CLEARFIELD – Fred Kavelak has retired after more than a decade as the premier sports writer for GANT News. His retirement was effective July 31.
Kavelak graduated from the Curwensville Area High School in 1958. He began covering American Legion baseball games that same year as a sports writer for The Clearfield Progress.
He covered ball games for the Clearfield, Curwensville and Philipsburg legion posts, along with other local sports. In 1961 Kavelak was promoted to the position of sports editor at The Progress at the age of 20.
After serving in the U.S. Army from 1963 until 1965, he returned to the sports editor’s desk and headed the department until 1986. He devoted a total of 26 years to covering local sports in Progressland.
In 2006 Kavelak joined the sports department at GANT News, and this year marked Kavelak’s 39th anniversary covering local sports.
Some of his career highlights include covering Penn State football for over 20 years and several bowl games, along with the Dapper Dan Wrestling Classic in Pittsburgh.
Kavelak was always a well-respected and premier sports writer not only in Clearfield County, but also across Pennsylvania.
He is a member of the Clearfield County Region Chapter for the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame; the Pennsylvania Wrestling Coaches Association Hall of Fame; and the District 9 Wrestling Coaches Hall of Fame.
Kavelak is a lifetime member of the Curwensville American Legion Post No. 505. He has also served as the official statistician for the Clearfield Chiefs Post No. 6 Legion team.
Last summer, Kavelak was inducted into the Pennsylvania American Legion Sports Hall of Fame, in conjunction with the Pennsylvania American Legion State Baseball Championships.
Kavelak is married to the former Susan Rosselli and has two children and five grandchildren.