Wayne State College
Encyclopedia
Wayne State College is a four-year public college in the Nebraska State College System
in Wayne, Nebraska
. The current enrollment is 3,571. The college opened as a State Normal School
in 1910 after the State purchased the private Nebraska Normal College (established 1891). The State Normal College became State Normal School and Teacher's College in 1921. This was changed to Nebraska State Teachers College at Wayne in 1949 and the present name was adopted in 1963.
in Norfolk, Nebraska
.
Division II sports and is a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference
in all sports. The mascot is the Wildcat. Men's sports include Baseball
, Basketball
, Cross Country
, Football
, Golf
, Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field
. Women's sports include basketball
, Cross country running
, Golf
, Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field
, Softball
, Volleyball
, and Soccer.
, when Wayne State was a member of the Nebraska Intercollegiate Athletic Association (NIAA) with Kearney, Chadron, Peru, and for a while the Omaha University. After World War II, the NIAA became the Nebraska College Conference (NCC) and Wayne State began to compete in baseball, cross country, golf, swimming, tennis, wrestling, and for a short period, boxing.
Before 1980, the cross country, golf, indoor track and field, swimming, tennis, and wrestling were dropped.
In 1997, women's soccer was added to the athletics program.
The Wildcats football program has grown steadily under head coach Dan McLaughlin, a former Nebraska graduate assistant. He began during the 2007 season in which the Wildcats finished 7-5, the first winning record since 1993. The Wildcats also played in the Mineral Water Bowl, their first bowl game since 1970. They posted a 9-3 record in 2008, earning the school's first ever berth in the D-II National Playoffs, where they lost in the first round to Chadron State College (NE). The Wildcats entered the 2009 preseason ranked 25th in the nation by D2Football.com, and climbed as high as 11th in the country at one point. They finished the season at 8-3. The football team plays at Bob Cunningham Field.
In 2011, the Wildcats defeated then Division II's #1-ranked Minnesota-Duluth 7-0 at Bob Cunningham Field in Wayne, NE. This marks the first defeat of a #1-ranked team in Wayne State school history.
) led the Wildcats to national tournament appearances in two of his three final seasons before leaving. Current Head Coach Chris Kielsmeier guided the Wayne State women to an overall 15-13 record in 2008, before guiding the Wildcats to win the 2010 Northern Sun/Sanford Health Conference Basketball Tournament in his second season. They enter this year's national tournament a #2 seed, with a 26-4 national record.
Nebraska State College System
The Nebraska State College System is the governing body for Nebraska's three public colleges that are not part of the University of Nebraska System.-Board of trustees:*Steve Lewis...
in Wayne, Nebraska
Wayne, Nebraska
Wayne is a city in Wayne County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 5,660 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Wayne County and the home of Wayne State College.-Geography:Wayne is located at ....
. The current enrollment is 3,571. The college opened as a State Normal School
Normal school
A normal school is a school created to train high school graduates to be teachers. Its purpose is to establish teaching standards or norms, hence its name...
in 1910 after the State purchased the private Nebraska Normal College (established 1891). The State Normal College became State Normal School and Teacher's College in 1921. This was changed to Nebraska State Teachers College at Wayne in 1949 and the present name was adopted in 1963.
Academics
Wayne State offers 90 different programs of study in four Schools: Arts and Humanities, Business and Technology, Education and Counseling, and Natural and Social Sciences. Wayne State also offers classes at Northeast Community CollegeNortheast Community College
Northeast Community College is a community college system located in Northeast Nebraska.Established by the state legislature in 1973 as a comprehensive community college offering vocational/technical, liberal arts, college transfer, and continuing education, Northeast Community College is a...
in Norfolk, Nebraska
Norfolk, Nebraska
Norfolk is a city in Madison County, Nebraska, United States, 113 miles northwest of Omaha and 83 miles west of Sioux City at the intersection of U.S. Routes 81 and 275. The population was 24,210 at the 2010 census, making it the ninth-largest city in Nebraska. It is the principal city of the...
.
Athletics
Wayne State offers 15 NCAANational Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
Division II sports and is a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference
Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference
The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference is a college athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States. Nine of its members are in Minnesota, with two members in South Dakota and one member each in the states of Iowa, Nebraska and North Dakota. It participates in the NCAA's...
in all sports. The mascot is the Wildcat. Men's sports include Baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
, Basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
, Cross Country
Cross country running
Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...
, Football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
, Golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
, Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
. Women's sports include basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
, Cross country running
Cross country running
Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...
, Golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
, Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
, Softball
Softball
Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...
, Volleyball
Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
, and Soccer.
Athletics History
Wayne State began participating in athletics in 1912, when the football program began. Men's basketball and track and field began around the same time. These were the main sports up to World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, when Wayne State was a member of the Nebraska Intercollegiate Athletic Association (NIAA) with Kearney, Chadron, Peru, and for a while the Omaha University. After World War II, the NIAA became the Nebraska College Conference (NCC) and Wayne State began to compete in baseball, cross country, golf, swimming, tennis, wrestling, and for a short period, boxing.
Before 1980, the cross country, golf, indoor track and field, swimming, tennis, and wrestling were dropped.
In 1997, women's soccer was added to the athletics program.
Facility upgrades
In December 2007, the college started what would turn into a $4.5 million renovation of numerous athletic facilities. Included in the renovation were a state of the art weight room inside of Memorial Stadium, new football and soccer locker rooms, basketball (both men's and women's) and volleyball locker rooms. Also included were new, centrally located offices for volleyball, men's and women's basketball and the sports information staff.Football
Wayne State began its football program in 1912. In 1970, Wayne State College made a bowl game, which would be its only appearance until 2007. The 1993 football team went 9-1, which was their best record since 1949. As of 2010, Wayne State College has maintained a 49-54-0 (.476) record in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference since joining in 1999.The Wildcats football program has grown steadily under head coach Dan McLaughlin, a former Nebraska graduate assistant. He began during the 2007 season in which the Wildcats finished 7-5, the first winning record since 1993. The Wildcats also played in the Mineral Water Bowl, their first bowl game since 1970. They posted a 9-3 record in 2008, earning the school's first ever berth in the D-II National Playoffs, where they lost in the first round to Chadron State College (NE). The Wildcats entered the 2009 preseason ranked 25th in the nation by D2Football.com, and climbed as high as 11th in the country at one point. They finished the season at 8-3. The football team plays at Bob Cunningham Field.
In 2011, the Wildcats defeated then Division II's #1-ranked Minnesota-Duluth 7-0 at Bob Cunningham Field in Wayne, NE. This marks the first defeat of a #1-ranked team in Wayne State school history.
Women's basketball
The women's basketball program has also seen steady growth over the last half decade. Former Head Coach Ryun Williams (now the head coach at the University of South DakotaUniversity of South Dakota
The University of South Dakota ', the state’s oldest university, was founded in 1862 and classes began in 1882. Located in Vermillion, South Dakota, United States, USD is home to South Dakota's only medical school and law school. USD is governed by the South Dakota Board of Regents, and its current...
) led the Wildcats to national tournament appearances in two of his three final seasons before leaving. Current Head Coach Chris Kielsmeier guided the Wayne State women to an overall 15-13 record in 2008, before guiding the Wildcats to win the 2010 Northern Sun/Sanford Health Conference Basketball Tournament in his second season. They enter this year's national tournament a #2 seed, with a 26-4 national record.
Notable alumni
- Byron ChamberlainByron ChamberlainByron Daniel Chamberlain is a former American football tight end in the National Football League for the Denver Broncos, Minnesota Vikings, and the Washington Redskins...
, NFL and Pro Bowl tight end - James KeoghJames KeoghJames Keogh , was a former executive editor of Time magazine and was the head of the White House speechwriting staff under Richard M. Nixon.-References:...
, journalist and political adviser. Assistant managing editor of Time Magazine, Special Assistant to President Richard Nixon, Director U.S. Information Agency. - John H. KylJohn Henry KylJohn Henry Kyl , was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from Iowa. He was the father of Jon Kyl, a Senator from Arizona, the current Senate Minority Whip....
, U.S. political figure. Member of the House of Representatives from Iowa's Fourth Congressional District 1959-1965, 1967-1973. Asst. Secretary, Dept. of the Interior, 1973-1977. Father of Arizona Senator Jon KylJon KylJon Llewellyn Kyl is the junior U.S. Senator from Arizona and the Senate Minority Whip, the second-highest position in the Republican Senate leadership. In 2010 he was recognized by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world for his persuasive role in the Senate.The son...
. - Hilda NeihardtHilda NeihardtHilda Neihardt was one of her father John G. Neihardt's "comrades in adventure," and at the age of 15 accompanied him as "official observer" to meetings with Black Elk, the Lakota holy man whose life stories were the basis for her father's book, Black Elk Speaks and for her own later works.She was...
, history author and daughter of John G. Neihardt - John NeihardtJohn NeihardtJohnathan Gneisenau Neihardt was an American author of poetry and prose, an amateur historian and ethnographer, and a philosopher of the Great Plains...
, writer and poet. Poet Laureate of Nebraska, author of Black Elk Speaks. - Gale McGeeGale W. McGeeGale William McGee was a United States Senator of the Democratic Party, and United States Ambassador to the Organization of American States...
, U.S. political figure. Democratic Senator from Wyoming 1959-1977. U.S. Ambassador to the Organization of American States. - Ruben MendozaRuben Mendoza (American football)Ruben Mendoza is a strength and conditioning coach and a former guard in the National Football League.-Biography:Mendoza was born Ruben Edward Mendoza on May 10, 1963 in Crystal City, Texas. He is married with five children.-Playing career:...
, former NFL guard - Brad OttisBrad OttisBrad Allen Ottis is a former defensive end in the National Football League. He played for the Los Angeles/St.Louis Rams and the Arizona Cardinals. Ottis played on the same Wayne State College football team as Byron Chamberlain, and Brett Salisbury.-References:...
, former NFL defensive end/defensive tackle - Val PetersonVal PetersonFrederick Valdemar Erastus Peterson , also known as Val Peterson, was an American politician who served as the 26th Governor of Nebraska from 1947 to 1953; as director of the Federal Civil Defense Administration from 1953–1957; as U.S. ambassador to Denmark 1957–1961; and as U.S...
, U.S. political figure. Governor of Nebraska 1947-1953, Director of Federal Civil Defense Administration, Ambassador to Denmark and Finland. Wayne State College's Peterson Fine Arts Building is named after him. - Brett SalisburyBrett SalisburyBrett Jon Salisbury is a former college football quarterback at University of Oregon, BYU, and Wayne State College.-Early life:...
, quarterback and author - Kevin SwayneKevin SwayneKevin Swayne was an American football wide receiver for the New York Dragons of the Arena Football League...
, AFL and NFL wide receiverWide receiverA wide receiver is an offensive position in American and Canadian football, and is the key player in most of the passing plays. Only players in the backfield or the ends on the line are eligible to catch a forward pass. The two players who begin play at the ends of the offensive line are eligible... - Brian WansinkBrian WansinkBrian Wansink is an American professor in the fields of consumer behavior and nutritional science. He is a former Executive Director of the USDA's Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion ....
, Cornell University Professor and author of Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think - DaVarryl WilliamsonDaVarryl WilliamsonDaVarryl Williamson is an American boxer originally from Washington, D.C., but later a resident of Aurora, Colorado. His ring nickname is "Touch of Sleep". He has a current professional record of 26-6, 22KO...
, quarterback and boxer - Tom SherlockTom SherlockTom Sherlock is a British professional basketball player currently playing for the Leicester Riders in the British Basketball League .-Early life:Sherlock was born on 1 October 1981 in Derby, England, to Rob and Karen Sherlock....
, British Basketball LeagueBritish Basketball LeagueThe British Basketball League, often abbreviated to the BBL, is the premier men's professional basketball league in the United Kingdom. The BBL runs two knockout competitions alongside the league championship; the BBL Cup and the BBL Trophy....
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