CURWENSVILLE – Ryan Briskar, a former Clearfield Area High School standout who is Curwensville Area High School baseball coach, was rewarded for a brilliant, record-breaking diamond career at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford earlier this decade with his induction into the UPB Athletic Hall of Fame on Saturday, Oct. 6.
The 2005 graduate became the youngest former Panther athlete, and third baseball player, in the 20-member hall of fame during the sixth annual ceremony in the Sport and Fitness Center that highlighted Alumni and Family Weekend.
Briskar, selected in his first year of eligibility and presented by Panther head coach Bret Butler, still owns 11 career and five single-season records he set from 2001 through 2004.
He tops the Pitt-Bradford career lists for games (160), games started (159), at-bats (548), hits (191), doubles (54), triples (12), home runs (19), total bases (326), slugging percentage (.595), runs batted in (132) and runs scored (137).
His season records, all set in 2001 when he was a freshman, are triples (5), home runs (7), total bases (101), slugging percentage (.732) and runs scored (46).
The Panthers won the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference championship and made their first appearance in the NCAA Division III Playoffs that year.
Briskar, selected AMCC Athlete of the Week for the first week of the season, was named the All-AMCC second baseman and also earned Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference honorable mention honors. In addition, he was selected Pitt-Bradford Male Athlete Rookie of the Year.
In his sophomore season, Briskar received honorable mention on the All-AMCC Team and finished No. 24 in Division III for doubles-per-game (.45) after belting 19 two-baggers in 42 games as the Panthers repeated as AMCC champions and advanced to the Division III Playoffs Tournament again.
Briskar made the All-AMCC Team again as a junior when he hit .366 and was in the conference\’s top 10 in home runs with four and RBIs with 31.
He tied for second in home runs with five and third for RBIs with 32 in his senior season, when he saw action in the outfield as well as second base.
Briskar received the Pitt-Bradford Male Scholar Athlete Award in 2003 and 2004.
At Clearfield Area High School, Briskar lettered four years in baseball and three in basketball. The 1999 graduate made the All-Central Penn Baseball League Team at second base as a sophomore and was a three-time All-Progressland selection, twice as a first teamer.
He joined the Curwensville Area High School baseball coaching staff as a volunteer in 2005, was hired as an assistant coach in 2006 and then guided the Golden Tide to a 13-8 record last spring in his first season as head coach.
Briskar is the son of Terry and Maureen (Ryan) Briskar of Clearfield.