The Board of Directors of the National Association of Wabash Men (NAWM) will induct nine new members to the Wabash College Athletics Hall of Fame on Friday, September 23. The new members, who represent five different sports, are set to be inducted in a special ceremony given as part of this year’s Homecoming festivities.
Established 40 years ago, the Hall of Fame honors those who have made special and lasting contributions to sports at Wabash and beyond. Membership in the Hall of Fame is highly exclusive and only awarded to the Little Giants’ top scholar-athletes. Chosen by directors of the NAWM, new members are inducted every two years.
This year’s athletes come from a wide range of backgrounds. Here’s everything you need to know about the 2022 inductees.
The Lefever brothers, wrestling
Reece ’16, Conner ’16 and Riley ’17 Lefever are arguably three of Wabash’s greatest wrestlers of all time. Riley, who majored in English, won four consecutive national championships and was twice honored as the NCAA Division III most dominant wrestler. After graduation, he began a coaching career and, in 2021, was appointed as assistant wrestling coach at Indiana University.Conner and Reece had equally impressive wrestling careers at Wabash. Reece was the first Little Giant wrestler to earn All-American honors in three consecutive years and finished national runner-up in 2015. Conner qualified for nationals two times and finished his career with 85 wins.
2014-15 wrestling team
All three of the Lefever brothers partook in the wrestling team’s 2014-15 season. That year, the team finished third overall nationally, a record only beaten in 2022. Led by Head Wrestling Coach Brian Anderson, the 2014-15 squad is the only entire team to be inducted this year.
Nate Boulais ’03, football
Two-year co-captain and four-year letterman for the Little Giants football team, Boulais was a class above the rest on defense. In 2002, he was part of the Wabash side that won the North Coach Athletic Conference championship and, one year later, won the NCAC Defensive Player of the Year award. He amassed 364 total career tackles. He now works as a medical device specialist in Indianapolis.
Mason Zurek ’16, football
All-time leading rusher and record-holder for most rushing yards in a single game (326), Zurek was a beast on offense. Across his 35 games for the Little Giants, Zurek scored 42 touchdowns and ran for a total of 3,379 yards. He graduated Magna Cum Laude and now works for Kirkland & Ellis LLM.
John Holm ’12, baseball
A baseball player and a footballer, Holm is being inducted for his remarkable efforts at the ballpark. He holds a slew of records, including most home runs (41), most total bases (360) and best slugging percentage (.641). In 2011, he was named D3baseball.com’s Honorable Mention All-American. He graduated from Wabash with a degree in economics and now works as an operational director in Chicago.
Chris Davis ’93, swimming
A diver on Gail Pebworth’s team of the early 1990s, Davis was a four-year letterman and one of only two Wabash divers to earn All-American honors. He finished 15th at the 1992 NCAA championships.
Joe DesJean ’03, basketball
DesJean led the Little Giants basketball team in scoring, rebounding and shot blocking for three consecutive seasons, finishing his career with 1,506 points and three First Team All-NCAC selections. He still holds the all-time record for blocked shots (194) and demonstrated an unparalleled level of performance and consistency throughout his time at Wabash.