The Berks County Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame will induct seven new members at its 49th annual banquet Sunday, April 19, at the Redner’s Event Center at FirstEnergy Stadium.
Kerry Ciatto, Matt Coldren, Mel Edwards, Tom Houck, Chris Lea, Julie Pelchar Cohen and Derek Sola have been elected by the chapter’s voting members from this year’s list of nominees.
The inductions will increase the chapter’s Hall of Fame to 427 members, including 34 who have been inducted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame.
In addition, five Twin Valley boys cross country teams that won PIAA Class 2A championships in 1989, ’91, ’92, ’94 and ’95 will be honored as Teams of Distinction.
The Baseballtown Charities Dream League will receive the chapter’s Inspiration Award. The league, which began in 2018, allows those with physical and intellectual challenges the chance to enjoy baseball like able-bodied players do.
The banquet, which is open to the public, will begin at 5 p.m.
Reservations will be accepted until April 3. For more information or to download a banquet form, go to berkscosportshof.org and click on “2026 Berks Hall of Fame Induction Banquet.”
Kerry Ciatto
A 1974 graduate of Muhlenberg High School, Ciatto was an all-league football player and an All-Berks wrestler who helped the Muhls win two Tri-County League football titles. He went on to play football and wrestle at East Stroudsburg State College and helped the Warriors win two PSAC football championships. Ciatto spent 43 years as an assistant football coach, 38 at the high school level and five at the junior high level, and was part of 15 league championship teams, one District 3 title team, three district runner-up teams and 20 district qualifiers. He guided four PIAA place-winners in six seasons as the head wrestling coach at Reading High School and was named the 1982 Berks Coach of the Year when the Red Knights set a school record for wins. He also spent 15 years as a wrestling official, working 13 sectional championships, 12 District 3 Championships and two PIAA Championships. Ciatto was athletic director at Muhlenberg for 14 years and has been the BCIAA executive director since 2013. He’s in the Muhlenberg, Berks Wrestling and East Stroudsburg Halls of Fame.
Matt Coldren
A 1990 graduate of Wilson High School, Coldren has guided his alma mater’s boys basketball team to a 432-204 record in 24 seasons, the fifth-most wins by a Berks boys basketball coach, six BCIAA championships and the 2020 District 3 Class 6A title, the program’s only crown. His teams have reached the PIAA Tournament 11 times. As a player, Coldren averaged 15.5 points per game as a senior and was named to the All-Berks team. At Kutztown University, he played four seasons (1990-94) and averaged 10.5 points per game as a senior. He remains second in career free throw percentage (87.8) in school history and fourth in 3-point field goal percentage (40.4).
Mel Edwards was a three-sport standout at Hamburg High School who went on to play collegiately at Rider and was drafted by the San Diego Padres. (Contributed photo)
Mel Edwards
A 1987 Hamburg Area High School graduate, Edwards was a multiple All-Berks selection in baseball and basketball and played soccer for the Hawks. In baseball, he led Hamburg to two Berks League championship games, two other Berks playoff appearances and four District 3 berths. He also was named the MVP of the Legion Region 2 Tournament after he hit the game-winning home run for Hamburg in the championship game. In basketball, he scored 1,713 points to set a school record that has since been passed and won the Richard Kleppinger and Jack Flowers Awards as the county’s outstanding senior player. He led Hamburg to the 1986 District 3 Class 2A title game as a junior and was later named to the Reading Eagle All-1980s Team. Edwards went on to play baseball for four years and basketball for two years at Rider. He finished his college baseball career with 179 hits, 126 RBIs, 22 home runs and 140 runs scored while playing shortstop. He was drafted by the San Diego Padres and played one year in their farm system. He also played for the Scranton Red Sox and was named an Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League All-Star. He serves as assistant softball coach at Hamburg.
Tom Houck
A 1994 graduate of Wilson High School, Houck earned All-American honors in swimming and water polo with the Bulldogs. In swimming, he won eight PIAA medals, including three silver, and seven District 3 gold medals. He was a four-time All-American selection, a nine-time All-State pick and a 16-time All-Berks selection. Houck helped Wilson win the 1992 District 3 title and two league championships. Upon graduation, he held four school records, two Berks records and one District 3 record. In water polo, he was a two-time All-American, a three-time All-State pick and a two-time All-Eastern selection and helped the Bulldogs win four state championships and two Eastern titles. In college, he swam for Tennessee for two seasons and helped the Vols win a Southeastern Conference title and then swam two seasons at Penn State. There, he also was a member of the school’s club water polo team that was the national runner-up in 1998. Houck has coached the Wilson girls swimming team since 2010 and has guided the Bulldogs to a 167-11-1 record, the 2012 PIAA Class 3A title, three PIAA runner-up finishes and six District 3 championships. He has coached the Wilson boys water polo team since 2019 and has led the Bulldogs to a 117-37 record, one state championship (2022) and one runner-up finish.
Tom Houck, a 1994 Wilson graduate, earned All-American honors in swimming and water polo for the Bulldogs. (Reading Eagle file photo)
Chris Lea
A 1988 graduate of Holy Name High School, Lea starred in football, basketball and track and field and is considered one of the best all-around athletes in Blue Jays history. In track and field, he was a two-time All-State selection and two-time All-Berks pick who led Holy Name to the BCIAA team title in 1988 and was the District 3 Class 2A high jump champion that year. In basketball, he was a two-time All-Berks selection who scored 1,409 career points. In football, Lea led the Blue Jays to the 1987 Inter-County League title, twice made the league all-star team and was voted to the All-Berks team as a senior. He was selected the Reading Eagle Male Athlete of the Year for 1987-88. Lea went on to compete in football and track at Delaware State and was part of two Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football championship teams and one outdoor track team champ. He went on to coach football for 20 years at Holy Name and helped the Blue Jays win three District 3 titles. He also coached track and field for 15 years and was named the Class 2A girls Berks Coach of the Year in 2011. He has been inducted into the Holy Name Hall of Fame and the Berks County Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
Julie Pelchar Cohen
A 1993 graduate of Wilson High School, Pelchar Cohen was an outstanding golfer who remains the only four-time BCIAA girls champion and one of only two four-time District 3 girls champions. She placed fifth in the PIAA Class 3A Tournament as a junior and was third as a senior. She won the 1992 Mid Pines Junior Amateur Championship and qualified for the prestigious Optimist Junior World Golf Championship. Pelchar Cohen received a golf scholarship to attend Alabama, where she was a three-time Women’s Golf Coaches Association All-American Scholar, made the Southeastern Conference Academic Honor Roll four times and served as president of Alabama’s Student-Athlete Advisory Board. She won the Women’s Berks County Golf Association Betty Fehl-Fegely Championship three times, was a match play qualifier in the North & South Women’s Amateur Championship at Pinehurst (N.C.) Resort and was the 1996 Moselem Springs Golf Club and Manor Golf Club women’s champion. She went on to work as a sports reporter for the Reading Eagle for more than 20 years, focusing on local golf, high school track and field and the Reading Royals. Her writing was recognized in the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association Keystone Awards contest.
Derek Sola
A 1999 graduate of Conrad Weiser High School, where he was a standout wrestler with a 129-12 record, four District 3 championships, four regional titles, a PIAA silver medal and one other state medal. He was a four-time All-State selection, a four-time All-Berks pick and a two-time team captain who helped the Scouts reach a District 3 team final. He also won two letters in football and one letter in track and field. At Millersville University, he was a two-time NCAA Division I national qualifier (2003-04), a two-time NCAA East Region champion, a three-time PSAC place-winner, a PSAC finalist in 2004 and a two-time team captain. He was named to the All-PSAC team in 2004, went 14-0 in dual meets that season and helped the Marauders win four NCAA East Region titles. As a high school coach, he has led Berks Catholic, Hamburg, Pennridge and Lampeter-Strasburg to a 245-93 record in 17 seasons. He has guided the Saints to two PIAA team semifinals, a District 3 dual meet team title, a District 3 individual team tournament title, three BCIAA individual tournament team championships and two BCIAA dual meet team titles. He is a two-time BCIAA Coach of the Year and a two-time District 3 Coach of the Year. He’s been inducted into the District 3 Wrestling Hall of Fame, the Berks County Wrestling Hall of Fame and the Conrad Weiser Athletics Hall of Fame.