2007 graduate Dr. Michael Anthony was inducted into the 2023 Athletics Hall of Fame for achievements in basketball. A four-year member of the team, Anthony earned Honorable Mention All-Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) accolades in 2004-05 and 2005-06 before being named First Team All-HCAC in 2006-07. That same year, he was also named HCAC Player of the Year and First Team All-Midwest District by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC). A forward, Anthony made an impression on the record books. He’s currently number 20 on the all-time scoring list with 1,183 points, and at graduation, he was the best free-throw shooter in Bluffton history with an 83 percent completion rate. Anthony also racked up an impressive 408 rebounds.
A chemistry and pre-medicine double major, Anthony is now a podiatrist at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, specializing in foot and ankle ailments and injuries. He graduated from Kent State University College of Podiatric Medicine in 2011 and is certified by the American Board of Foot and Ankle Surgery. Anthony lives in New Albany, Ohio, with his wife Alisha and kids Gwen, 12; Griffin, 9; Hudson, 6; and Harper, 3.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.”
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.
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.”
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.
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).
The team holds school season records for most wins (10) and best winning percentage (.833) in Founders Hall, most rebounds (1,317), highest rebound average (57.3), highest rebound margin (9.4), and highest averages for free throws made (20.2) and attempted (28.7). Bluffton put together two six-game winning streaks and scored 100 or more points three times.
In 1985-86 she set the season mark—also still standing—for field goals made (165) while earning first-team Western Buckeye Collegiate Conference honors. The previous year she was second-team All-WBCC and honorable mention all-district. She led the team in scoring her last two years and was at the top in six statistical categories as a senior. An outside hitter on the volleyball team, she led Bluffton in service aces in 1985.
Gilbert was a powerful attacker for Coach Kim Fischer’s volleyball teams from 1979-82, but was exceptional at all positions on the court. In her senior season, she was named first-team All-NAIA District 22 after leading Bluffton to the 1982 district championship and a 25-7 record. She led the team in kills (53), aces (13), serve reception percentage (.804) and digs (195) that season and was a team leader in almost every statistic throughout her four-year career.
00 points in four straight seasons. Gilbert twice led her team in assists and free throw percentage, and she is one of only a handful of juniors to serve as a Bluffton captain.
A native of Antwerp, Ohio, Hollabaugh scored 687 points and grabbed 421 rebounds in her career at Bluffton. Her point total ranked fourth when she graduated and her rebound total ranked third. Hollabaugh’s .771 career free throw percentage was a Bluffton record when she graduated and today is tied for fifth, while her 140 steals now rank eighth.
Following stints at Ottawa-Glandorf and North Central high schools, Rob moved his family to Bucyrus, Ohio, and took over as head basketball coach at Wynford High School—a position he held for 24 years. In addition to coaching, Sheldon served as assistant principal and athletics director at Wynford.
out volleyball player from 1983-86. Blosser’s 1985 volleyball team was enshrined in the Athletics Hall of Fame in 1996. She was also a three-year letter winner on the basketball court.
Jackson graduated from Bluffton in 1954 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. He was a three-sport athlete as a Beaver, with his greatest accomplishments coming on the hardwood. In the first basketball game in Founders Hall, Jackson scored the winning basket against Ashland. In addition to being a four-year letter winner and captain of the basketball team, he lettered three years on the baseball diamond and once in track and field.
education, he was Bluffton’s leader in career assists (306) and among the top 10 in career scoring (1,192 points). He now ranks third in assists and 14th in scoring, as well as second in career steals (155). He is the only player in Bluffton history with at least 1,000 points, 300 assists and 150 steals.
luffton in 1946 after serving in World War II. The Bluffton native played basketball, football and tennis, earning multiple varsity letters. He was named the outstanding athlete of 1947 at Bluffton, where he was also involved in music and theatre, among other campus activities.
ois and Missouri. Along the way, he earned master’s and doctoral degrees in education from Bowling Green State University and Ohio State University, respectively.
selection in both sports. He is already in the Bluffton Hall of Fame as part of the previously inducted 1965-66 basketball and 1967 baseball teams. Eighth on the career basketball scoring list with 1,414 points, he averaged 17.2 points per game and scored at least 20 points in 39 of his 82 games. He is still first in career free
throws made, with 424, and second in attempts (550). As a junior in 1966-67, Froning was named second-team NAIA District 22 as well as first-team all-MOC.