HAGERSTOWN – Scores, records and athletic achievements took a backseat on Saturday.
Numbers and stats became an afterthought when Class of 2025 was inducted into Washington County Sports Hall of Fame at the Hagerstown Elks Club. The message ran much deeper.
The diverse class of four new members were celebrated for their contributions to sports, but instead of taking bows, they chose to present more compelling messages.
“As I reflect more and just really thought about it, I feel this isn’t about me,” said Olympic bronze medal wrestler Aaron Brooks. “It’s about those who came before me and those who will come after me. I’m very grateful that Washington County views me as someone to be looked up to.”
For the record, Brooks gave maybe the shortest speech on record – about 54 seconds in total. But the former North Hagerstown and Penn State wrestling star followed his strengths.
He made quick moves and scored a pin in the situation.
Brooks was the most widely known of the four newest members, but his comment nailed similar sentiments of Cheryl Wilkes, Jerry Spessard and Greg Slick as they became the 37th class to enter the county sports shrine.
Each, in their own ways, told their defining moments in their lives that directed them on their chosen paths. Only Brooks entered for his athletic prowess as a multi-champion, multi-All-American and Olympic athlete.
Wilkes was a teacher, who introduced sports to middle school students, before becoming one of the driving forces leading to the establishment, growth and success to girls – and women’s – sports in Williamsport and Washington County.
Spessard is a North Hagerstown graduate who took his love of sports into a different direction – as an inventor and entrepreneur. He created groundbreaking products to promote athletic safety and advances worldwide with his 18 patents.
And Slick is the legendary coach at North Hagerstown – who coached Brooks – while obtaining recognition in Maryland’s state and the national wrestling Halls of Fame.
All four have piloted their own, unique impact in sports.
Wilkes was a teacher and coach whose work and dedication spawned what has become a volleyball dynasty at Williamsport. It started by implementing “Play Days” to introduce the young student to sports.
“In my wildest dreams, I would have never have thought that that original Play Day, back in the early ‘70s would have led to Washington County leading the state of Maryland in volleyball,” she said. Since state championships were introduced in 1977, Washington County has won one-third of the possible state championships in Class 1A, 2A and 3A … and if we would have had a 4A, we would have won that too.
“We don’t have any 4A schools in volleyball. We have won 44 state championships in volleyball, and that’s the most of any county in the state. And Williamsport high school has won 17 state championships, and that’s the most of any school in the state.”
Wilkes was also on the ground floor for the advent of Title IX promoting women’s sports.
The movement expanded with the start of National Girls and Women in Sports Day observed annually in February. In 1996, Wilkes helped create the Washington County’s Girls and Women in Sports Foundation, which give recognition along with sponsor and scholarship awards.
Spessard told how spoke of how a freak Little League accident was the starting point of his entrepreneurial career.
“In 1961, I was in a Little League game and a routine groundball… It’s one I had fielded hundreds of times, took a bad hop and splattered my face,” he said. “As a result, my hands became extremely hard. I couldn’t field anything. I couldn’t keep my face down because I was afraid of getting hit in my face again.
“I said to myself I wish I had some kind of facial protection to help me get back to the way I used to play.”
At age 12, he started a 39-year odyssey to create GameFace, a lightweight, catcher’s mask-like covering to prevent facial injuries. It started with drawing and clay models and morphed into prototypes, testing and manufacturing to finally introduce the product on the market.
“The GameFace mask that was developed only weighed five ounces, but will protect against a well-over-100 mph fastball,” Spessard said.
Interest and sales originally trickled as the mask was being used by athletes who were already injured, instead of for prevention.
“In 2005, I was contacted by a distributor and the sales just skyrocketed.,” he said. “At the end of the year, the distributor called and said that GameFace was the No. 1 selling product for girls softball in 62 countries. I didn’t know softball was played in 62 countries.
“’All the testimonials I have received from parents, mainly mothers, sent letters telling how the GameFace protected their daughters. In Texas, one mother said her daughter was hit so hard with a softball, the ball ended up leaving the field of play. And the only thing she got from that was a bruise on her forehead.”
Spessard currently has chest protector for lacrosse and an electronic home plate, which would help call balls and strikes, in the works.
Slick traveled an odyssey of his own to his success.
He never played any organized sports until he reached North Hagerstown High School, but a number of twists and turns helped shape him.
“God had a different plan,” Slick said.
Slick spoke of how his parents instilled important values into his life, even though sports weren’t included. He told how many coaches and figures, along with some injuries, allowed him to gain a more cerebral, administrative and human side to sports.
“Wrestling taught me the best lesson ever,” Slick said. “It’s a lesson I try to continue to share with young people. To this day, I can remember coach Healey say ‘Get up.’
“After a loss, he told me that the only way that I could ever be a loser is if I refused to get back up on my feet after a loss. I can still see the compassion in his eyes when he’d say “Get up, Slick. Don’t lay there. You are not a loser.” That’s a mantra that goes through my head still.”
Since becoming head coach, Slick has 561 victories, while enduring just seven losing records, in his 45-year tenure through 2025. Slick’s work earned 2025 induction to Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association Wrestling Hall of Fame. Previously, he received the “Lifetime Service to Wrestling” award and entered the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2007.
One of his most notable successes has been Brooks, who went 163-2 and won four state titles at North and became one of only seven college wrestlers to win four NCAA titles through 2024. He posted an 89-3 record at PSU, with multiple All-American honors. He went undefeated as a senior and was named Big Ten wrestler of the year before competing at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Each spent time thanking all the people who helped them reach the Hall of Fame.
“Something to the youngsters,” Spessard said. “There is so much negativity when I was trying to do this. You wouldn’t believe how people laughed at me, criticized me … It was awful. If You have a passion for something, nobody… nobody can take that away from you. It took me 39 years to get this thing running. If you have a passion, stick with it.”
Wilkes, like Slick, closed with words of gratitude.
“For all this, I have to thank my wonderful student athletes. Without them and their willingness to work hard to improve, we would not have been successful. I can honestly say I have taught doctors, lawyers, nurses, beauticians, social workers, college athletes. Professional athletes, teachers, middle school, high school and college coaches, many business people and several are Sports Hall of Famers.
“I was truly blessed to do a job that I enjoyed for so many years.”
