Wilbur Wright High School stood at 1361 Huffman Avenue on a hill overlooking Dayton’s East End Neighborhood for more than 80 years. The building designed by Hermann and Brown architects, opened in the mid-1920s as a junior high and elementary school. It was named for aviation pioneer and Dayton native Wilbur Wright one of the famous Wright Brothers. The school’s mascot of the “Pilots” further honors the Wright Brothers legacy. When Dayton’s Steele High School closed in 1940, its faculty and staff including principal Jay W. Holmes, were transferred to the Wilbur Wright Building, and the school became Wilbur Wright High School. It should also be noted that the new Wilbur Wright administration agreed unanimously to adopt Steele’s red/black as the new school colors. As a result, the teams wore the old Steele uniforms for their first couple of seasons. When Wilbur Wright joined the Dayton City League Conference in 1940, it had just had a name change from the Big 6 to Big 7 after recently adding Dayton Co-op as its seventh member along with its original members of Steele, Stivers, Roosevelt, Kiser, Fairview and Chaminade. It took the Pilots only a year before they would claim their first league title. The Boys Track Team, coached by Perc Welcome, won back-to-back league titles in 1941 and 1942. Homer Knorr and Bill Kramer led the Pilots to the title in 1941 with each scoring 13.5 points apiece. Homer Knorr finished 1^st in the Discuss and 2^nd in the 120-Yard-High Hurdles, while Kramer finished 1^st in the 220 Yard Dash and 2^nd in the 100 Yard Dash. In 1942 Homer Knorr, again played a major role in the leading the Pilots to their second track title. He finished first in the 120-Yard-High Hurdles, 2^nd in the Discuss and 3^rd in the High Jump and teammate Don Morris won the 440 Yard Run and was 4^th in the 100 and 2^nd in the 220 Yard Dash. Remaining scoring came from Tex Turner who won the Mile Run and Elwood Kaylor who won the 220 Yard Low Hurdles and finished 3^rd in the Broad Jump. The Pilots winning ways continued into 1943, with both the football and boys basketball teams capturing a share of the City Championship Titles. The football team, led by 1^st Team All-City Selections Bill Cukovceki (End), Dale Plunkett (QB & RB) and Frank Shain (G), tied Fairview and Chaminade for the league title after defeating Roosevelt 14-7. The team finished the season with a (5-1 record). The Boys Basketball Team, led by 1^st Team All-City Selection Dale Plunkett, finished the season with a (5-1 record) and tied Fairview and Roosevelt for the league title. The next league title was captured in 1945 again by Perc Welcome’s Boys Track Team. Team members that played a significant role in winning the title, included Jack McConnell who won the 100 and 220 Yard Dashes and finished 5^th in the Broad Jump; Joe Robinson won the Broad Jump and was 3^rd in the 100 and 220 Yard Dashes; Lester Schmidt finished 5^th in the 440 Yard Run; Joe Boehmer won the Pole Vault and tied Ben Harding for 3^rd in the High Jump; Don Bruns was 2^nd in the Mile and 3^rd in the Half Mile Run; Bob Hocker was 3^rd in the High Hurdles and 4^th in the Low Hurdles; Kenny Kaylor was 5^th in the High Hurdles and 3^rd in the low hurdles. Dwight D. Bushong coached the Golf Team to four straight City League Championships in 1946, ’47, ’48 and ’49. He also coached the Boys Basketball team from 1945 through 1949 and never had a losing season. His 1948 team won the only unshared championship in the school’s history. The team was led by 1^st Team All-City Selection Vaughn Taylor who later went on to play at the University of Dayton alongside future UD Hall of Famer Don “Monk” Meineke. Meineke was ineligible for athletic competition during his senior season at Wilbur Wright due to OHSAA eligibility requirements. The 1950 era featured two up-and-coming coaches named Dean Dooley (1946-1979) and Ben Campbell (1950-1979). Coach Dooley’s Track Team won the City League Championship in 1955 (upsetting Roosevelt 67.5 to 60). Standouts for the 1955 team included Bill Alexander (3^rd Place in 880 Yard Relay Team); Dick Bitzer (1^st in the Low Hurdles with a record setting time :19.9; 2^nd in the High Hurdles, 5^th in the High Jump and was a member of the record-setting (3:32.9) Mile Relay Team; Bing Davis (1^st in the High Jump with a leap of 5’11 ½”; Joe Freese (tied for 4^th in the Pole Vault at 11 feet even); Bob Mewhinney (1^st in the Pole Vault with a jump 11’10” and 5^th in the 120 Yard High Hurdles; Tom Skiling (1^st in the 880 Yard Run (2:05.1) and 2^nd in the Mile Run; Bob Winchek finished 2^nd in the Discuss and 3^rd in the Shot Put; Roy Kronenberg (won the 440 Yard Run (:53.1) and was a member of the record setting (3.32.9) Mile Relay Team; Louie Malloy was 3^rd in the 100 Yard Dash; 4^th in the 200 Yard Dash and was a member of the 3^rd Place 880 Yard Relay Team; Kenny Mann finished 5^th in the 440 Yard Run and ran anchor on the record setting (3:32.9) Mile Relay Team; Dick Slade was 5^th in the 880 Yard Run; John Grottke was a member of the 3^rd place 880 Yard Relay Team and the Record Setting (3:32.9) Mile Relay Team; Clyde Slaton was a member of the 3^rd place 880 Yard Relay Team. Coach Dooley also served Boys Basketball Coach for 12 seasons. His 1954-55 team finished the season (18-3) with upset wins over perennial powerhouses Roosevelt and Middletown that year. Coach Ben Campbell (1950 – 1979) served as Baseball Coach for 15 years. He won or shared City Championship Titles in 1954, 1955, 1956 and 1959 and won District Championship and advanced to Regional Finals in 1955. In the 1957, Coach Jo Steward began her teaching and coaching career at Wilbur Wright. She coached fencing for 14 seasons (1963-’76), winning City Championships in 1969, 1974 and 1975. Her won loss records in two other years were 7-1-1 and 6-1-2. She also coached Girls Basketball for five seasons (1973 through 1977) and Volleyball for 15 years, claiming seven City Championships between 1963 and 1974. The 1965 and 66 Teams were undefeated. Bill Frederick served as Head Football Coach for 18 years (1961-78), compiling a winning record in every year but one. During his coaching career he coached five of the best football players (Ricky Lewis, Tony “The Pony” Lewis, Jack Schulte, Kirk Lewis and Gary Worthy) to ever play in the Dayton City League. Ricky Lewis was a four year varsity letterman and the first freshman in City League history is to make 1^st Team All-City; Tony Lewis is considered the most prolific running back in Dayton prep football history,” was a unanimous choice Parade Magazine First Team All-American; Wide Receiver Jack Schulte held four state records and was an Honorable Mention Sunkist All-American; Kirk Lewis 1^st Team All-City Quarterback and league passing leader and Gary Worthy, 11^th Round Draft Pick of the Chicago Bears. His team tied Dunbar and Patterson for Dayton City League Championship in 1971-72, only the second football Championship in Wilbur Wright’s School History. He also served as Head Baseball Coach for 15 seasons (1968-82); tied Meadowdale for City League Championship in 1976 and 1981 and was District Runner-Up in 1982 and Golf Coach from 1961-1965 and Athletic Director (1981-82). Coach Don James began his coaching career at Wilbur Wright in 1973. His wrestling teams won four City Championships in 1973, 1977, 1980 and 1981 and his Boys Tennis Teams won City Championships in 1973 and 1974. He coached three state qualifiers while at Wilbur Wright in the following divisions: Kevin Conley-1972 (145 lbs.), Douglas Fink-1973 (145 lbs.) and Derrick Beamon-1973 (98 lbs.). The 1970s included three state qualifiers from the boys track/cross country teams. Jeff Washington (100/200 Yard Dash) and Anthony Adams in the 110 High Hurdles and Tim Mack in Cross Country. Larry Shadowens Wilbur Wright’s 1979 Boys Basketball Team was considered by many as one of the most talented teams to come through the Dayton City League. The team came on very strong at the end of the regular season knocking off cross town rival Roth HS in the final game of the season in a historic sold-out gymnasium at Wilbur Wright. The Pilots were led by Dayton City League Player of the Year Eric Bradley and future University of Dayton Hall of Famer and NBA Player Sedric Toney. The team went on to win their first three tournament games very convincedly over Fairmont East (79-62), Fairmont West (66-48) and Lebanon (59-46) in the Sectional Championship Game. The team coached by Larry Shadowens lost to Cincinnati LaSalle in the District Championship game (57-66). Jeff Klepacz led Wilbur Wright to the City League Golf Championship in 1980. The final success story of the Wilbur Wright Athletic Program was the Girls Track Team. The team was led by Wilbur Wright Hall of Famer Patricia (Pat) Whitlow. Pat won three straight 440 Yard and two straight 220 Yard Dash City League Titles and finished 3^rd in the 440 Yard Dash in 1980 and 6^th in 1982 at 57.23 at the State Meet in Columbus. In the school 42-year history, the Pilots captured (2) Football, (4) Boys Basketball, (6) Baseball, (5) Track, (4) Wrestling, (7) Volleyball, (5) Golf and (3) Fencing City League Championship Titles. It is also particularly important to note that the school produced several successful & distinguished alumni, faculty, staff, athletes, and coaches. Undoubtedly, the most accomplished feat of the Wilbur Wright Athletic Program is the record seven Volleyball City League Titles under Coach Jo Stewart. In 1982, the school was converted back to a junior high, serving in that capacity until the spring of 2009, when the school was closed permanently. In 2010, most of the old Wilbur Wright building was demolished to make way for the new Wright-Brothers (PK-8) school built on the same site, only the auditorium of the old school was preserved for use with the new building. The Wilbur Wright Athletic Hall of Fame came about because of Don “Monk” Meineke’s desire to establish a Hall of Fame like Kiser, Stivers and Chaminade High School. His efforts included forming and chairing the HOF Committee with members with Andy Winchek, Phil Mattingly, Jerry McElfresh and Dave Swartz, to remedy the situation. One final point of emphasis is to recognize the efforts put forth by Don “Monk” Meineke who was the driving force behind Wilbur Wright’s Athletic Hall of Fame Program launched in 2013. He wasn’t happy that Kiser, Stivers and Chaminade High Schools had Athletic Hall of Fame Programs while his alma mater, Wilbur Wright, did not. So Monk formed and chaired a committee with members Andy Winchek, Phil Mattingly, Jerry McElfresh, and Dave Swartz, to remedy the situation. It is why we now have an Athletic Hall of Fame for Wilbur Wright High School.