MISSION — Gus Torres was born in Mission but made a name for himself as the 1972 All-Valley Defensive Player of the Year at Harlingen High.
The Cardinals were a power on the gridiron then and remain a powerhouse now thanks to former players like Torres, who was inducted into the Rio Grande Valley Sports Hall of Fame on Saturday at the Mission Event Center along with nine individuals and five teams who made up the RGV Sports Hall of Fame’s 2023 class.
| Gus Torres during the 35th Annual RGV Sports Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at the Mission Event Center Saturday, June 17, 2023 in Mission. (Delcia Lopez | [email protected]) Delcia Lopez |
“I never expected and never thought that this day would ever come. I was originally born in Mission, Texas, but I moved to Harlingen at a very young age — to be inducted in the same place where I was born, it’s unbelievable and incredible,” said Torres, who played NCAA Division II football at Livingston University. “It’s been a great honor for me. I come from a family of 10. We were migrant workers. We went up north every year, came back late, and Coach (Jesse) Longhofer gave me the opportunity and believed that I could play.”
The newest additions to the RGV Sports Hall of Fame are McAllen’s Carlos Espinosa, McAllen’s Danny Goodwin, Harlingen’s Steve Lunsford, Brownsville’s Ana Martinez-Mann, San Benito’s Elias Martinez, Brownsville’s Mike Ramsey, former Pan American basketball player Fred Taylor, Edinburg’s Chad Tredaway, Harlingen’s Torres and Edinburg’s Tony Trejo.
The five teams joining the 10 individuals in the 2023 HOF class are the 1961 San Benito football team that advanced to the Class 2A state semifinals, the 1972 Roma Gladiators boys basketball team, that advanced to the Class 2A state semifinals, the 1976 Weslaco High girls basketball team that advanced to the Class 4A state semifinals, the 1978 Sharyland Rattlers boys basketball team that advanced to the Class 2A state semifinals, and the 1990 Mission High football team that advanced to the Class 5A state semifinals.
Espinosa played golf at McAllen High and was part of the Houston Cougars’ 1985 national championship golf team. He played professionally for 14 years and is now the golf pro at Champion Lakes Golf Course in McAllen.
“All the memories that this process has taken me back to and how many people have helped me along the way, it’s amazing,” Espinosa said. “They refer to the game of golf as an individual sport, but for me, that was never the case. I got a lot of help, a lot of support from a lot of people, made some great friends and relationships that I still value, and being able to go back and reminisce and remember and look at pictures has been an unbelievable experience, and the icing on the cake has been being able to share that with my two daughters, who didn’t get to see that side of my life.”
| Carlos Espinosa during the 35th Annual RGV Sports Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at the Mission Event Center Saturday, June 17, 2023 in Mission. (Delcia Lopez | [email protected]) Delcia Lopez |
Goodwin was a four-time state qualifier and a four-time state medalist during his high school swimming career at McAllen High. He won a pair of gold medals with the Bulldogs and competed in the 500- and 100-yard freestyle. Goodwin went on to become an All-American swimmer at SMU in 1986 and 1988. Goodwin is the first swimming athlete to be inducted into the RGV Sports Hall of Fame.
Lunsford coached the Harlingen South volleyball team into the regional tournament five times and led the Hawks into the playoffs in 10 of his 12 years. South became the first Valley team to reach the state semifinal round in volleyball in 2003 under Lunsford. During his tenure as head coach at Harlingen South, the Hawks won eight district championships, 10 bi-district playoff wins, seven area playoff wins and five regional quarterfinal playoff wins.
San Benito softball head coach Martinez is coming off a third trip to the UIL softball state tournament just more than two weeks ago with the Greyhounds and is now a member of the RGV Sports Hall of Fame. Martinez is the fourth-winningest Texas high school softball coach in Texas with 536 victories.
| San Benito’s softball coach Elias Martinez during the 35th Annual RGV Sports Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at the Mission Event Center Saturday, June 17, 2023 in Mission. (Delcia Lopez | [email protected]) Delcia Lopez |
Martinez-Mann, who attended Brownsville Porter, is the RGV’s all-time record holder in the long jump and qualified for the state meet in 1982, posting a fifth-place finish. Martinez-Mann went on to compete collegiately at Pan American University, where she reached the NAIA national meet in three straight seasons from 1983-85.
Ramsey played baseball at Brownsville Hanna and took his game to the next level as an All-American at TCU. He once led the old Southwest Conference in batting with a .465 average and remains TCU’s all-time leader in batting average for a season and career.
| Folks check out the RGV Sports Hall of Fame posters during the 35th Annual RGV Sports Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at the Mission Event Center Saturday, June 17, 2023 in Mission. (Delcia Lopez | [email protected]) Delcia Lopez |
Houston native Fred Taylor played basketball at Pan American College from 1967-1970 and became the Broncs’ fourth all-time leading scorer. He played two seasons in the NBA after being drafted by the Phoenix Suns. He played one year with the Cincinnati Royals, where he was teammates with NBA Hall of Famer Nate “Tiny” Archibald.
“This is a real big honor because they say I was the fourth-leading scorer here, but what a lot of people don’t know is I only had three years while everybody else had four,” Taylor said. “I had to play freshman ball my first time down here, and I thought it was a waste of time because if I would have played with those players maybe a year earlier, we might have had some more championships down here because I only played one year with Otto Moore and it was real special. That’s when I thought I had a chance to make it to the pros. Coach (Sam) Williams kept harping to me that he thought I had a chance to make it and if I worked on my game I would, and it was special to be around those guys.”
Tredaway was an all-district standout at Edinburg High before playing college baseball at Seminole State College of Florida, where he became the National Junior College Athletic Association Player of the Year in 1991. The Chicago Cubs drafted the infielder as Tredaway embarked on a professional career in 1992. He also played for Reynosa in the Mexican League before managing the minor league Edinburg Roadrunners and the Fort Worth Cats. He is the son of former Pan American baseball player and coach Reggie Tredaway, a 2009 inductee into the RGV Sports Hall of Fame.
| Chad Tredaway chats with a friend before being inducted into the 35th Annual RGV Sports Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at the Mission Event Center Saturday, June 17, 2023 in Mission. (Delcia Lopez | [email protected]) Delcia Lopez |
“It’s an honor. For me, it goes back to Al Ogleetree and Reggie Tredaway,” the younger Tredaway said. “I literally grew up with them every day of my life, so to be in the hall with those two and to be able to grab on to their belt is a special, special thing to me.”
Edinburg’s Trejo was a central figure in Texas’ high school track and field and cross country scene. He coached for 38 years and won multiple district championships and regional titles at McAllen Memorial. Trejo, a 1974 graduate of Edinburg High, died last year at 67 years old.