LOCKPORT — Purple Heart recipient Dominic Grossi and Lockport women’s sports pioneer Loretta Young DiCarlo headline another stellar class of student-athletes to be inducted Sept. 24 into the prestigious Lockport High School “Hall of Fame” this year. The third-annual induction dinner will begin at 6 p.m. at the Holiday Inn on South Transit Street.

Joining Grossi and Young-DiCarlo are Ed Quinones, Mike Brown, Kelly Chase, Willie Haynes, Dave Bunn and Erin Mullaney.

Tickets are $30 and may be purchased at the Lockport Board of Education Office, 130 Beattie Ave., Sullivan’s Barber Shop, 458 Walnut St., or by calling 478-4473.

Grossi, class of 1938, played football and basketball for the Lions, starring on a team that beat Niagara Falls, 3-0, to end a long string of losses to their Niagara County rivals.  Grossi later was a star for the University at Buffalo, playing receiver, running back and kicker for the Bulls.

During World War II, Grossi was part of the force that invaded Iwo Jima, where he was killed in action on March 8, 1945. He received a Purple Heart for wounds he suffered in battle just a few weeks before his death and was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for his heroism during that battle.

A park on the city’s West End is named for Grossi. UB also honored Grossi by naming an award after him, honoring their team’s outstanding student-athlete beginning in 1946.

A true pioneer for girls track at LHS, loved by her classmates, a tremendous all-around athlete and all the while a consummate lady, Young DiCarlo (Class of 1977) was voted Homecoming Queen in the fall of 1976.

There was no girls track team at that time. She was one of three girls who competed on the boys team for several years before a girls team was created. Fleet-footed and hard-working, Loretta went on to qualify for the first New York State Girls Track Championship at West Point and went on to compete in back-to-back state championships (‘76 and ‘77).

In college, Loretta was the first woman to earn regional honors in volleyball for Niagara County Community College, which is impressive considering there wasn’t girls volleyball at LHS at that time. She was elected to the NCCC Hall of Fame in 1987.

Loretta has coached track, volleyball and cheerleading at LHS and is a community volunteer coach in volleyball and lacrosse, remaining as popular with her players today as she was with her classmates.

Quinones (Class of 1945) was a three-sport (football/baseball/basketball) athlete for the Lions, though the basketball court is where the former town judge truly excelled. He was one of the top scorers in the Niagara Frontier League during the ‘48 and ‘49 seasons which resulted in him being named All-League both years.

Those achievements helped Quinones earn a scholarship to St. Bonaventure, where in his second year he was the only sophomore on the team, which was ranked fourth in the country and competed against the best teams in the country in the NIT, which was the season-ending tournament at that time.

Quinones was a member of the 1957 legendary YMCA Blue Devils. He also was named all-star shortstop in 1951 in the Niagara Suburban League, the year his team won the championship.

Brown was a consummate team player for the basketball Lions. He was an All-NFL First Team selection in 1965 and ‘66, the only Lions cager to earn that distinction. The ‘66 Lions won the AAA Sectional championship.

Known for his heady, play-making role and tenacious defense, Brown could also light it up if his team needed scoring. He scorched the cords for 40 points against Maryvale in sectional play.

Brown later went on to play beside backcourt mate NBA Hall-of-Famer Calvin Murphy at Niagara University, where he was a three-year starter. The 1970 Purple Eagles qualified for the March Madness. Brown was a captain for both the Lions and Purple Eagles.

Chase (Class of 1984) collected five varsity letters in basketball, softball and soccer and captained all three teams. She was an all-leaguer in basketball in ‘83 and ‘84 and in softball and soccer in ‘84. Also in 1984 in basketball, she was a First Team All-County selection and was named to the state, Street & Smith, Parade and Kodak All-American lists.

Kelly was the first Lady Lions cager to score 1,000 points and earned a scholarship to Niagara University.

Haynes, who passed away suddenly on Aug. 9, was simply a mad scoring machine. He led the cage Lions in all-time points with 1,471 and his scoring average of 28 points per game was one of the highest in Western New York. The most important highlight of the season was Haynes’ establishment of a new single-game scoring mark of 49 points against Lafayette at the Rotary Winter Basketball Tournament.  

Haynes is one of just five Lockport basketball players to earn All-Western New York honors (Mike Brown (twice), Phil Rosenberg, Laverne Evans and Charlie Croff are the others). Brown was named twice, after the ‘64-’65 and ‘65-’66 seasons.

After graduating from LHS in 1985, Haynes went on to a legendary basketball career at St. Peter’s College in Jersey City, N.J. Haynes left St. Peter’s as the school’s all-time leading scorer, tallying 1,730 career points.

When the MAAC named its All-Time team in 2006, as part of the league’s 25th anniversary, Haynes earned a spot on the All-MAAC team of the 1980’s.

Haynes was also a brilliant student/athlete, earning MAAC All-Academic honors three times and Academic All-American honors twice. He graduated from St. Peter’s with a 3.65 grade point average and always had aspirations to attend law school, which he eventually did.

Bunn (Class of 1992) garnered six varsity letters in bowling and four in baseball. He also is an outstanding golfer.

In bowling, Bunn was first-team all-league in ‘91 and ‘92 and won individual sectional championships each year. He spearheaded the Lions to four straight Section VI team titles, ‘89-’92, and competed in the state tournament each of those seasons.

In baseball, he was an all-leaguer in both ‘91 and ‘92 and pitched and batted the Lions to the sectional crown in ‘92.  He earned a baseball scholarship to Niagara University, where he shined and was eventually elected to that college’s Hall of Fame.

Bunn continued his baseball career for 15 years in the Niagara Suburban league.

Mullaney (Class of 2000) is one of the finest long-distance runners in Lady Lions history, holding school records in the 1,500-, 1,600- and 3,000-meter runs.

A First-Team All-NFL selection in ‘98, ‘99 and ‘00, she finished third in the 3,000-meter run in the 1998 state meet. Erin was eighth in the state cross country meet that year as well.

In 1999, she ran her way onto the All-New York State Second Team in track. She was a scholarship athlete at Canisius and UB and also played lacrosse and swam during her athletic career in high school and college.