Year Inducted – 2019

Dennis Dever graduated from Cuyahoga Falls High School in 1987 where he captained the wrestling and baseball teams his senior year. He went on to the University of Akron earning his Bachelor’s Degree in Education while majoring in History and minoring in Physical Education.  He achieved his Master’s degree in the Art of Teaching from Marygrove College in 2004.  Currently, he teaches American History, Contemporary Studies, and the Career Based Intervention program at Woodridge High School.

Although Dennis’s high school coaching career began at Cuyahoga Falls High School where he served as the Varsity Assistant wrestling coach for 4 seasons, he has been at Woodridge High School ever since. He has coached football at the Varsity level for 21 seasons serving in many roles including offensive, defensive, and special teams’ coordinator. Dennis has been the Head Coach of the baseball program for 20 seasons. During that span, his teams have won 9 League championships, 10 Sectional championships, 4 District championships, and 2 Regional runners-up. His current overall head coaching record is 370-197, posting a .654 winning percentage.  Additionally, in the final State Coaches Poll, his teams have finished 4 times in the top 10 and 6 times in the top 20. Over 20 student-athletes have went on to participate in collegiate baseball during his tenure.

Coach Dennis Dever has been named Coach-of-the-Year by the Cleveland Plain Dealer and twice named
Coach-of-the-Year by Record Publishing. He has also been named Conference Coach-of-the-Year 9 times by his peers. He has served as a State Poll Voter for the Ohio Baseball Coaches Association for 12 seasons and helped create the Portage Trail Conference All-Star Game and has hosted it many times. In 2017, Dennis was voted into the Northeast Ohio Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

Dennis lives in Cuyahoga Falls with his wife Jennifer and they have two adult children, Maggie and Alex.