Robert Wisniewski

Robert Wisniewski

In looking at the long history of sports at Dunkirk High School, few have come close to matching the accomplishments of Robert "Peanuts" Wisniewski.

One of the best examples of his domination was during the 1963-1964 school year when, as a senior, Wisniewski became the only Dunkirk athlete to ever captain the football, baseball, basketball and track times in a single year. During that magical stretch of time, Wisniewski led the Marauders in scoring on the gridiron as a halfback and place kicker and was named to the All-Southwestern Conference first team as a halfback. He also led Dunkirk's basketball team to a 15-5 record, scoring 358 points, was second in county scoring average with 18.1 points per game as the Marauders earned a berth in the sectional finals. Again, Wisniewski was named to the All-Southwestern Conference all-star team as a guard.

Turning to the diamond, Wisniewski batted .375 as a second baseman and the Marauders won the sectional finals and he was named to the All-Southwestern Conference first team. In track, he totaled the most points per event in the conference, running the 100-yard dash, the 220-yard dash and anchored the 880 relay team. He also tied the school record set in 1936 in the 100 with a time of 10.1 and was third in sectionals in the 220 with a time of 22.8.

Also in the season, he found time to serve as the president of the senior class, was the recording secretary of the student council and was selected as the "most athletic" by his classmates. He also was honored by being named as the Chautauqua County Athlete of the Year by The Post-Journal.

Moving on to college, Wisniewski chose Buffalo State and shined in basketball from his freshman year as a guard, playing on three SUNYAC championship teams, reaching the NAIA and NCAA tournaments.

In baseball, Wisniewski played in center field and earned honorable mention in 1966-67 and was a first-team selection for All Conference and had a .458 batting average, which was the second highest in the SUNY conference in 1967-68. He also batted .425 in 1968-69 and was the team's captain.

Wisniewski came back to Dunkirk High School to teach and continued to set high standards as the Marauders' head basketball coach, serving from 1974 through 1988 and again in 1997. During his tenure, Wisniewski's teams collected six CCIAC titles and placed second six times and and were five-time sectional runners-up. He also served as the football team's backfield coach from 1969-73 and was the boys' soccer coach from 1980-82.

He also was a member of the Dunkirk Recreation Commission from 1975-80 and served as a third-ward Dunkirk city councilman in 1980 and 1981.

Robert Wisniewski was inducted into the Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame in 2011.

Visit the CSHoF Museum

Arrangements can be made for a group to tour the museum anytime it would like by contacting Grace Dolan at 716-484-1224 or Bill Rollinger at 716-763-8229.