Twenty-five years since that magical run to the PIAA quarterfinals and 27-1 record, the ‘95 Owls have enjoyed life off the court, too. Some of the Owls have stayed close to home, while others have moved plenty far away.
JERRY BURGOS, the team’s leading scorer and a senior that year, now resides in Greater Atlanta with his wife and four daughters, all of which play various sports but not basketball. He’s called the Peach State home since 2001, and works at FedEx.
Looking back, his favorite memory from the team is “growing together now just as basketball players, but in friendships and as teammates… Now, you reflect on everything we did over the years, and it just shows that when you put in the work, good things happen. This wasn’t something that occurred in one year.”
Dave Fuhrman, head coach of the Owls that season and Burgos’ legal guardian during that magical year, said of the guard, “He was a quick, athletic wing player with an explosive first step who could really take the ball to the basket. He was an excellent defender that could really get up in the passing lanes and was a great finisher in transition.”
IRONICALLY, MIKE MANNING JR., a senior that year and victim of the infamous charge during the quarterfinals game against Butler, now resides in that very city along with his father, Assistant Coach Mike Manning Sr.
The younger Manning works as a coach at Core Athletics, a baseball instructional business, and is the father of three children.
“It was a really special year for all of us involved, and to be able to share it with my dad is something we still talk about occasionally,” Manning Jr. said. “It’s part of our lives and special to us. I’m really happy I could share that with him. Honestly, I don’t think if any one of us (players), if any one of that group wasn’t there, I don’t think it would’ve happened the way it did.”
Fuhrman said of Manning Jr., “Mike was a smart, heady player who could guard all five positions on the floor. He had good shooting range and was a lock-down defender, ball handler and passer.”
JASON WELLS, one of the team’s five seniors and first player off the bench, lives in Johnsonburg now with his wife, son and daughter. He works at the Allegheny Beverage Company. His son, Ethan, was part of the Elk-McKean All-Star team that reached the Junior League World Series in 2018.
“The biggest thing I remember was the camaraderie and the way we all just got along,” Wells said. “We had a goal in mind, and we were able to just get to that point. You knew practice was work, but we liked going there.”
He added, “I remember bus trips, but I don’t remember games. It was more bus trips and the whole experience of what we went through and the greatness of it that I remember.”
Of Wells, Fuhrman said, “He was a very steady, calming influence on the floor and did not make mistakes. He had quickness and athleticism and was a good defender. He made key plays and shots in many games for us.”
CORY MEAD, another senior on the team and the Owls’ first forward off the bench, now works as a private personal trainer in the Hell’s Kitchen area of New York City and has a daughter, MaKenzie. He also has the Marsh family of Bradford and the Meads of Western Pennsylvania.
Mead recalls being nicknamed “The Hammer” by the Fuhrman family because of his tendency to commit hard fouls. In fact, he remembers fouling out during the third quarter of one game.
He added that the experience of playing for that team has been a “positive influence” on him even to today.
Of Mead, Fuhrman said, “Cory gave us a physical inside presence with a good shooting touch. He played with a mean streak and was our Dennis Rodman on the boards. He only played in our program for one year but was a key contributor.”
TIM SIMONS, another senior on the roster and a standout in football, track and baseball, now resides in Chambersburg and works as an English teacher for the juvenile corrections education system. His family still resides in Bradford.
Simons recalls of the season, “We were fantastic, obviously, as a team. We were great teammates, we loved each other and we were spectacular as far as chemistry. But what resonates to me is how the community embraced us.”
Fuhrman said of Simons, “He was another physical player off the bench who played with an edge. He really pushed the guys hard at practice to be the best they could be. I sometimes worried about him hurting one of our guys at practice because he went so hard, but I think they enjoyed it and appreciated it. His elbows drew blood at a few practices.”
CORY HAYDEN, one of the team’s four juniors and the Owls’ starting point guard, resides in Bradford and works at the American Refining Group. He has a wife and two children, one of which plays hockey.
His favorite memories include beating Olean twice in what was “always a good rivalry” and “beating McKeesport since they were No. 1.”
He also enjoyed the bus rides and trips to Aiello’s, and most of all, the camaraderie.
“That’s what made us so special. It wasn’t one dominant person. It was just everybody in it for the same reasons,” he said.
Fuhrman recalled of Hayden, “He was the key to our pressure defensive scheme. He called our defensive signals and was a disruptive force in the way he pressured the opponent’s point guards. He had cat-like quickness, and his nickname was “The Cat.” He could also score when we needed him.”
ANDY “TWIGS” TERWILLIGER, lives in Bradford and works in Olean as a supply chain buyer at Dresser Rand. He has a wife and three kids, Deondre, Marcus and Addison. Deondre plays basketball at Pitt-Bradford.
“The thing that sticks out the most to me was our ability to play together as a team, and our desire to go win every game,” he said. “Not only did we want to win every game, but we wanted to beat people by a lot. We set high expectations for ourselves, and it created good outcomes for us.”
“Twigs” also says that the famed picture of him “crying” after the team finished its undefeated season at Elk Christian was not actually a picture of him in tears. Rather, “I just had sweat in my eye,” he said.
Fuhrman said of Terwilliger, “He was our best pure shooter. He had picture-perfect form and we ran lots of sets for him to get shots, as he was so good coming off screens and turning into his shots. He always had the green light to shoot.”
NATE WILLSON, the team’s leading rebounder and a fellow junior, now lives in Salt Lake City, Utah and has been married for almost 19 years. He works for a company that provides power generator equipment services and supports the Western region. He’s also spent time in Louisiana and Wyoming.
“It was a group of young men that would’ve done anything for one another on the court,” Willson said. “We really played well together, and that’s what I enjoyed most — the opportunity to be a part of that.”
Fuhrman said of the forward, “He was the most improved player from the previous season and worked countless hours in the gym and weight room to make himself a player. He was a quick jumper who developed some signature post moves and played fearlessly.”
AARON BOWES, the fourth junior, now resides near Silver Spring, Md., which is in the Washington, D.C. metro area. He’s been married since 2009 and has two children, a six-year-old boy and four-year-old girl. Bowes works as the principal software engineer for Parson, an architectural engineering company.
Bowes recalled, “What I think stood out for me was how big inner-city kids can be, and we were some small-town boys. What stands out is just that you can take us undersized kids and match them up with bigger buys, but you’d have to get them out of the paint and let Cory, Jerry and Twigs shoot the lights out. It was a fun run.”
He added, “Everybody just seemed to grow up together. I think we kind of knew each other like we were brothers.”
Fuhrman said of Bowes, “Aaron was a team-first guy who accepted his role and gave his best effort at practice and in games. He understood he was on a very talented team and played in a supporting role, yet had a great attitude and relished the team’s success. Every successful team needs a guy like Aaron.”
JOE IRONS, the Owls’ lone sophomore, now resides in Lakewood, N.Y., just outside of Jamestown with his wife and three children. He coaches for their teams.
“It was just amazing how the town of Bradford embraced that year,” he remembered. “My memory of it is how the community embraced us. It was the talk of the town going to the state playoff games. Everybody rallied around it.”
Fuhrman said of Irons, “Joe was our most talented sophomore who we wanted to get some varsity experience off the bench to help him for his junior and senior years when he would be a frontline player. He was able to do that, which helped him become a key player the following two seasons.”
TEAM MANAGER KEVIN MINICH, a freshman that year, now resides in Elizabeth Township just outside of Pittsburgh. He has a wife and works as a golf course superintendent at The Club at Blackthorne.
His favorite memories include watching the team come together and the Owls’ frequent trips to Aiello’s during road trips.
“To have that time to break bread with each other, I think it was special,” he said.
Fuhrman said, “I always recruited my managers from my classes. Kevin was a freshman in one of my business classes that year. He was very organized and had great rapport with the players and was well-respected by them. This was a key role in my program, and Kevin was one of the best we ever had serve in this capacity.
FUHRMAN retired after the 2009-2010 season, his 20th at the helm of Owl basketball. He finished his career at Bradford with a 340-171 record. Bradford won 11 District 9 championships during his tenure.
He still resides in Bradford with his wife, Nancy, and very friendly dog, Charlie. He has a son, “Pug,” and daughter, Shelly.
Of his roster that season, Fuhrman concluded, “All 10 players have gone on to be successful in the game of life, too, which makes me extremely proud as their coach. After all, that is the biggest and most important game they will ever play in.”
(Joel Whetzel, a Bradford Era sportswriter, can be reached at jwhetzel@bradfordera.com.)
