasons as state champion.

Yurovsky received a Scholar-Athlete Extra Effort Award from KDKA her senior year and was named the 2012 National High School Coaches Association Senior Athlete of the Year for girls tennis.

She received a full athletic scholarship to Michigan.

In her freshman year, she won the Arizona State Thunderbird Invitational, starting a 15-game winning streak.

Yurovsky played at the No. 1 and No. 2 singles positions all four years.

She was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year and ITA Midwest Regional Rookie of the Year and Senior of the Year.

Yurovsky was elected team captain as a senior and was ranked 12th in a national individual poll. It was the second-best finish in Michigan program history.

She led the Wolverines to the Big Ten Tournament Championship for the first time since 1997 and earned All-American honors while finishing third in program history with 117 wins.

Yurovsky had a brief stint with the Women’s Tennis Association and the ITF tours before her retirement.

She and her husband, Bryan Parker, and their daughter, Emersyn, reside in Plum.

Nolan Cressler

The 2012 Plum graduate helped the Mustangs boys basketball team win the 2010 Section 2-4A championship.

Cressler averaged more than 25 points and eight rebounds per game in his junior and senior seasons.

As a senior, he was named the WPIAL Class 4A Player of the Year and was also a second-team all-state honoree.

Cressler became Plum’s all-time leading scorer with 1,565 points and was named to the Tribune-Review’s Terrific 10 team.

He competed in the Roundball Classic and All-Kiski Valley’s Cager Classic all-star games. He set the Cager Classic single-game record with 38 points.

Cressler began his college career at Cornell University, where he was selected to the All-Ivy League in 2014.

He led the team in scoring with more than 16 points per game before transferring to Vanderbilt.

As team captain in 2016 and 2017, Cressler helped lead the Commodores to two NCAA Tournament appearances.

He surpassed 1,000 points in his college career.

Cressler graduated from Vanderbilt University in 2017 with a degree in human resources and organizational development. While in high school, he earned a spot on the Southeastern Conference All-Academic Team.

Cressler finished his professional basketball career in Estonia and Serbia and was twice voted a league all-star before returning to America to pursue a career in medical sales.

He and his wife Danielle have two sons, Roman and Micah.

Scott Benzel

The 1993 Plum graduate excelled in two sports: soccer and volleyball.

Benzel earned all-Quad East conference honors in football and was a weak hitter for the Mustangs’ boys volleyball team in 1993, which qualified for the WPIAL playoffs.

He helped Plum Football beat Woodland Hills at Wolvarena for the first time in program history.

After high school, Benzel attended Mercyhurst, where he was a two-year football starter at free safety and was voted the Lakers’ defensive MVP in 1996.

He led the program in interceptions and pass breakups in 1995 and 1996 and earned All-Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) honors as a junior and senior.

The 2024 season will be Benzel’s 21st coaching stint at the collegiate level.

After successful stints as defensive coordinator at Robert Morris and assistant head coach and defensive coordinator at St. Francis (Pa.), Benzel was hired as head coach at Westminster in January 2014.

His home win over Saint Vincent on October 19 puts him third on Westminster’s all-time coaching wins list with 72. He trails only legendary field bosses Harold Burry (127) and Joe Fusco (154).

Benzel earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Mercyhurst in 1997 and a master’s degree in business administration from Robert Morris in 2003.

He lives in Mt. Lebanon with his wife Cyndi and children Baylee and Everett.

Bill Wilmore

After a successful wrestling career with Plum, Wilmore rose to great heights in the world of bodybuilding.

His path took him to the top of the amateur bodybuilding ranks and a professional career.

Wilmore qualified five times for the prestigious Mr. Olympia competition, considered the pinnacle of the sport.

Wilmore finished a three-year Mustangs wrestling career with an 81-24-1 record and won three section titles while placing first, second and third at Gateway’s Eastern Area tournament and placing second at Powerade.

As a junior, he placed sixth in the state with a final record of 30-6-1.

Wilmore, along with classmate Steve Cassidy, made school history by becoming the first Plum sophomore wrestlers to qualify for the state tournament.

He and Cassidy also became the first Plum wrestlers to place three times in the WPIAL and qualify for state.

Wilmore placed third twice at the WPIALs and also finished fourth.

He helped the Plum team finish seventh in the state in 1989-90, the best finish ever in program history.

When he moved on to bodybuilding, his work paid off with two consecutive second-place finishes at the National Amateur Championships (2003, 2004).

Wilmore earned professional status in 2005 with a victory in the elite super heavyweight class as well as overall victories at the national championships.

He finished at the top of many elite competitions, highlighted by five Mr. Olympia appearances.

Wilmore gained numerous sponsors throughout his career and founded and ran the annual Bill Wilmore Classic.

He built a professional training business and worked with a number of clients including doctors, lawyers, politicians and professional athletes to achieve their fitness goals.

Wilmore is co-founder and president of BodyRejuvenation, a functional wellness center in Hallandale, Florida.

Plum 1968-69 golf teams

The 1968 Mustangs golf team made history, and the Plum golfers, returning for the 1969 season, wanted to do it again.

And they won.

Plum won the 1969 title with a 12-4 victory over Baldwin at Sewickley Heights Golf Club.

Back then, match play was used to determine the WPIAL team champions.

Dave Borkovich and Wade Nonnenberg led the team against Baldwin as both picked up three team points.

Mark Richardson and Lane Nonnenberg scored two and two-and-a-half points for the Mustangs, respectively, while Rich Foutz added half a point.

During that time, Plum Golf went on a four-year run, compiling an overall record of 60-3.

The 1969 team also produced a WPIAL individual champion in Foutz, one of that year’s individual Hall of Fame inductees.

Borkovich placed seventh at the PIAA Individual Championships.

Lou Klauss, the head coach for both championship seasons, coached Plum Golf from 1967 to 1982, compiling an overall record of 125-61.

He also served on the WPIAL Golf Committee for 28 years and was its chairman for 10 years.

Klauss also coached Plum in wrestling and swimming and was inducted into the Plum High School Sports Hall of Fame in 2013.

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. The Clearfield native and Westminster (Pennsylvania) graduate joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

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