Bethlehem Catholic High School

For the high school in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, see Bethlehem Catholic High School (Saskatoon).

Bethlehem Catholic High School
Bethlehem Catholic High School in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Address
2133 Madison Avenue Lehigh Valley Bethlehem, PA, Northampton 18017 United States
Coordinates
Information
School type	Tuition, High School
Religious affiliation(s)	Roman Catholic
Established	1925
Status	Open
School district	Diocese of Allentown
Principal	John P. Petruzzelli
Staff	43
Grades	9-12
Enrollment	760 (2010)
Student to teacher ratio	17:1
Campus type	Suburb
Color(s)	Brown and Gold
Athletics conference	Eastern Pennsylvania Conference
Mascot	Hawk
Nickname	Beca, Becahi
Team name	Golden Hawks
Rival	Liberty High School, Allentown Central Catholic High School
Average SAT scores	552 Critical Reading 559 Math 558 Writing
Newspaper	"The Hawk"
Yearbook	"Sceptre"
School fees	$1,200
Tuition	$9,000
Director of Business Administration	Christopher Domyan
Admissions Director	Joseph Henrich
Dean of Student Life	Michael Grasso
International Student Admissions	Susan Stofonak
Director of Spiritual Activities	Father Kevin Gualano
Website	www.becahi.org

Bethlehem Catholic High School, more commonly referred to as Becahi or just Beca, is a parochial high school, located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in the United States within the Diocese of Allentown. The school is located at 2133 Madison Avenue, in Bethlehem, in the Lehigh Valley region of the state.

Bethlehem Catholic currently has several dozen International Students enrolled from China, France, Germany, Korea and Venezuela.

Chess club

BECA participates in the Lehigh Valley Conference Chess League. The Chess team was awarded the Lehigh Valley Conference chess trophy for the second consecutive year at the 2011 end-of-season Invitational Tournament at Parkland High School. Becahi’s Daniel O’Brien won the tournament and was awarded the Chess Champion medal after winning all five of his matches against top area high school chess players and went on to win the first-place prize in the under-1800 rated category of the open Quick Chess tournament at the 2011 Pennsylvania Scholastic Chess Championship.

• 2010 LVC Champions
• 2011 LVC Champions

Key club

Key Club is an international program sponsored by the Kiwanis Clubs that has over 250,000 members and 5,000 clubs in 30 different countries. It is a student-led organization whose goal is to provide members with service opportunities, character building, and leadership roles. Each year, the Beca club participates in dozens of projects, which benefit both the school and community. The Key Club at BECA has been recognized as one of the top in the State over the years.

Athletics

See also: Eastern Pennsylvania Conference

Bethlehem Catholic is one of 12 Lehigh Valley high schools that compete in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference. Home athletic events are held on the campus of Bethlehem Catholic High School while football games are played at Bethlehem Area School District Stadium. In 2011-12 school year, Bethlehem Catholic won PIAA State Championships in Boys Volleyball and Wrestling (both State Duels & Team titles) and their Girls Basketball and Softball teams advanced to the State playoffs. They also sent their first female swimmer into State competition.

State championships

Bethlehem Catholic has distinguished itself nationally and within Pennsylvania with the following State Championships:

Football: Pennsylvania state champions, first two time champion in PIAA football championship history.

• 1988 Class AA champions (inaugural year of State playoffs)
• 1990 Class AAA champions

They have also been ranked nationally in USA Today at numerous times since 1993 and lost in two AAAA State semifinals.

• 1974 Bethlehem Catholic Football was 11-0 and top ranked in the State. (no PA state playoffs existed) - All-State QB Pat Haney along with future NFL players John Spagnola & Mike Guman led Beca to an undefeated East Penn Conference season including a wins over regionally ranked opponents in Bethlehem Liberty, Easton and Bayonne,NJ.

Wrestling

• 2011 Class AA State Duels Champions (team duels) - Ranked #15 nationally by WIN Magazine.
• 2012 Class AA State Duels Champions (team duels) - Ranked #12 nationally by Inter-Mat.
• 2013 Class AA State Duels Champions (team duels)
• 2014 Class AA State Duels Champions (team duels)

--

• 1979 Class AAA State Team Champions (2 State Champions)
• 2012 Class AA State Team Champions (3 State Champions & 1 runner-up)
• 2013 Class AA State Team Champions (1 State Champion & 1 runner-up)
• 2014 Class AA State Team Champions (3 State Champions & 1 runner-up)
  • Individual PIAA State Champions(since 1973): Pat Sculley (1973), Mike Brown (1976), Rich Santoro (1978, 1979), Tom Bold (1979), Bernie Brown (1980, 1981), John Likens (1986), Dave Foley (1987), Tony Iasiello Jr (1989), Blayne Diacount (1989), Ziad Haddad (2008), Darian Cruz (2012, 2013), Randy Cruz (2012), Elliot Riddick (2012), Luke Karam (2014), Zeke Moisey (2014), Jake Riegel (2014).
  • Prior to 1973, Bethlehem Catholic crowned numerous individual PCIAA State Champions including 3X PCIAA Champ Tom Sculley who went on to win an 1974 NCAA Championship for Lehigh.

Track and Field

• 2002 Class AA State Boys Team runner-up
• 2003 Class AA State Boys Team Champions
• Individual Event State Championships:
  • 2002 Class AA Boys 400 meter relay team 42.81
  • 2007 Class AA State Boys Discus 179'11" - Joe Kovacs
  • 2007 Class AA State Boys Shot Put 64'10.75" (PA state record) - Joe Kovacs
  • 2009 Class AA Boys 400 meter relay team 42.67

Softball

• 2009 Class AAA State runner-up (9 innings 1-0)
• 2014 Class AAA State runner-up
• 2015.Class AAA STATE CHAMPIONS !!!

Girls Basketball

• 1993 Class AAA runner-up (North Catholic 62-42)
• 2013 Class AAA runner-up (South Park 53-38)

Boys Basketball

• 1960 PCIAA Class B State Champions
• 1962 PCIAA Class B State Champions

Girls Volleyball

• 2014 Class AA State Champions

Boys Volleyball

• 2012 Class AA State Champions

League & District championships

Bethlehem Catholic has won many Lehigh Valley Conference or District XI championships, including the following sports and years (prior to 2001, Becahi was a member of the East Penn Conference-EPC):

• Baseball: District XI 1976, 1996, 2005, 2006, 2007 (2007 PIAA AAA State Semi-finalists).
• Football: 1967*, 1974*, 1982, 1985, 1988*, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2013 (*undefeated seasons)
• Football: Eastern Conference Champs 1995, 2004, 2009.
• Wrestling: EPC Team Champions 1979 LVC Team Champs 2012, 2013*, 2014 - District XI AA Duel Champs 2011, 2012, 2013*, 2014
• Boys Basketball: District XI AAA Champs 1978, 1998, 2002, 2003. -- 2003 LVC Champions
• Boys Volleyball: District XI AA Champs 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 // 2007, 2011 LVC Champions (2012 PIAA Champs)
• Boys Soccer: 2007 District XI AA Champions
• Boys Golf: 1981, 1982 EPC Champions
• Softball: District XI AAA Champions 2003, 2005, 2006, 2009(PIAA runner-ups), 2011, 2012, 2014 (PIAA runner-up) // 2011, 2012 LVC Champs
• Girls Basketball: District XI AAA Champions 1992, 1993(PIAA runner-up), 1994, 1995, 2013 (PIAA runner-up).
• Girls Tennis: 2003, 2004, 2006.
• Girls Volleyball: 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 2005, 2007, 2012, 2013.
• Girls Swimming: 2012 individual Dist.Champion 100 Freestyle (dist record) & 100 Backstroke = Sydnee Karam.

2013 individual District Champion 100 Freestyle & 200 Freestyle = Sydnee Karam 2014 individual District Champion 100 Freestyle & 200 Freestle (dist record) = Sydnee Karam

• Flag Football: IHPW 2011
• Dodgeball: IHPW 2011

Honored coaches

Bethlehem Catholic has been blessed with many outstanding Coaches over the years who have received local, state and national recognition. Prominent among them include:

• Tony Iasiello (wrestling) - Coach Iasiello was the founding coach of the BECA Wrestling program. He had a 408-222-2 record (1966–2004) competing in the rugged District XI and coached 11 PIAA individual State Champions and a 1979 AAA State Team Championship. A member of the PIAA Wrestling Hall of Fame and a Lifetime Service Award recipient from the National Wrestling Hall of Fame as well as a Lifetime Honorary Member of the National Wrestling Coaches Association. He started the District XI Wrestling Hall of Fame and Scholar Athlete Programs, and has served on the board for the Pennsylvania Wrestling Coaches Association as well as the Vice President for Scholastic Affairs with the NWCA for three years. He passed away in July 2015 at the age of 72.
• Bob Stem (football) - Coach Stem was at the helm of Bethlehem Catholic football for 19 years (1983–2001) as a Head Coach posting a 173-55-2 record for the Golden Hawks. He fashioned an overall record of 285-98-6 covering his time at both BECA and two separate stints as Head Coach at his alma mater Phillipsburg High School(NJ) before retirement in 2010. Stem's teams won two PIAA State Championships at BECA ('88 AA /'90 AAA) and four NJIAA Sectional Titles while at Phillipsburg. - He won 4 East Penn League and 4 District XI Championships while at BECA and also reached two AAAA State semifinals falling one game short of Hershey. Stem was also elected to the Lehigh Valley Football Hall of Fame. In 1989, Stem was the focus of a segment on the NBC TODAY SHOW. He was named both Pennsylvania AA Coach of the Year and Associated Press Coach of the Year in 1988 as well as the 1990 PA Football Coaches Assn Coach of the Year. Stem had been a College All-American and member of 1959 Syracuse National Championship team.

Notable alumni

• Richard Carl Fuisz, physician and inventor
• Mike Guman, former Penn State and professional football player, Los Angeles Rams
• Dan Kendra, former Florida State quarterback and fullback
• Zach Makovsky, wrestler; professional mixed martial arts fighter, currently competing in the Ultimate Fighting Championship
• Jim Molinaro, former professional football player, Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins
• Daniel Roebuck, actor, ABC's Lost, CBS's Matlock, The Fugitive feature film and various Disney Channel productions.
• Pat Santoro, college wrestling head coach, Lehigh and former 2X NCAA Champion at Pittsburgh.
• John Spagnola, former Yale and professional football player, Philadelphia Eagles, Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks

External links

• Bethlehem Catholic High School Official Web Site.
• Bethlehem Catholic athletics schedule and scores at HighSchoolSports.net.
• Bethlehem Catholic High School Page at Lehigh Valley Conference Official Web Site.