Athletes who can adapt and hone their athleticism across various sports are a prized commodity in any era. However, the time demands placed on today’s athletes rarely allow many three-sport athletes in high school.
1972 Fredericktown High School graduate Curtis Reppart was that rare talent who excelled in the three most popular sports of the era: football, basketball and baseball. Reppart played quarterback and defensive back on the Freddies' football team, point guard on the basketball team and shortstop for the Freddies' baseball squad.
His exploits on the football field were recalled by classmate Scott Eyster, “If my memory serves me, he returned an intercepted pass 100 yards, give or take a few yards, for a TD vs. Lexington his senior season.”
However, basketball was how Reppart attracted college attention. Fredericktown played in the Johnny Appleseed Conference, which Lexington and Ontario dominated at the time. The Lexington Minutemen were state runners-up in the 1972 OHSAA tournament (Class-AA) and Reppart was a first-team selection for Fredericktown on the 1971-1972 All-JAC and All-Knox County teams.
During his senior season for the Freddies, he led the Johnny Appleseed Conference in scoring, averaging 20.66 points per game. High water marks that season included a 36-point effort against Plymouth and a 27-point game versus Crestview.
Although the Freddies struggled, Reppart performed well enough to garner the attention of the Virginia Military Institute, where he eventually accepted a scholarship.
While at VMI, Reppart played in 100 games from 1972-1976 and averaged 8.3 points per game.
The 6’1” guard scored 232 points and led the team in assists, averaging 2.8 per game during his junior year; the most productive of his collegiate career.
Reppart was the only senior on the team during VMI’s 1976 NCAA Tournament run, which featured a trip to the "Elite Eight." A 91-75 loss to Rutgers dashed the Keydets' "Final Four" hopes, but not before an improbable 81-75 win over a vaunted Tennessee squad led by Ernie Grunfeld and Bernard King and a 71-66 overtime thriller win against DePaul.
Eyster recounted what Reppart said about the experience. “VMI was a true 'Cinderella' before ESPN and other sports outlets popularized that term.”
“Not many Knox County athletes make it to 'The Big Dance,'" Eyster said. “The fact he played on college basketball’s biggest stage makes him a 'unicorn' among area athletes.”
After leaving VMI with a biology degree, Reppart graduated from The Ohio State University dental school before serving in the U.S. Army Dental Corps for nearly three years. Reppart credits Fredericktown dentist Dr. Jack Renicker for his career choice. Reppart has readily and frequently spoken of his mentor. Reppart related that his father was Renicker's landlord and in addition to being the dentist's patient, Reppart's friendship with the dentist grew and he saw his mentor follow him and advise him through college and after the Freddies star graduated.
Reppart practiced dentistry in Hamilton, beginning in 1982 until he recently sold his practice and is enjoying retirement in Texas. He was back in Knox County this past summer for the Fredericktown class of 1972’s 50th reunion.
