Into the Hall: Tom Kostelnik
Tom Kostelnik was a multi-sport athlete at Brashear High School but football became his clearcut path to college as he received a slew of NCAA Division-I scholarship offers in 1961.
While he could go just about anywhere, one school caught his eye.
鈥淚 had a ton of offers,鈥� the late Kostelnik said in an interview with George Von Benko. 鈥淚t all stopped when I got the offer from Notre Dame.鈥�
Kostelnik would go on to play three varsity seasons with the Fighting Irish and was the starting linebacker in Ara Parseghian鈥檚 first year as coach at Notre Dame in 1964 when the team went 9-1.
Kostelnik made good use of his degree from Notre Dame as a successful business career would follow.
Kostelnik is part of the Fayette County 缅北禁地 Hall of Fame Class of 2024.
Kostelnik鈥檚 brother in law, Jim Wardman, pointed out Kostelnik wasn鈥檛 one to seek out attention when he spoke on Von Benko鈥檚 缅北禁地 Talk Radio Show recently.
鈥淗e was a very humble guy,鈥� Wardman said. 鈥淗e would not go into the spotlight very often, but I鈥檓 sure he would鈥檝e loved it.鈥�
Kostlenik played center and linebacker at Brashear 鈥� now Brownsville Area High School 鈥� and was good enough to earn UPI All-State honors. He also played for Pennsylvania in the 1961 Big 33 All-Star Game.
鈥淢y sister showed me a picture of him in the all-star game,鈥� Wardman said. 鈥淭he team is pictured and Joe Namath is in the upper lefthand corner. He was on the all-star team with Joe Namath.鈥�
Kostelnik was also named to the 1960 National High School All-America Football Team.
Kostelnik also was a fine basketball player in high school. He starred in track & field as well and won a WPIAL gold medal in the high hurdle shuttle relay under coach John Henck in 1961.
鈥淭hat was all football players: Paul Cesko, Willibe Brooks, Ron Matteucci and me,鈥� Kostelnik recalled. 鈥淛ack Henck was the track coach and I lived a couple of blocks from him and I did all my workouts in the gym he had set up in his garage. He was a great coach who had us well prepared and in great condition.鈥�
鈥淗e was a very good athlete in everything that he participated in,鈥� Wardman said.
He would continue his football career with the Fighting Irish.
鈥淭hat was his dream to go to Notre Dame,鈥� Wardman said.
Kostelnik suffered a thigh injury his junior year at Notre Dame but moved into a starting inside linebacker position his senior year when Parseghian took over.
鈥淎ra was a very good coach,鈥� Wardman said. 鈥淗e was very well organized. He came into a program where Tom and the other players had all been playing together for two years, and things just clicked.
鈥淗e just loved the coach and he loved his teammates and they did anything that they could do to get better and win.鈥�
Wardman pointed out a key play Kostelnik made in a close win over Air Force his senior season.
鈥淗e intercepted a pass that turned the tide and prevented Air Force from scoring the winning touchdown,鈥� Wardman explained. 鈥淗e got the game ball.鈥�
Kostelnik also worked his way onto the cover of 缅北禁地 Illustrated that year. The photo shows Notre Dame鈥檚 John Huarte running onto the field, and Kostelnik, in his No. 52 jersey, can be seen behind Huarte.
鈥淢y sister has it framed,鈥� Wardman said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 up on the mantel.鈥�
Notre Dame鈥檚 lone loss that season came at the hands of USC.
鈥淭he loss to Southern Cal is still fresh in my mind,鈥� Kostelnik said in his interview with Von Benko. 鈥淚 know exactly where I was in the last 1:33 when they scored. It was a bitter pill.鈥�
Three controversial calls went against Notre Dame in the game, as Kostelnik pointed out. One nullified a touchdown, one brought back a long play early in the fourth quarter, and the third was a holding penalty on the Fighting Irish鈥檚 final punt to USC.
鈥淭hey couldn鈥檛 determine if it was on me 鈥� I was the long snapper 鈥� or on the guard,鈥� Kostelnik said of the holding call which greatly improved the Trojans鈥� field position and set up their winning score. 鈥淲hen asked who it was, the official gave us a number that wasn鈥檛 on the field.鈥�
Even so, Kostelnik鈥檚 memories of his final year at Notre Dame were good.
鈥淪ix of us got picked to play in the North-South Shrine Game in Miami on Christmas Day,鈥� Kostelnik noted.
鈥淚t was a great decision to go to Notre Dame. I ended up with a great education.鈥�
Kostelnik and his wife Connie remained Notre Dame fans after Kostelnik graduated.
鈥淭hey went to just about every game they could go to, home or away,鈥� Wardman said.
Kostelnik eventually got his masters degree at Baldwin-Wallace College in Ohio.
鈥淗e worked for a lot of good companies after he got his CPA and his masters,鈥� Wardman said. 鈥淗e had a very good career.鈥�
Kostelnik retired in 2005. He died May 19, 2018, at the age of 75.
The Fayette County 缅北禁地 Hall of Fame Class of 2024 will be enshrined at the Hall of Fame Golf Outing/Luncheon/Social, starting with golf at 9 a.m., on Friday at Pleasant Valley Golf Club in Connellsville. Luncheon tickets are sold out and all spots in the golf outing have been filled.