(Matt McCarthy/Daily News photo) Three recent U.P. Sports Hall of Fame scholarship recipients were presented their awards at the 49th annual U.P. Sports Hall of Fame induction banquet on Sunday evening at the Island Resort and Casino in Harris. Two of four 2021 recipients are Melanie Wenzel of Kingsford, at left, and Dante Basanese of Iron Mountain. One of four 2020 recipients was Kingsford graduate Brooke Kriegl, at right.

HARRIS — The long wait is finally over for a group of 10 individuals, including Julie (Heldt) Wonders of Iron Mountain, as the 2020 Upper Peninsula Sports Hall of Fame induction class entered the HOF after a wait of over two years.

The 2020 class was selected at the UPSHF annual selection meeting in July 2019. However, due to the coronavirus pandemic the organization’s annual induction banquet in May of 2020 was canceled, as well as the 2020 annual selection meeting, meaning a UPSHF class of 2021 wasn’t selected.

Induction of the 2020 class took place at the 49th annual U.P. Sports Hall of Fame banquet at the Island Resort and Casino in Harris on Sunday.

“I am thrilled and honored to be inducted with this amazing group of people,” said Wonders Sunday night during her induction speech. “This is truly humbling to be inducted into this Hall of Fame.”

Wonders, a former Northern Michigan University women’s basketball standout, is a native of Lawrence in the Lower Peninsula, where she was varsity basketball team MVP for three years while being a three-sport athlete for three of her four years, also playing softball and volleyball, earning 11 varsity letters.

She came to Northern Michigan after two years at Lake Michigan College where she was All-Conference, All-State and All-Region both seasons and set single-season (649 points) and career (1,103 points) scoring records. Wonders was also inducted into the LMC hall of fame.

“We are all here tonight because of sports. Crazy, exciting and sometimes heart-breaking — sports,” Wonders continued. “Nobody in sports succeeds without family, a team and teammates. I had the good fortune to play with the most amazing group of women at NMU — Sister Cats forever.

“Basketball at NMU gave me the most incredible teammates, lifelong friends and a support system who still cheer and root for one another after all these years,” Wonders added.

Wonders set an NMU single-season scoring record in 1992-93 with 715 points, averaging 25.5 points per game. She reached 30 points seven times and set a single-game scoring record with 52 points against the University of Wisconsin-Parkside.

The 1992-93 NMU team set a school record by averaging 89.7 points per game.

Her play in 1992-93 earned her the team’s Most Valuable Player award as well as GLIAC Player of the Year. She capped the season by earning Kodak Division II All-American honors.

In her two seasons for the Wildcats, Wonders tallied 1,208 points and she still holds NMU’s career scoring average record of 21.1 points per game. She also still holds the record for most free throws in a game with 18.

During her induction speech, Wonders noted that none of her points at NMU were from behind the three-point arc.

Also inducted Sunday night, posthumously, was Iron River native Victor Turosky. A four-year football player at Iron River High School, Turosky returned the opening kickoff of his first-ever high school game — as a freshman — over 100 yards for a touchdown versus Crystal Falls.

After turning down an opportunity to play football at Notre Dame to work on his grandfather’s farm, Turosky at age 19 joined the Kansas City Cowboys of the NFL. In doing so, he unofficially became the first Upper Peninsula native to play in the 1920s NFL.

He later played semi-pro football for the Stambaugh All-Stars and later for Iron Mountain’s semi-pro team. While with Stambaugh, Turosky and his teammates played the Green Bay Packers on several occasions.

The other eight 2020 inductees are Division I college coaches John Barnes and Todd Dagenais of Escanaba, former LPGA golfer Jennifer Kangas-Brody from L’Anse, former coach, administrator and official William Mannisto from Bessemer, high school basketball coach Jerry Racine of Ishpeming and longtime USA Boxing coach Al Mitchell of Marquette.

Two others were inducted posthumously, Dewey Lane from Wakefield and Eugene “Mickey” Valesano, also from Wakefield. The 2022 UPSHF class will be inducted on May 14, also at the Island Resort and Casino.