EXCELSIOR SPRINGS – Vic Bonuchi’s legacy loomed over this year’s Excelsior Springs High School Athletic Hall of Fame ceremony.

Bonuchi is a retired coach whose achievements included leading the Tigers to two Class 4A state football titles in three seasons and the 1975 Class A state wrestling title. He received a standing ovation and was acknowledged repeatedly in speeches at the July 7 ceremony in the Performing Arts Center.

Host Gregg Williams, an Excelsior Springs native and longtime NFL coach, lauded Bonuchi while introducing the 1964-1967 varsity football teams. Growing up, Williams had “the luxury and the opportunity to see Coach Bonuchi coach and how these guys … (played),” he said.

Individual inductee Wally Stiles discussed his playing for Bonuchi with a bit of humor, calling Bonuchi his “first foreign language instructor.”

“He taught me how to understand St. Louis Italian,” Stiles joked.

Bonuchi also taught Stiles and his teammates a serious lesson, he said.

“Coach Bonuchi taught us …