Sports - December 2003

Memories from the Hall of Fame Banquet

Published December 5, 2003

By MIKE POWELL, CORRESPONDENT

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It would be difficult to pick out a single moment that defined the 2003 induction banquet of the Lincoln County Sports Hall of Fame.

There were a number of highlights at the November event, ranging from Roby Jetton’s funny stories about his boxing career to former boxer Billy Bridges’ emotional acceptance speech for inductee Dr. Necip Ari.

Jetton and Ari were part of the five-member class of 2003 as the local hall of fame closed out another successful year in front of an audience of more than 200 at the Citizens Center.

Jetton sprinkled his acceptance speech with colorful anecdotes on a career that spanned more than 200 bouts and a late-career comeback. Jetton won two Golden Gloves championships and represented North Carolina in the AAU finals in 1962.

Some 15 years later, Jetton returned to the ring as a pro fighter and compiled a 15-1 record before hanging up the gloves for good. In 1999, the man known for his brawling style and power punching was inducted into the Carolinas Boxing Hall of Fame.

The sport of boxing also drew the spotlight when Bridges, who rose to national prominence as an amateur boxer in 1970s, delivered an acceptance speech in Ari’s honor.

Ari, who opened an OB-GYN medical practice in Lincolnton in 1975, earned the title of the “Boxing Doc” for his service as a ringside physician on the local, regional, national and international boxing scene.

A 1997 inductee into the Carolinas Boxing Hall of Fame, Ari served at more than 30 national boxing tournaments and 15 international events. He acted as  chief physician for the USA Boxing Association and participated in the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, Korea and the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Ga.

Ari, who never accepted payment for his medical expertise, was praised by Bridges for his contribution to the sport and support of the local boxing program.

Other new members enshrined into the hall were Wes Beam, who left his mark on Lincoln County athletes at two schools, West Lincoln and East Lincoln; Thurman “Jule” Ward, who played football at Duke University and coached there under the legendary Wallace Wade; and Russell “Red” Mincy, a professional baseball player who managed Lincolnton’s only pro baseball team, the Cardinals, during the late 1940s.

Beam, who recently retired from active teaching, was one of the most celebrated athletes in West Lincoln history. He held several school rushing records in football that stood for a number of years, and he went on to a successful college career at Appalachian State.

But it was as a coach at Beam made his mark. He was West Lincoln’s head football coach for six years, and he is the  last coach to guide a Rebels team to a winning record (a 7-3 mark in 1986).

In addition, Beam served 15 years as the Rebels’ baseball coach as well as six years as athletics director. After leaving his alma mater, Beam worked as East Lincoln’s defensive coordinator in football for 13 years.

Ward, who lived most of his life in Lincolnton, was a two-way starter under Wade at Duke, and was the designated blocking back for Blue Devils All-American Ace Parker.

He stayed on at Duke after graduation as an assistant, and later became one of the youngest head coaches in the nation at Morris Harvey College (now the University of Charleston) in West Virginia. He served in the Navy during World War II and was in the first officers’ training class at the U.S. Naval Academy.

Mincy played baseball at Lincolnton High under legendary coach Block Smith in the late 1930s and went on to play professionally. His baseball career was interrupted by World War II, but Mincy returned to his hometown and had a successful run as manager of the Cardinals.

The guest speaker for the banquet was retired Lincolnton High School football coach and athletics director Von Ray Harris. In his comments, the 79-year-old coaching icon offered words of advice to the current generation of athletes.

© 2001 Lincoln Times-News  

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