Wharton County Junior College recently held an induction ceremony for its 2024 Athletic
Hall of Fame. Pictured, left to right, are recipients Juan De La Garza, Phyllis Bonugli
Fowler and Ed Fiori. Not pictured are recipients Phil Blackmar and Justin Maass.
WHARTON, TEXAS – Five former Pioneers have been inducted into the Wharton County Junior
College Athletic Hall of Fame. The 2024 recipients are Phil Blackmar (Golf), Juan
De La Garza (Track), Ed Fiori (Golf), Phyllis Bonugli Fowler (Volleyball) and Justin
Maass (Rodeo). A ceremony was held recently in their honor at the Pioneer Student
Center on the Wharton campus.
WCJC President Betty McCrohan provided the welcome, with WCJC Baseball Coach Trey
Porras and WCJC Rodeo Coach Sean Amestoy awarding the plaques and recognizing the
recipients. Inductees were chosen by a selection committee comprised of athletic department
staff and long-time college instructors. Criteria included (1) accomplishments in
athletics during and after WCJC; (2) service to the college and WCJC athletics; (3)
professional achievements; (4) personal integrity; and (5) service to the community.
The WCJC Athletic Hall of Fame was created in 2021.
The 2024 inductees:
Phil Blackmar – Golf, Class of 1976. Blackmar arrived at WCJC in 1975. As a Pioneer
golfer, Blackmar was the team’s Most Valuable Player and posted five tournament wins.
After WCJC, Blackmar went to the University of Texas in Austin and made the All-Southwest
Conference team three times. Blackmar competed on the Professional Golfers Association
(PGA) Tour from 1985 to 2000, making Rookie of the Year in 1985. He won the 1985 Greater
Hartford Open, the 1988 Provident Classic and the 1997 Houston Open. Competing from
2007 to 2011 with the PGA Tour Champions, Blackmar won the 2009 AT&T San Antonio Open.
Juan De La Garza – Track, Class of 1981. A native of Coahuila, Mexico, De La Garza
came to WCJC in the early 1980s to compete on the track team. Competing in the javelin,
De La Garza won the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) title in
1982. From WCJC, De La Garza transferred to Texas A&M, where he set a school record
in the javelin and was named to the All-American team in 1983 and 1984. De La Garza
represented his native Mexico at the World Championships in 1987, 1991, 1993, 1995
and 1997. He holds the Mexican national record in the javelin and won a bronze medal
at the 1987 Pan American Games. He qualified for the Olympics twice. In 1984, De La
Garza embarked on a distinguished career as a javelin coach.
Ed Fiori – Golf, Class of 1975. Known as “The Tiger Killer” for his defeat of a young
Tiger Woods in 1996, Fiori has had a distinguished career as a golfer. Competing for
WCJC in 1975, the California native later transferred to the University of Houston,
where he continued to make his mark on the fairway. Fiori turned pro in 1977 and joined
the PGA Tour in 1978. He won several major PGA tournaments, including the 1979 Southern
Open, the 1981 Western Open, the 1982 Bob Hope Desert Classic and the 1996 Quad City
Classic , where he beat a rookie Tiger Woods. In all, Fiori won four PGA Tour titles,
one PGA Tour Champions title and posted wins at the 1981 Southern California Open,
1984 Jerry Ford Invitational and the 2004 MasterCard Classic.
Phyllis Bonugli Fowler – Volleyball, Class of 1980. A New Braunfels, Texas, native,
Fowler has had a distinguished career as both a player and a coach. Playing at WCJC
from 1978 to 1980, she was an NJCAA All-American volleyball player and earned the
Johnnie Frankie Award in 1980, the first woman to receive the recognition. From WCJC,
Fowler transferred to Texas Lutheran University, where she played volleyball and basketball
for one year before moving on to Southwest Texas State. She then embarked on a remarkable
coaching career as the high school and college level. She was named head volleyball
coach for Texas Lutheran University in 2018 and holds a 102-82 record.
Justin Maass – Rodeo, Class of 1996. Maass is a native of Giddings, Texas, and began
roping at 12 years of age. He attended WCJC in the mid-1990s as a member of the rodeo
team, earning his Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association card in 1996. Maass is the
only cowboy to win back-to-back PRCA/AQHA Tie-Down Horse-of-the-Year recognition and
is an eight time qualifier for the National Finals Rodeo in Tie-Down Roping. He was
Reserve World Champion in Tie-Down Roping in 2012, a 17-time qualifier at the Texas
Circuit Finals and a two-time Texas Circuit Finals Champion. Maass has achieved victory
across the state and nation, winning in Houston, San Antonio and Austin, as well as
in Kansas and Colorado.
