Bruce Wasem ’68 was inducted into the Athletics Hall of Fame for achievements in football and track and field, as well as achievements in collegiate coaching. A four-year member of the football team and a two-year member of the track and field team, Wasem earned the A.C. Burcky award at Bluffton in 1968.
A history and political science double major, Wasem is an instructor of physical education University of Virginia’s College at Wise.
Wasem has a successful history as a football and baseball coach. He coached football at the University of Virginia’s college at Wise for eight seasons. In 2006, Wasem was named Mid-South Conference coach of the year. That same year, his team received the NAIA Champions of Character award.
Quote: “Work hard to be the best person you can be at everything. Work hard to be the best student, work hard to be the best athlete, but most importantly, work hard to be the best person you can be. People will remember you more for who you were as a person than how many touchdowns you scored.”
For two straight years, Wyant was named Division II Northwest District Coach of the Year. Along with her coaching career, she also served as a high school volleyball official for the past 20 years.
Joining head football coach Carlin Carpenter’s staff as a strength and conditioning coach in 1988 in a voluntary capacity, Denny Phillips ’79 was promoted to assistant coach the following year. He dedicated 25 years to Beavers football and completed his final season in 2013 as the defensive backs coach. He also served as the special teams coordinator.
After several seasons near the bottom of the Hoosier-Buckeye Conference, the 1985 Beavers, led by seventh-year head coach Carlin Carpenter, exploded onto the NAIA small college football scene with an 8-1 record and ended the season ranked 11th in the nation. The 1985 squad was the kick-start to a five-year span where Bluffton teams notched a 44-13 record and took two trips to the NAIA national playoffs and is now the first team from that era to be inducted into the Bluffton Athletic Hall of Fame.
The late Lloyd Ramseyer, who first distinguished himself at Bluffton as “Tank,” was a left tackle on Bluffton’s team which went through a whole season undefeated. The great H.W. Berky-coached team of 1921 played one game that year on Armistice Day and trimmed the University of Toledo, 14-0, on a soggy, snowy field. The Ista yearbook records “Ramseyer, at tackle, was the outstanding star of the game but the whole team and Coach Berk
y are to be congratulated.”
ole of student-coach to full time teacher-coach. Little combined college study with teaching and coaching and with the multiple arts of homemaking and a variety of community activities.
at Bluffton, Elbert Dubenion, gained 4,734 yards rushing and averages 9.4 yards a carry. In 1960 he joined the Buffalo Bills for the first season of the American Football League. In his eight year career he caught 294 passes for 5,294 yards and 35 touchdowns. In one stretch, from 1961 to 1964, he caught passes in 42 consecutive games. A sportswriter wrote that he was “the most popular man on the team.”
is also the story of the injured Dubenion, sitting on the bench with Bluffton trailing. At halftime Dubenion asked Coach Ken Mast whether he could suit up. He went in for one play, scored the winning touchdown and returned to the bench, his day’s work done.
een both a coach and a legend. He was not “a” coach but “the” coach. Burcky out lasted, out lived, out story-told all college coaches in the Midwest.
lean year and great years, like the 1924 basketball season with a 7-1 record in conference play and the first championship; the 1932 football season with the first championship; and one cannot forget about the great football team of 1936.
is senior class.
tion of religious beliefs and the development of personal relationships.” He added, “Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.”
onship in the Hoosier Buckeye Collegiate Conference.
first athlete to be inducted into the Athletics Hall of Fame posthumously. He earned 11 Bluffton letters—four each in baseball and basketball and three in football. He was all-conference in basketball for three years and was a basketball and baseball team captain.
of deceased men who deserved recognition in the hall of fame.
from Bluffton in 1956 with a music major and a physical education minor. He is recognized for his accomplishments in football, in which he earned All-Mid-Ohio League honors, and in track. 
r High School.
Gratz was a teacher and coach in many Bluffton-area high schools before becoming an associate professor of health, physical education and recreation at Manchester College. He also served Manchester as athletics director, head wrestling and baseball coach, and an assistant football coach.
ship in the renamed HBCC. He was the conference wrestling Coach of the Year in 1970 and, beginning in 1971, was a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Executive Committee.
d was a member of conference championship baseball teams in 1936 and 1937.
and the games were no particular powder puff deals. Perhaps that is why he could run so fast. He had to run fast or get crushed, as he weighed about 160 pounds. Whatever anyone could do, Conrad could do better.”
use of his interest in the welfare of the person as he served as the community’s “family doctor.”
aduated from Bluffton in 1932 with a degree in biological science. As a college athlete, he earned three varsity letters in football and track and one in basketball, and received All-Northwest Ohio Conference honors in football. He was also active in swimming and water polo for three years.
d a teacher, trustee and deacon. Tice has also belonged to the National and Pennsylvania State Education associations.
all and basketball.
ber of a national association of school administrators and served three and a half years in World War II, attaining the rank of staff sergeant.
r’s degree in education from Bowling Green State University in 1952, was an educator for 36 years, eventually becoming principal of Midview High School.
k relay team with Dwight Salzman, donor of the Athletics Hall of Fame. In his freshman and sophomore years, he was the top point-scorer in his events—the 100- and 220-yard dashes, plus the discus and broad jump.
on, I acquired the ability to meet people and made a large circle of friends,” Augsburger said. “As a result, I kept in touch with the general athletic program as well as with the entire program.”
rved as president of the Varsity B Club.
served his community as a social worker in such capacities as case worker, intensive caseworker, mental health consultant and team leader for Community Mental Health, where he also served as coordinator of transitional services, senior 
mental health planner and clinical director.
put on myself and to think and act independently. Bluffton College offered me an opportunity to participate in pursuing a higher education and ultimately a career in social work.”
1929 football team and was named to the all-league team from 1927-29. At one time, he held Bluffton records for the longest punt return for a touchdown (90 yards against Findlay in 1928) and the most passes intercepted in one game (five against Cedarville in 1926).
articipate in two Mennonite study tours of several foreign countries, including Colombia and Zaire. I was with the A Cappella choir tour of Europe during the summer of 1970. Attending Bluffton provided the opportunity not only for me to meet most all students on campus, but also to develop lasting friendships with classmates, faculty and staff,” she said.
duated and became a United States citizen. He went to New York and attended the Master Institute of Roerich Museum–The School of United Artists, and was a student in the life class in the department of sculpture of the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design.
.”
Still, Miller found time to play two of his favorite sports, football and baseball. The Varsity B member played for all four years of college. His sophomore year was the highlight of his football career, with the team ending the season 4-1-2. He was noted as a diminutive but elusive back with much determination. By the time he graduated, he had earned eight sports letters.
ar, he was listed as the football team’s star passer during a 3-4 season; the basketball team soared to new heights with an 11-5 record; and he continued running track. When that year ended, he had earned nine sports letters through three short years.
duated in 1970, he had been named to the NAIA all-district baseball team twice and the all-district basketball team once. He finished college with eight athletic letters and received the A.C. Burcky Award as Bluffton’s outstanding senior male athlete.
l other colleges, but nowhere did I feel that the people in the campus environment were as interested in other people as at Bluffton,” he said.
ld post the entire football season. He became involved in basketball, baseball and track as well, making a name for himself as the most versatile athlete at Bluffton.
o previous hall of fame inductees, “due respects for the fine spirit of sportsmanship … and to the fine brand of ball that they played.”
my life. Athletic participation was both a recreational activity and a learning experience.” He was secretary-treasurer of Varsity B, Junior Hi-Y adviser and Senior Hi-Y adviser.
s an athletics director in the U.S. Army Air Corps for four years and was in education rehabilitation for three years in Veterans Administration hospitals.
ports along with clean Christian living. This interest led me to teaching and coaching and as a school administrator who developed a strong athletics program. I firmly believed in good discipline, a strong academic program and a well-rounded athletics program. The school yearbook stated that ‘you could see Mr. Schaublin at just about every school function.’ That’s the way I stayed close to the kids.”
At Jackson Township High School in Hoytville, Ohio, he was a three-sport letterman who captained his baseball and basketball teams and was president of the senior class.
Conrad participated in football, track and basketball in both high school and college, earning seven and six letters, respectively. A history and social science major at Bluffton, Conrad went on to earn his master’s degree from The Ohio State University and was named to the university’s Sigma Chapter of Phi Delta Kappa.
e in track. Burcky’s campus involvement extended beyond the classroom and athletics to being president of both his senior class and the Varsity B Club.
is doctorate at St. Louis, he was an instructor in counselor education and director of housing in student personnel. In 1971 he became a professor at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville in counselor education and later chaired the department.
ics.
An art major, Abe spent 10 years as a health and physical education teacher and an assistant and head basketball coach at four high schools in northeast Ohio. He compiled a 134-51 record before leaving education.
football at Cory-Rawson High School, earning two letters in each sport.
eful how my student life at Bluffton has affected my life. The warm Christian atmosphere always had its positive influence on me. The caring attitude of the faculty was always impressive and has stayed with me ever since. Sports participation was the most impressive for me as I was able to enjoy each sport so much. The friendships and relations with fellow students and opponents were always very enjoyable. This background continued to establish a positive work and participation attitude that stays with me today.”
“Participation in sports was meaningful and enjoyable,” he said. “Winning is always nice, but sports are a great leveler in life and learning to accept the outcome of the game graciously provides a hedge for the game of life. I continue to see Bluffton as a place of opportunity and growth academically, physically, morally and spiritually.”
football coach at the University of Missouri.
e, lettered in football four years, was captain of the 1960 and 1962 squads and was Most Valuable Player of the 1962 team that finished 7-2 and was Mid-Ohio League co-champion.
from Kent State University in 1951. He then completed additional graduate studies at Fenn College, Western Reserve University and the University of Toledo.
He was an All-Mid-Ohio Conference offensive guard on a 7-2 Bluffton football team in 1965. He was also a guard on the basketball court, and that’s where he really stood out.
d 220-yard dashes, the long jump, javelin and mile relay. Conrad once threw the javelin more than 166 feet, which stood as the school record for many years. A history major, he also participated in several non-athletic extracurricular activities, including three years in the Men’s Glee Club and the Choral Society.
10 years, coaching basketball, football and track.
. For his career, Goings had 3,338 yards in 580 attempts, plus 47 touchdowns and two conversions for 284 points.
She received her bachelor’s degree in 1968 with a major in elementary education and, in 1987, earned a master’s degree from Azusa Pacific University.
fton captain recalled his greatest thrill as “racing down the court and throwing in a hook shot from the corner at the last second that gave the Beavers a one-point win over previously undefeated Defiance.”
l education and recreation major at Bluffton who also holds a master’s degree from Marshall University—with a physical education major—and a principal’s certificate from Temple University.
State University.
r the fifth-longest in school history. He also had a 72-yard run from scrimmage as a freshman and a 70-yard run as a senior.
Zickafoose, a graduate of South Adams High School in Berne, Ind., earned two letters in basketball, three in tennis and four in volleyball at Bluffton. She captained the volleyball team her final two years.
also coached volleyball for several years at the junior high and assistant varsity levels. Two of her Bluffton tennis players qualified for and played in the national tournament in 1984.
Snyder coached the Bluffton men’s basketball team for 14 years—the fourth-longest men’s hoops tenure—while recording, at the time, the most wins and best percentage of anyone who had coached more than three years.
ny of the line positions.
) Bareiter was a four-year letter winner in volleyball, basketball and softball, and earned the Kathryn Little Award as the outstanding senior female athlete in 1983.
e spring. She received the Kathryn Little Award as the outstanding senior woman athlete in 1980.
Smucker assisted in recruiting Elbert Dubenion to Bluffton. He said that is more memorable than his personal accomplishments, since Dubenion went on to become the most honored athlete in Bluffton history and a pro football player.
In baseball, he was the leading hitter all four years and posted a .577 average in 1948. His other extracurricular activities included Student Christian Association, Men’s Glee Club and May Day chair in 1949. He was also voted Most Popular Man on campus in 1950.
Coach Kim Fischer’s team also holds school marks for points per game (77), winning margin (11.5), field goal percentage (.445) and single-season winning streak (six).