WILLIAMS, CA (MPG) – A summer tradition continued for the 23rd year when the Colusa County Sports Hall of Fame convened on July 19 at Granzella’s Banquet room to honor new inductees, two special award recipients and the class of 2025 outstanding high school athletes.
Madison Davalos, Seth Davalos, Makenna Bautista and Isabella Davalos), Joy Dana Bruening, Jim Beckman, Chuck Wayman and Jared Mathis.
With very few like it in the state, it’s an occasion that connects athletes from the past to those of the present with the intention of developing a common history for the county and hopefully inspiring a younger generation of athletes in the process.
That experience is what Hall of Fame committee chairman Bill Barrett, Jr. enjoys most about the evening.
“The best thing about this is the inductees reliving moments from their past,” said Barrett. “To see their enjoyment and watch them realize that they are among the best athletes in the history of the county is fun. Everyone knows someone on the induction list and to be recognized as being of the same caliber is pretty exciting.”
Athletes enshrined in 2025 include Jim Beckman, Joy Dana Bruening, Lewis Davalos, Jared Mathis and Chuck Wayman.
Playing basketball for Colusa in the early 1980s, which was prior to the introduction of the three-point line, Beckman eclipsed the 1,000-point mark, pouring in 662 in his senior season and receiving a spot on the All-Northern California Team. Following his high school career, Beckman turned his attention to fastpitch softball where he was the shortstop on the Junie Jokers C team that won the 1984 state championship and finished third in the national competition.
From 1976-1980 Joy Dana Bruening was a four-sport athlete at Colusa High School who set a national record with 1,026 career rebounds and still holds the third best mark in the Northern Section in the high jump. Bruening received a full ride basketball scholarship to the University of Pacific where she went on to earn All-NorCal honors. After college, she continued her athletic pursuits competing in road cycling, cyclocross, Olympic lifting and CrossFit. Bruening now joins her father, Coach Dave Dana, a 2013 inductee, in the Hall of Fame.
Born and raised in Williams, Lewis Davalos was a multi-sport athlete who played with unrivaled passion for the Yellowjackets from 2013-2016. Part of the ‘Jackets’ 2016 Northern Section Division V Championship basketball team, Davalos was perhaps better recognized as a football player, having led the section in sacks in both his junior and senior seasons. He went on to play football at Feather River College before finishing his career at Kentucky Christian University. Although his life was tragically cut short at the age of 23, he will always be remembered as a leader and someone who left it all on the field of play.
Growing up in a fiercely competitive and athletic family, Jared Mathis excelled in football, basketball and baseball for the Maxwell Panthers earning All-League honors in all three sports across multiple seasons in the late 1980s. After his high school graduation, Mathis continued his athletic career at Pomona College where he was a four-year starter for the Sagehens’ football team in addition to playing two seasons of baseball. Still possessing that innate competitive spirit, Mathis now enjoys watching his three daughters compete in various sports and is involved in coaching their flag football teams.
Arbuckle’s Wayman was a four-sport standout for the Bears in the early 1990s, earning All-Sacramento Valley League honors seven times while being named the league MVP in both football and golf. Yet despite his success in other sports, Wayman chose to concentrate on basketball and went on to play at Butte College, where he was one of the top rebounders in the state his freshman year. Following college, Wayman returned to Pierce High School as a teacher and in turn coached football for 12 years. He also is a co-founder of the Junior Bears Youth Football Program and has been president of the Arbuckle Little League and a member of the Arbuckle Parks and Recreation Board.
In addition to the five inductees, the 1981 Williams High School Football team, coached by Curtis Parks was recognized by the Hall of Fame committee. Undefeated in North Valley League play, the team, described by Parks as “tenacious” held opponents to an average of 131 yards and less than a touchdown a game.
Two special honors were also handed out at the banquet with Frank Davison receiving the Director’s Award and the Coach’s Award posthumously bestowed upon Russell Gardner.
Davison, the voice of the RedHawk football games for two decades was known for his accuracy, quick wit and colorful quips, while Gardner’s 36-year legacy of making a difference as a coach and friend was remembered as well.
Representing the present at the ceremony were the county’s top senior athletes which included Colusa’s Danica Chavez, Addison Lay and Adan Travis, Maxwell’s Fatima Cano and Noel Velazquez, Pierce’s Drew Burnum and Macey Myers, Princeton’s Mackenzie Wills along with Leo Hernandez and Jocelyn Santillan from Williams.
Also being recognized during the evening were the Williams boys soccer team and the Pierce boys track team both which repeated as Northern Section champions in 2025.
Key members of the Hall of Fame committee are Bill Barrett, Sr., Vance Boyes, Merced Corona, Ed Martinez, Charlie Morrow, Joe Pearson, Jim Pingrey and John Scheimer.