UW-Oshkosh Hall Of Fame Inducts 10 New Members
The UW-Oshkosh Athletics Hall of Fame increased its membership to 221 with Sunday's (Nov. 7) induction of former student-athletes Blaine Felsman (football, wrestling), Ayla (Mitchell) Helland (cross country, track & field), Greg Henschel (soccer), Willy Kaul (cross country, track & field), Erin (LeRoy) Klump (swimming & diving), Terri (Schwamb) Kruse (track & field), Richard Schroeder (baseball), Rob Stoltz (football, baseball), current sports information director Kennan Timm, and former student-athlete and coach Ted Van Dellen (basketball).
The ceremony was held at the Culver Family Welcome Center on the UW-Oshkosh campus.
A graduate of Waupun High School, Blaine Felsman was a multiple award winner in both football and wrestling at UW-Oshkosh from 1974 until 1978.
On the gridiron, Felsman played center and received All-Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference First Team recognition in 1976 when the Titans compiled an 8-2 record and shared the league championship with UW-Platteville and UW-River Falls. He was named to the All-WIAC Second Team in 1977.
Felsman earned a pair of All-America citations and one conference title while totaling a 76-14-1 record on the wrestling mat. He finished second in the heavyweight division at the 1976 WIAC Championship before winning the category at the league meet in 1977.
Felsman obtained All-America honors with his fifth- and fourth-place finishes in the heavyweight division at the 1977 and 1978 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics championships, respectively.
Following his 1978 UW-Oshkosh wrestling season, Felsman had professional football tryouts with the Chicago Bears, Cleveland Browns and Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League. He eventually played semi-professional football and won two national championships as a member of the Delavan Red Devils.
Felsman is currently an assistant coach for the UW-Oshkosh wrestling program. He previously had been a physical education teacher and wrestling coach at Berlin and Oshkosh West high schools as well as a wrestling official for both the National Collegiate Athletic Association and Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association. Felsman coached 24 WIAA state tournament place winners while guiding his high school teams to a 341-63-2 dual meet record.
Felsman received a bachelor's degree from UW-Oshkosh in 1981 and a master's degree from Holy Family College (Silver Lake College) in 1998. He was inducted into the Waupun High School Hall of Fame in 2011 and the Wisconsin Wrestling Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2017.
Retired, but staying active in the local wrestling and football communities, Felsman lives in Oshkosh with his wife, Laura. The Felsmans are the parents of Brett, Kara and Kelsey.
Ayla (Mitchell) Helland transferred to UW-Oshkosh from the University of Minnesota and quickly became a standout women's cross country and track & field performer at the conference and national levels for the Titans from 2007-09.
The New Richmond High School graduate totaled three All-America awards and two conference titles in cross country while compiling two national titles, five All-America citations and six conference championships in track & field. Helland won National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III titles in 2009 for the indoor mile and outdoor 5,000-meter runs.
In cross country, Helland was named the 2008 and 2009 Division III Midwest Region Athlete of the Year by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. The Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference additionally selected Helland as both its Athlete and Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2009.
Helland won WIAC cross country titles in 2007 and 2009 while being the league runner-up in 2008. The two-time Division III Midwest Region champion finished 13th at the NCAA national meet in 2007 and third in both 2008 and 2009.
During the 2009 track & field season, Helland was named the USTFCCCA's Division III Indoor Track Scholar-Athlete of the Year as well as the Division III Midwest Region Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year.
Helland won WIAC indoor track & field titles in the distance medley relay in 2008 and in both the mile and 3,000-meter runs in 2009. She earned first-place finishes at the 2009 WIAC Outdoor Track & Field Championship in the 1,500- and 5,000-meters runs along with the 3,200-meter relay.
Helland received Academic All-America honors from the College Sports Information Directors of America in both 2009 and 2010. She was also chosen as the female winner of UW-Oshkosh John Taylor Senior Scholar-Athlete Award in 2009.
Helland, who was selected to the WIAC's All-Centennial Team in both women's cross country and women's track & field in 2012, received her bachelor's degree from UW-Oshkosh in 2010. She was inducted into the New Richmond High School Hall of Fame in 2018.
Helland taught five years in the Somerset and New Richmond school districts before deciding to stay at home to raise her children Kenna, Emmy, Jovie and Bo. Helland, along with her husband Travis, a former UW-Oshkosh baseball player, live in New Richmond, where they design, develop, buy and sell real estate properties.
Greg Henschel helped elevate the UW-Oshkosh men's soccer program to national prominence during his four seasons as a Titan from 1991-94.
Henschel earned a pair of National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III All-Midwest Region awards from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America as UW-Oshkosh compiled a 61-11-7 record while competing in three postseason tournaments and advancing to one Final Four.
The Brookfield East High School graduate was a major contributor during his first season at UW-Oshkosh by totaling six goals and eight assists. The Titans tallied a 14-2-3 record in 1991 and advanced to the second round of their first Division III postseason appearance.
Henschel led UW-Oshkosh with 10 goals and 27 points during a 1992 season that featured the Titans posting a 13-3-1 record. The following year he collected All-Midwest Region First Team honors after pacing the Titans with 46 points, 18 goals and 10 assists. UW-Oshkosh registered a 16-4 record in 1993 while advancing to the quarterfinal round of the Division III Championship.
The 1994 season was record breaking for both Henschel and UW-Oshkosh. Individually, Henschel picked up his second straight All-Midwest Region First Team award by establishing school records with his 21 goals and 50 points. As a team, the Titans etched an unbeaten 18-0-3 record while making their first trip to the Final Four.
Henschel concluded his career as UW-Oshkosh's leader in goals (55), points (143) and matches played (73). He ranks second on the Titans' all-time career list in both goals and points.
Henschel graduated from UW-Oshkosh in 1996 and went on to play minor league professional soccer for the Rockford Raptors and the Tallahassee Scorpions. He returned to the UW-Oshkosh campus in 1998 to serve as the Titans' assistant men's soccer coach.
In 1999, Henschel was hired to lead the men's soccer team at UW-Whitewater, and in 2000 was put in charge of both the men's and women's programs at the school until 2011. He guided the UW-Whitewater men to 164 wins and 11 Division III postseason appearances and the Warhawk women to 126 victories and one Division III tournament.
Henschel served as the head women's soccer coach at UW-Milwaukee from 2012-14 and led the Panthers to a pair of Horizon League Championships and two Division I postseason appearances.
Henschel was selected to the WIAC's All-Centennial Men's Soccer Team in 2012. Henschel and his wife, Jean, a former UW-Oshkosh women's volleyball player, live in Charlotte, N.C., with their daughters Eliana and Adilyn. Henschel is currently the Director of Coaching at the Charlotte Soccer Academy.
Big-time success is what Willy Kaul achieved as a member of the UW-Oshkosh men's cross country and track & field programs from 2004-09.
Kaul earned a pair of All-America awards in cross country with his fourth- and second-place finishes at the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III Championship in 2006 and 2008, respectively. He also was the runner-up at the 2006 and 2008 Division III Midwest Regionals and the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champion in 2008.
Competing on the indoor track, Kaul won Division III 5,000-meter run titles in 2008 and 2009. He also was a member of the Titans' 2007 and 2009 distance medley relay teams that were crowned national champion. Kaul owns six Division III All-America indoor citations, three in both the 5,000-meter run and distance medley relay.
In WIAC competition, Kaul is the holder of five league titles – two in the 3,000-meter run and one apiece in the mile run, 5,000-meter run and distance medley relay. He was named the Outstanding Track Performer at the 2000 WIAC Indoor Championship.
Outdoors, Kaul became the first person in UW-Oshkosh history to earn four All-America performances in the same running event when he won the 10,000-meter run at the 2009 Division III Championship. Kaul's 2009 appearance at the national meet also included an All-America finish in the 5,000-meter run. He additionally was a three-time WIAC outdoor champion in the 3,200-meter relay.
Kaul was a member of UW-Oshkosh track & field teams that won Division III indoor and outdoor titles in 2009. The Milwaukee Lutheran High School graduate is the current owner of four UW-Oshkosh track & field records – indoor 3,000-meter run, indoor 5,000-meter run, outdoor 5,000-meter run and outdoor 10,000-meter run.
The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association selected Kaul as its Division III Indoor Track Athlete of the Year in 2009, Division III Midwest Region Indoor Track Athlete of the Year in both 2008 and 2009, and Division III Midwest Region Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year in 2009.
After having his dream of competing at the U.S. Olympic Trials stopped short due to a chronic injury, the 2011 UW-Oshkosh graduate moved from Milwaukee to Chicago, Ill., to work for Nike, a multinational corporation that is engaged in the design, development, manufacturing, and worldwide marketing and sales of athletic footwear, apparel and equipment.
Kaul, who continues to work for Nike as a territory brand manager, was named to the WIAC's All-Centennial Men's Track & Field Team in 2012. Kaul lives in Chicago with his wife, Veronica.
Erin (LeRoy) Klump enjoyed a tremendous diving career as a member of the UW-Oshkosh women's swimming and diving program from 1999-2002.
The Oshkosh North High School graduate accumulated five National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III All-America awards while diving to three Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference titles.
Klump was a three-time Division III Championship participant in both the 1- and 3-meter diving. She finished 13th with a score of 359.75 off the 3-meter board at the 2000 national meet, fourth with a mark of 416.50 in 2001 and third with a figure of 427.55 in 2002. Klump placed 10th with a score of 343.90 off the 1-meter plank at the 2001 Division III Championship and second with a mark of 384.40 in 2002.
In WIAC Championship competition, Klump was the 3-meter champion in 2001 and both the 1- and 3-meter first-place finisher in 2002.
Klump is the owner of a pair of UW-Oshkosh 3-meter diving records, a six-dive score of 301.70 and an 11-dive mark of 520.60. She also holds the UW-Oshkosh Albee Hall record for 11 dives of the 3-meter diving competition.
Klump served as the head girls diving coach at Oshkosh North High School from 2001-03. While coaching the Spartans, Klump helped her sister, Lauren, to a pair of Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association diving titles.
Klump graduated from UW-Oshkosh in 2003 and was inducted into the Oshkosh North High School Hall of Fame in 2004.
Klump lives in Scottsdale, Ariz., with her husband, Justin, and their children Bennett, Harlow and Bowie. Klump currently leads two of the five fulfillment businesses for Amazon's North America People eXperience and Technology Team. These businesses together total over 50 building locations, 85,000 Amazon associates and 2,500 exempt leaders and vendors.
A member of five national championship teams, Terri (Schwamb) Kruse enjoyed a highly celebrated career as a member of the UW-Oshkosh women's track & field program from 2004-08.
UW-Oshkosh won National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III indoor and outdoor titles during Kruse's first season at the school. The Titans then captured national indoor championships in 2005 and 2006 before winning the 2007 national outdoor championship at the Oshkosh Sports Complex.
Kruse also helped UW-Oshkosh win the 2004 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference outdoor championship and the 2006 league indoor title.
Individually, Kruse was named the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association's 2007 Division III Midwest Region Field Athlete of the Year after winning the 20-pound weight throw at both the conference and national championships. She also earned All-America honors in the 20-pound weight throw at the 2005 national indoor meet.
Outdoors, Kruse had the joy of winning national hammer throw titles at the 2007 and 2008 Division III championships hosted by UW-Oshkosh at the Oshkosh Sports Complex. Kruse acquired the first of her three All-America awards in the hammer throw at the 2005 national outdoor meet.
The Little Chute High School graduate also won hammer throw titles at the WIAC outdoor championships in 2007 and 2008.
Kruse went undefeated in the 20-pound weight throw during the 2007 indoor season and unbeaten in the hammer throw during the 2007 and 2008 outdoor campaigns. At the conclusion of her UW-Oshkosh career she held both the conference championship and school record in the hammer throw with distances of 192-4 and 198-0, respectively.
Kruse achieved all of her success by overcoming a broken arm that occurred when another athlete threw the 20-pound weight out of bounds and hit her at the 2006 WIAC Indoor Championship. Kruse was sidelined for the remainder of the 2006 season as a metal plate and seven screws were permanently inserted into her arm.
Academically, Kruse was named the USTFCCCA's Division III Track/Field Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2007, an Academic All-American by the College Sports Information Directors of America in 2007, and the WIAC's Outdoor Track & Field Co Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2008.
Kruse, who was named to the WIAC All-Centennial Women's Track & Field Team in 2012, earned her bachelor's and master's degrees from UW-Oshkosh in 2008 and 2016, respectively.
Kruse has been a teacher at Winneconne High School since 2012. She lives in Oshkosh with her husband, Jason, and children Dexter and Lexi.
Richard Schroeder is the ultimate example of commitment to the game of baseball.
Schroeder was an infielder for the UW-Oshkosh baseball team from 1968-70 and helped the Titans to a 63-24 record and a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship each year.
Schroeder and his teammates won 34 of 38 games against their WIAC opponents while capturing three consecutive National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics District 14 titles.
Schroeder compiled a .288 batting average during his three seasons at UW-Oshkosh with nine doubles, six triples, four home runs, 54 runs scored and 28 runs batted in. The Waterloo High School graduate received All-WIAC First Team and NAIA All-America Honorable Mention recognition in both 1968 and 1969.
After helping UW-Oshkosh to a 26-8 record in 1970, Schroeder was selected in the 23rd round of Major League Baseball's Amateur Draft by the San Francisco Giants. Schroeder, the second Titan to ever be drafted by a professional baseball team, played 62 games that summer in the Giants' minor league system before retiring.
Schroeder then went into coaching and was a graduate assistant at the University of Arizona when the Wildcats won the 1976 National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I World Series. The University of Arizona captured the World Series crown with a 7-1 victory over Eastern Michigan University in the championship game.
Following his one celebrated season at the University of Arizona, Schroeder moved to California to serve the 1977 campaign as the assistant baseball coach at De Anza College. Schroeder was named the head baseball coach at Caruthers High School in 1978 and guided the Blue Raiders through the 1982 season.
Schroeder has spent the past 40 years as a professional baseball scout for a variety of major league baseball teams, including the Chicago Cubs, Houston Astros, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Angels and Texas Rangers. Schroeder is currently in his third stint as a scout for the Rangers.
In 2016, Schroeder was named Major League Baseball's West Scout of the Year and was inducted into the Scouting Wing of the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. Schroeder was also inducted into the National Baseball Congress and Old Time Ballplayers Association of Wisconsin halls of fame in 2019.
Schroeder, a 1972 UW-Oshkosh graduate, lives in Phoenix, Ariz.
UW-Oshkosh has had plenty of highly decorated pass receivers in the 125-year history of its football program, but when forming a list of the school's best, Rob Stoltz's name is near the top.
Stoltz appeared in 39 football games for UW-Oshkosh from 1992-95 and caught 155 passes for 2,691 yards and 24 touchdowns. He currently ranks second for the Titans in career receiving yards and third in both career receptions and career receiving touchdowns after holding the top listing in each category upon graduation.
Stoltz's best season with the Titans was in 1996 when he was named the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association's Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Player of the Year after catching 69 passes for 1,179 yards and 10 touchdowns. Stoltz, who also received All-WIAC First Team accolades that season, surpassed 100 receiving yards in seven of UW-Oshkosh's 10 games in 1996, including 206 yards on 11 receptions against St. Ambrose University (Iowa).
The Greendale High School graduate additionally received All-WIAC Second Team honors in 1994 and all-league First Team mention in 1995.
Stoltz played one season of baseball at UW-Oshkosh and was a member of the Titans' 1994 National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III national championship team. He started all 45 games in center field and helped UW-Oshkosh to a 41-4 record by hitting .307 with four home runs, nine doubles, 37 runs scored and 29 runs batted in.
Stoltz played professional football in Germany during the 1997 and 1998 seasons and led the Franken Knights in every receiving category both years.
Stoltz was also exceptional in the classroom. He was named an Academic All-American by the College Sports Information Directors of America, the WIAC's Football Co-Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 1996 and the male winner of UW-Oshkosh John Taylor Senior Scholar-Athlete Award in 1997.
Stoltz was recognized as a Burger King Football Scholar-Athlete of the Week prior to UW-Oshkosh's 1996 football game against UW-La Crosse. UW-Oshkosh benefited from Stoltz's selection as it received a $10,000 donation from Burger King to the school's general scholarship fund. Stoltz was the first WIAC football player to receive the award.
Stoltz, a 1999 UW-Oshkosh graduate, recently retired as the head football coach at Greendale High School. His 20 years of coaching the Panthers included 159 wins, a .742 winning percentage, 15 consecutive Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association playoff appearances, 11 conference titles and a pair of trips to Madison for the state championship final.
Stoltz lives in New Berlin with his wife, Jenny, and their children, Ellery and Anderson.
Kennan Timm's 37 years as UW-Oshkosh's sports information director have extended well beyond the coordination of the publicity, keeping statistics, managing the website and producing publications for the school's 19-sport athletics program.
Timm has served as the host media relations director for the finals of 31 National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III Championships as well as over 50 Division III regional tournaments.
In 2007, Timm became the first sports information director in Division III history to host two different national championships during the same weekend when UW-Oshkosh hosted the finals for both baseball and men's and women's outdoor track & field. UW-Oshkosh and Timm also duplicated the task in 2008.
Following the retirement of UW-Oshkosh Director of Athletics Allen Ackerman in 2010, Timm became the local committee chair for the Division III Baseball Championship that was held at Fox Cities Stadium in Appleton from 2000-18.
Timm has organized and chaired three major fundraising activities during his tenure at UW-Oshkosh, including the Titan Extravaganza Party which has raised nearly $300,000 for the athletics department since 1992. A Titan Getaway Raffle he created brought in over $57,000 from 1991-97.
Since arriving on the UW-Oshkosh campus for the 1985-86 academic year, Timm has overseen publicizing one of the most successful athletics programs in Division III history. UW-Oshkosh has captured 34 national titles during Timm's tenure, including three during the 1995-96 academic year.
Timm began his sports information career as a student assistant at UW-La Crosse. He was named the school's full-time sports information director in 1982 and served in that capacity for the following two years. Timm's tenure at UW-La Crosse included the promotion of four national championship teams. He also helped form the L-Club, the current major fundraising organization of UW-La Crosse athletics.
The Oshkosh West High School graduate was a member of the wrestling media relations staff at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles (Calif.) and worked as a radio/television spotter in the press box for Green Bay Packer preseason and regular season football games from 1993-97. Timm has been the official statistician for the Wisconsin High School All-Star Football Classic since 1985 and the official scorer the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association State Baseball Tournament in Appleton since 1998.
Timm, a 1990 graduate of UW-La Crosse, was inducted into the College Sports Information Directors of America Hall of Fame in 2012. He was also named the winner of CoSIDA's prestigious Warren Berg Award in 2009.
Timm and his wife, Janis, live in De Pere with their daughter, Jennifer, and son, Cory.
When Ted Van Dellen accepted the challenge in May 1990 of leading a UW-Oshkosh men's basketball program that he played for, he immediately rolled up his sleeves and went to work.
Van Dellen definitely went to work as he restored the pride of Titan Nation by guiding a basketball program that won only 113 games in the 11 seasons before his appointment to 358 victories and five National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III postseason appearances in the 22 years that followed from 1991 to 2012.
Van Dellen, who owns the sixth-most coaching victories in Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference history, compiled a 358-225 record and a .614 winning percentage while leading UW-Oshkosh to 17 winning seasons.
From 1996-2009, Van Dellen led the Titans to a 267-114 record and 14 straight winning seasons. UW-Oshkosh captured the 2002 WIAC championship and qualified for the Division III national tournament in 1996, 1997, 1998, 2002 and 2003. The Titans also placed second in the conference standings in 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2007 and captured league tournament titles in both 2002 and 2003.
UW-Oshkosh made its first NCAA postseason appearance in 1996, as Van Dellen was named WIAC Coach of the Year and College Sports magazine's Division III National Coach of the Year after guiding the Titans to a 23-4 record.
Following an 18-9 campaign in 2001, the Titans compiled records of 24-6 in 2002 and 25-7 in 2003. UW-Oshkosh advanced to the Division III Sweet Sixteen in 2002 and the Elite Eight in 2003.
Van Dellen coached four Division III All-America award winners during his tenure at UW-Oshkosh and 16 players to a total of 25 All-WIAC First Team selections.
Prior to becoming UW-Oshkosh's head coach, Van Dellen was an assistant men's basketball coach with the Titans from 1985-90. He also taught classes and coached boys' basketball and girls' softball at Amherst High School from 1979-84. Van Dellen coached the Amherst softball team to a 74-7 record during his six seasons and a second-place finish at the 1981 Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Division C State Tournament.
Van Dellen played basketball at UW-Oshkosh from 1975-78 and was the starting center on the Titans' 1978 WIAC championship team. The Berlin High School graduate totaled 642 points and 380 rebounds during his 66-game UW-Oshkosh career, including 20 points and 20 rebounds against Carthage College during the 1976-77 season.
Van Dellen earned his bachelor's and master's degrees from UW-Oshkosh in 1979 and 1990, respectively. Retired from coaching, Van Dellen works part-time at the Waushara Country Club in Wautoma. He lives in Berlin with his wife, Kim.
The UW-Oshkosh Hall of Fame was established in 1974 to pay tribute and give deserved acknowledgement to former athletes, coaches and friends of the University. It is also intended to enhance school tradition by honoring those people who have exhibited exceptional ability or given distinctive recognition to the UW-Oshkosh athletics program while on campus or since graduation.
The first UW-Oshkosh Hall of Fame induction ceremony was held April 28, 1974, at The Pioneer Inn & Marina. The five inductees were Edward Boguski, Ed Hall, Burton Karges, Robert Kolf and Robert Williams.
Four venues have hosted UW-Oshkosh's Hall of Fame induction ceremony – The Pioneer Inn & Marina (1974-2001), Hilton Garden Inn (2002), UW-Oshkosh's Reeve Memorial Union (2003-13) and UW-Oshkosh's Culver Family Welcome Center (2014-Present).
2021 UW-Oshkosh Athletics Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony Program