The world of sports is constantly changing.

The Washington County Sports Hall of Fame is going with the flow.

The area’s shrine to local sports greats will induct a wide and diverse range of talent with the Class of 2025. It reflects a huge industry that isn’t just games and scores, coaches and athletes anymore.

The four newest members reflect a huge impact in different realms of sports, locally, nationally and internationally.

On the athletic side, the class features an Olympic bronze medalist and his national Hall of Fame high school coach.

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From the administrative side, there’s a nationally-known sports equipment inventor and a trailblazing teacher who was a major figure in the advent of girls and women’s sports in the county, which includes providing the starting point of Williamsport’s volleyball dynasty.

The group will be honored at the WCSHOF’s 37th banquet on July 19 at Elks Lodge No. 378 on Robinwood Drive in Hagerstown.

The inductees and other honorees:

Aaron Brooks

Brooks has created an international identity through his wrestling, faith and goodwill.

After vastly-successful prep and collegiate careers, Brooks represented the United States at the 2024 Paris Olympics, winning a bronze medal in wrestling as the pinnacle of his decorated career.

The North Hagerstown graduate attended Penn State and became one of only seven college wrestlers to win four NCAA titles through 2024. He posted an 89-3 record at PSU, with four Big Ten championships and four All-American honors. He went undefeated as a senior and was named Big Ten wrestler of the year.

He was the Outstanding Wrestler at the 2024 NCAA Tournament and won the Dan Hodge Trophy — wrestling’s version of the Heisman Trophy.

With a combined interest in freestyle and Greco Roman wrestling, Brooks has competed in and earned a number of national and international titles and has trained at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Brooks amassed a 163-2 record while wrestling for North Hagerstown, where he was awarded four letters and was a three-time team captain. He is a four-time Maryland State 4A-3A champion — each at different weight classes — and also won four Washington County, 4A-3A West Region and NHSCA National Championship titles. He was a two-time Hub Cup champion.

Greg Slick

Slick turned limited playing experience into an influential coaching career by applying the lessons and disciplines learned in football, wrestling and rugby. They became the standards for coaching and life.

Slick was unable to participate in organized athletics because of job-related family relocations, until entering North Hagerstown in 1969. He lettered in football and wrestling for the Hubs and competed in open wrestling tournaments from 1975-80.

At Frostburg State, he had an injury-shortened football career. He pivoted to help create and play three years for Frostburg’s fledgling rugby program.

After his 1976 graduation, Slick returned to North to help coach football and wrestling. He was appointed the Hubs’ head wrestling coach in 1979, and the program has thrived under his reign. North has 561 victories, and has endured just seven losing records, in his 45-year tenure through 2025. Slick’s work earned a 2025 induction to the MPSSAA Wrestling Hall of Fame. Previously, he received the “Lifetime Service to Wrestling” award and entered the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2007.

Slick guided North to the 2014 MPSSAA 4A-3A team title, and the Hubs finished second in 2015 and third in 2016. North also has four MPSSAA state dual meet tournament berths, finishing second twice. To date, 56 North wrestlers have made the state tournament podium, including 26 who have wrestled in weight-class finals under Slick. Eight wrestlers, including Brooks, have accounted for 13 championships and 13 runner-up finishes.

Jerry Spessard

Spessard took his love of sports into a different direction — as an inventor and entrepreneur, creating groundbreaking products to promote athletic safety and advances worldwide.

He owns 18 patents for various sporting-equipment inventions, highlighted by his most successful product, the GameFace Sports Mask. In 2005, the infielder’s mask for facial protection became the top-selling product for girls softball in 62 countries. Since the patent protection expired, 13 companies have made versions of the mask competing with Spessard’s, which still sells millions annually.

Spessard spearheads two other revolutionary inventions. One, which is being tested, is a chest protector using tennis racket stringing principles to prevent heart injuries in lacrosse and other sports. The second is an electronic home plate, which earned Spessard two national honors.

Spessard has been recognized by Virginia Tech, his alma mater, as one of the school’s 100 top graduates in the 20th Century.

Spessard was raised in Hagerstown and spent his childhood playing through its youth baseball and basketball leagues. He played baseball and football at North Hagerstown — and was a football captain in 1966 — before playing football at Virginia Tech.

Cheryl Wilkes

Wilkes has been one of the driving forces leading to the establishment, growth and success of girls and women’s sports in Williamsport and Washington County.

She began her 36-year teaching career at the advent of Title IX, the landmark federal civil rights law of 1972. It opened the doors to girls and women’s sports in Williamsport, and during her 34 years (1970-2004) at Williamsport/Springfield Middle School, Wilkes helped provide the foundation for success.

A number of Wilkes’ students have won state championships before becoming teachers and coaches who successfully carried on her influences and fundamentals to continue the grass roots growth of girls and 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 Girls and Women in Sports Foundation, which gives recognition along with sponsor and scholarship awards.

Wilkes is a major figure behind Williamsport’s rise to volleyball prominence. She started volleyball play days at middle schools, which fostered multiple generations of Wildcat players. Those players went on to win state volleyball, track and cross country championships, along with a state basketball and softball title.

Wilkes’ influence grew through the development of the annual Springfield Middle Gymnastics Show and middle school cross country meets and volleyball tournaments. She co-organized after-school intramurals and taught swimming at Fountain Head Country Club in her earlier years.

Wilkes played sports, was a county champion and graduated Williamsport before attending High Point (N.C.) University, where she played on its first volleyball team and on the basketball squad.

Honors and scholarship awards

The WCSHOF also will present the following honors and scholarships to local administrators and high school athletes:

Donald Stoner Coach of the Year Award: Susanna Barnhart, Grace Academy

William Lightner Official of the Year Award: Steve Moyer, umpire

Sara “Skip” Ward Scholarship Award: Grace Ellis, Smithsburg

Harry L. Cunningham Jr. Scholarship Award: Brody Stratton, Hancock

Millie Shank Athletic Academic Scholarship: Jenna Howe, Smithsburg

Gregg DeLauney President’s Award Scholarship: Cassius Freeman, South Hagerstown

Carroll I. Reid Jr. Scholarship, sponsored by Cumberland Valley Athletic Club: Rian Johnson, North Hagerstown

Carroll and Virginia Reid Memorial Scholarship: Ayden Weakfall, Smithsburg & Vinny Roncone, Smithsburg

Jeff Scuffins Memorial Scholarship, sponsored by Cumberland Valley Athletic Club: Jakob Davidson, Boonsboro

Dotty Piccolomini Scholarship: To be determined

Banquet information

Doors will open at 5 p.m. on July 19. The event begins with a social hour, followed by dinner at 6. The presentation program will follow dinner.

Tickets for the ceremony are $35.

For information or to purchase tickets, contact Frank Linn at 301-730-8401 or Gregg DeLauney at 240-675-1228.