Burl Wimsett, wearing his Carterville Comet letter on his blue jacket, gave the speech of the night as he proclaimed that being named to the hall of fame caused him to cease his longtime dislike of Webb City. All’s good now, he said.
Wimsett’s dislike dates back to when Webb City retaliated against him for humiliating its runners by avoiding competition with him again.
He graduated in 1958, 10 years before Carterville consolidated with Webb City.
He was a state qualifier in track three years, 1956 – 58, and he also lettered in football and basketball.
Joe Grisham represented the 1952-53 basketball team. He told of the team’s dominance in scoring 1,840 points to go undefeated in claiming the Big-Eight championship and 26-2 overall.
High scorers on the team were Jim Hunter (449), Gary Huffman (430), and Eddie Nealy (346).
Wilbur “Webb” Morris was inducted posthumously for his accomplishments in football, basketball, baseball and track from 1927 to 1930.
After playing football and basketball at Ozark Weslyan College and Southwest Missouri State, he returned to WCHS to coach football, basketball and track from 1936-1941. He was a inducted into the Missouri State University Hall of Fame in 1978.
Bob Foos was inducted as a meritorious recipient for sports photography during his 41 years as editor of the Webb City Sentinel, while it was in print, and now that it’s a website.
Proceeds from ticket sales for the banquet support the Webb City R-7 Schools Foundation.
Tim Workman, director of finance and data management for the district, organizes the committee that selects the Webb City Athletic Hall of Fame inductees. He asked for nominations to make sure no one is being overlooked.
This was the first class to be inducted since the pandemic.