Other Hall of Fame

A graduate of Peoria High School and Bradley University, Kirk Wessler was one of the nation’s top sportswriters. His 41-year newspaper career began at the Columbia (Mo.) Daily Tribune and continued at the Dallas Times-Herald before returning to his hometown. Kirk was Journal Star sports editor and columnist from 1991-2018. Under his direction, Journal Star sports sections regularly earned top-10 national recognition by The Associated Press Sports Editors. Kirk covered 26 NCAA Final Fours, seven World Series, seven U.S. Figure Skating Championships, the Olympics, Super Bowl, PGA Championships and more than 100 state high school championship events. His reporting and writing won dozens of state and national awards. He served as president of the U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) and in 2018, Kirk was inducted into the USBWA Hall of Fame. As a tenured member of the Baseball Writers Association of America, Kirk also voted for the Baseball Hall of Fame.