Hall of Fame

State champions to be recognized January 23


By Bruce Rolfe

Climax-Scotts High School will recognize individual state champions at C-S during a C-S Community Hall of Fame ceremony January 23. The night will also celebrate a three year process that has taken place replacing the C-S Hall of Fame plaques with new plaques and a project updating banners in the high school gym.

The Hall of Fame ceremony will take place at halftime of the boys varsity basketball game against Athens January 23. A reception will follow the event.

Hall of Fame inductees include:

• Dennis VanMiddlesworth, C-S’ first ever state MHSAA champion in any sport in the 880-yard run in 1971. 

• The 2006 state champion 4x100-meter relay team consisting of Tyler Langs, Jordan Langs, Dallas Halasz and Scott Bogard. 

• Deryk Soule, 1991 state champion wrestler.

• Brian Davis, 1991 state champion wrestler.

•  Alex Lodes, a two-time 100-meter dash state champion in 2012 and 2013. He was also state champion in the 200m in 2012.

•  Justin Todd, a 2004 state champion cross country runner.

• The 2013 4x100-meter relay team consisting of Alex Lodes, Kirk Gibson, Sam Eshuis and Zach Nabozny.

The special night will also celebrate the renovated Hall of Fame wall and banner improvements inside the gymnasium.

Former C-S Athletic Director and high school teacher/career coordinator Kevin Langs started the three year improvement project in 2019 updating the banners in the gym and replacing the hall of fame plaques on the wall.

During the three-year process Langs also replaced the Climax-Scotts Community Schools Hall of Fame plaques with new plaques after the wall the hall of fame plaques hung on, were exposed to water from roof leaks over the years. A number of pictures in the plaques were damaged from the water.

2026 C-S Community Hall of Fame
profiles provided by the C-S Athletic Department

Dennis VanMiddlesworth
Class of 1972
Inducted 2026
The 1972 Climax-Scotts graduate becomes the “little school on South Main Street’s” first ever M.H.S.A.A. State Champion in any sport.  Dennis was a junior when he won the M.H.S.A.A. Class D 880-yard dash at the State Championships at Ferris State College in Big Rapids with a time of 2:02.6 on a cinder track at the college. What makes this feat even more impressive is that C-S did not even have a home track so Dennis would train by running around the old driveway that circled the high school.  Jack Wilson was the track coach then and got in his car and used the odometer to measure the 880-yard distance.

Dennis will place 3rd in the State in the 880-yard dash his senior year.  Dennis was also a standout football player for the Panthers, playing halfback.

Dennis is married to Sandy and they have three grandchildren.  Dennis has been a local barber for over 50 years.

2006
4 X 100m Relay Team
Inducted 2026
• M.H.S.A.A. STATE CHAMPION -  D4
• JUNE 3, 2006 @ Forest Hills Eastern High School
• TIME:  45.08
• RELAY TEAM MEMBERS:
• Tyler Langs, Senior – lead runner
• Jordan Langs, Sophomore– second runner
• Dallas Halasz, Freshman – third runner
• Scott Bogard, Senior – anchor runner

2013 State Champs Relay
2013
4 X 100m Relay Team
Inducted 2026
• M.H.S.A.A. STATE CHAMPION -  D4
• JUNE 1, 2013 @ Hudsonville High School
• TIME:  44.41
• RELAY TEAM MEMBERS:
• Alexander Lodes, Senior – lead runner
• Kirk Gibson, Senior – second runner
• Sam Eshuis, Junior – third runner
• Zach Nabozny, Senior – anchor runner



Alex Lodes
Class of 2013
Inducted 2026
Alex will graduate as the most decorated Track and Field athlete in the history of “Big Blue!”  Alex will leave the “little school on South Main Street” with a total of four M.H.S.A.A. D4 State Championships.  He will earn the State title his junior year in the individual events of the 100m and 200m dashes while defending his title as the “fastest man” in D4 his senior year by winning the 100m dash for a total of three Individual State Championships.

Alex, together with his teammates, will add the fourth State title by winning the 4x100m relay his senior year.  When it is all said and done, Alex will graduate with school records in the 100m, 200m, long jump, 4x100 relay and the 4x200 relay.

Alex was a three-sport standout for the Panthers as he will have an outstanding high school career in both football and basketball. He will finish his senior year in football with one of the highest single season rushing totals with 1,339 yards as he helped the team finish with a 10-1 record and a #10 ranking in the Associated Press poll. Alex will also help the Big Blue basketball team his junior year finish as the M.H.S.A.A. State Runners-up with a record of 26-2 and a #5 ranking in the AP poll. In his senior year, the team will finish with a 24-2 record and a #2 ranking in the State, while losing in the M.H.S.A.A. Quarterfinals.

While in high school, Alex carried the nickname of “4:13” and would like to leave his favorite quote for future C-S athletes: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me in both victory and defeat!”

Brian Davis
Class of 1994
Inducted 2026
Brian started his high school wrestling career with a “big bang” winning the M.H.S.A.A. Class D 103# weight class State Championship at Kellogg Arena in Battle Creek his freshman year in 1991. He completed the season with a 38-3 record with 19 pins.  

Brian will be hampered by injuries at times in his last three years of his high school wrestling career.  However, he will still post a 32-6 mark in his junior year, and a promising senior year was cut short due to injury but will finish with a career record of 93-17 and two St. Joe Valley (SJV) conference championships.

Brian was a four-sport athlete while attending the “little school on South Main Street.”  He was a standout on the gridiron for C-S, earning First Team SJV All-Conference as a defensive back, and at the time held the school record of 127 tackles in a season. 

Brian also played for three years on the diamond for the Panther baseball team and during his senior year (1994) he was a rare two-sport athlete in one season as he played on the basketball team where he was named team MVP, while he was also an outstanding grappler on the mat for the wrestling program.

Upon graduation from Climax-Scotts, Brian will go on to play wide receiver on the Olivet College football team, where in the spring of 1998 he will graduate with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration.

Deryk Soule
Class of 1991
Inducted 2026
The 1991 Climax-Scotts graduate will leave the “little school on South Main Street” as one of the most decorated wrestlers in Climax-Scotts history.

Deryk will reach the pinnacle of “schoolboy” wrestling in the State of Michigan by winning the M.H.S.A.A. Class D State Championship at the 160# weight class at Kellogg Arena in Battle Creek in 1991. He finished the season with a 41-2-1 record with 21 pins.  

In 1990, when he was a junior, Deryk was so close in being a two-time State Champion but finished 2nd at the 152# weight class.  Deryk also finished 4th place his sophomore year at the 152# weight class and 7th place when he was a freshman in the 145# class.  

Deryk will finish his high school career with an impressive overall record of 137-36-1. During this time, he will add two conference championships; one in the SJV and another in the Tri-County Conference.

While in high school, Deryk was a two-time junior Olympic alternate for the team competition in Germany and Australia.  He was also a three-sport athlete while at C-S, participating in football, where he helped lead “Big Blue” to its first ever M.H.S.A.A. play-off appearance during the fall of his senior year in 1990.  He was a special mention All-State performer on the gridiron for the Panthers.  

Deryk demonstrated his talents and leadership by being voted the Class President of his1991 senior class.

After graduating from C-S, Deryk will take his talents to Muskegon Community College where he will place 3rd in Regionals.  

Deryk is the very proud dad of daughters Zenna and Maria, who are also Climax-Scotts graduates.

Justin Todd
Class of 2005
Inducted 2026
On November 6, 2004, at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan, the 2005 C-S graduate will go on to win the M.H.S.A.A. (D4) Cross Country State Championship. Justin will finish first with a time of 16:28.90, outpacing Curtis Barclay (16:33.60) from Hale High School in the final backstretch of the course in one of the more exciting finishes in M.H.S.A.A. XC finals history.

What makes Justin’s accomplishment even more unique is that Climax-Scotts had never had a XC team or runner in its athletic history.  Justin set the standard high for future runners.

Justin holds the school record for cross country, was also All-State in Track & Field in the 1.600m (1 mile) and 3.200 m (2 mile), holding the school record in both events.

Upon graduation from the “little school on South Main Street”, Justin will run XC at Olivet College.

At the time of induction, Justin is employed at the Stryker Corporation as a medical machinist and he and his wife, Olivia and son, Oliver live in the village of Climax.

Justin would like to leave future “Big Blue” athletes with his favorite quote he lived by when training…” Hard work beats talent anytime talent does not work.”

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