ZANESVILLE — Scott Bunting will join the state’s grand pantheon for high school officiating when he enters the Ohio High School Athletic Association Officials Hall of Fame on June 20.
When he gets to the Hilton Columbus in Polaris, the site of this year’s ceremony, the veteran of almost 30 years wearing the stripes will be far from alone. He is among 14 being inducted from districts around the state.
More importantly to Bunting, he will have a collection of officiating brethren there who he stills calls mentors, guys like fellow Hall of Famers Scott Welker, Scott Anders and Mike Rauch and longtime partners Buddy Spraggins and Ron Frame.
Frame was the one who nominated him. It was then taken through the East District channels, where he and Sam Jones, from Tiltonsville, were voted into the Hall.
He learned of the news in February.
“It was a big honor,” Bunting said. “My goal when I started this was to get some tournament games and whatever, but I never dreamed I’d do a state final. My first final was in football and wound up getting one in basketball, and those are things I never dreamed I would end up getting to do. I had no visions of ever thinking I would be doing it this long, number one, and have the honor of knowing the games I’ve done.”
Bunting and Jones are joined by Findlay’s WIlliam Alge, Columbia Station’s Timothy Campbell, Lawrenceburg, Indiana’s Marvin Doyle, Defiance’s Mark Froelich, Columbus’ Evalyn Hammonds, Brunswick Hills’ John Kipp, Plain City’s Dan McGinnis, Westerville’s Paul Melcher, Columbus’ Lori Powers-Basinger, Chillicothe’s Terri Tutt and Batavia’s Matt Velten.
The banquet will also recognize officials of the year in each 21 OHSAA-recognized sports.
Bunting has officiated three state football finals in the last 10 years and two other state tournaments in football. He also umpires softball on a more limited basis.
“I don’t want to say it’s easier for me but football comes more natural,” Bunting said. “I’ve always had to work harder to be — and study and that type of thing — to be a better basketball official. When I got my first state game in basketball, that made me feel like the hard work kind of paid off. Football you understand a little better, basketball became a little more difficult for me.”
Bunting got into officiating in the late 90s at the urging of Welker and longtime official Gene Bess, where he began at the lower levels. Once his son, J.T., was finished playing, he began doing varsity football with Brian Swope.
“To this day, I kind of look at them as mentors,” Bunting said. “And Mike Rauch. He called me the other day, and Mike has always been someone if you had a question that you could lean on, because Mike has been to the mountain top.”
Now it’s Bunting serving as mentor. One is J.T., a former football and baseball standout at Zanesville High, who officiates varsity football and umpires varsity softball.
“And I am telling you, he is every bit as good as an official as I was, and probably more so at that age,” Bunting said. “He still covers ground. If you just sit and watch him, I guess ultimately I’d like to stay in it long enough to say I worked a state game with him. Who knows if that will ever happen, but he is well deserving. … He is kind of on top of plays before they happen I feel like he is more instinctive than I was at that age.”
When asked how many years he has left in officiating, he figured he might have five or so. Welker recently stepped away from officiating after working a state tournament.
“I’m going to be the white hat in football this year because Scott is stepping down, so I kind of have that responsibility to those guys that I know,” Welker said. “I look at a guy like Adrian Williams. I got Adrian talked into officiating years ago. That’s a dude that is on a rocket ship. I am really proud of that fact, and you get a guys like him and J.T., and you know they listened to you, and to see them have success means a lot.”
sblackbu@usatodayco.com; X: @SamBlackburnTR
This article originally appeared on Zanesville Times Recorder: Longtime Zanesville official Scott Bunting joining OHSAA elite
Reporting by Sam Blackburn, Zanesville Times Recorder / Zanesville Times Recorder
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By Sam Blackburn, Zanesville Times Recorder | USA TODAY Network
