Gained a berth in the Hall in 1997 … 1973 Nyack H.S. alumus … intimidating, 6-foot-3, 225-pound middle linebacker described by his coach, Paul Lankau, as “the best to ever play linebacker in Rockland County” … also starred on the Indians’ baseball team … in football, he made Honorable Mention All-County as a sophomore, first-team All-County and second-team All-State as a junior, and first-team All-County and first-team All-State as a senior … he also was chosen to two high school All-America teams that season … during his junior and senior years he averaged 16 unassisted tackles a game … for three years he also was the starting tight end on offense, was a second-team All-County offensive end as a senior, and punted for a 40.8 yard average as a junior and senior … four-year varsity baseball player … his sophomore year, he pitched a no-hitter against Albertus Magnus, batted .396 and was chosen as an All-Rockland outfielder … that same year, he helped lead Nyack to its first outright Rockland County PSAL championship since the 1949 Nyack team, for which Steve’s father, Homer, played … as a junior, Wanamaker led the Rockland PSAL in hits with 25 and in batting average at .446, and made first-team All-County … he also posted an 8-3 pitching record and struck out 17 batters in one game … his senior year, he walked 35 times as opposing teams pitched around him … he batted .314 and made second-team All-County … he also started on the varsity basketball team his junior year … as a scholarship player for Joe Paterno’s nationally ranked Penn State football team, Wanamaker overcame three knee operations to earn two varsity letters and played in all 12 games as a junior, his only complete season … he played against Alabama in the 1976 Sugar Bowl, when the Nittany Lions were ranked fifth in the country … Wanamaker was voted Nyack’s top male athlete ever in a Rockland Journal-News reader survey conducted in 1988.