Tigers Honor Athletic Hall of Fame Inductees and Award Winners

Tigers Honor Athletic Hall of Fame Inductees and Award Winners

Iowa Wesleyan inducted three members into the Athletic Hall of Fame for the class of 2016.  Harold Tackleson '31 (posthumously), Cathy Borck Frahm '86, and Don Grensing '52 were inducted at the April 15, 2016 Athletic Hall of Fame and Awards Ceremony in Ruble Arena.

Harold Tackleson '31 began his career at Iowa Wesleyan in the fall of 1924. He was a graduate of Milton High School in Milton, IA.  Harold (Tack) Tackleson was a standout athlete during his time at IW and was a three-year letter winner in football, basketball, and track.  On the gridiron, Harold received All-Conference honors in 1929 and 1930, and on the oval, he was a member of the 4x100 relay team that set a record at the Drake Relays.  Tackleson was also a member of Theta Kappa Nu while at Iowa Wesleyan.

After graduating from IW in 1931, Tackleson began his teaching and coaching career, starting at New London High School.  Upon leaving New London, Tackleson began coaching at Burlington High School.  During his time there, he coached football, basketball, and baseball for 33 years before retiring in 1971.  He also was a three- time Mythical State Football Champion (1948, 1951, and 1959).

Tackleson had been retired for a year before he was asked to start a football program at Burlington Notre Dame in 1972.  In just three years, Notre Dame made it to the football playoffs where they lost to Pekin of Packwood.

Harold Tackleson was quite the coach, no matter the sport.  Although he received the most recognition for football, Tackleson was once the winningest basketball coach at Burlington High School.  He received several awards during his coaching days.  In 1948, he received the Des Moines Register Coach of the Year Award.  He has also earned two Hall of Fame awards, the Iowa Football Coaches Hall of Fame and the Iowa Athletic Directors Hall of Fame awards. 

In December 1979, Harold Tackleson passed away.  At that time he was the winningest coach in the state of Iowa.  Altogether, Harold coached football for 50 years and had an overall record of 287-117-15.  He was married to Pauline Tackleson and had two sons, Daniel and Jon.

Cathy Borck Frahm '86 came to Iowa Wesleyan in 1982.  During her time at IW, Frahm was very active on campus.  She was a Resident Advisor for three years, a member of the Student Court, a member of the Business Club, and was part of the Athletic Eligibility Committee.

Cathy Borck Frahm was also a standout student-athlete while at Iowa Wesleyan.  She was a four year letter winner in both track and basketball and holds several records to this day in both sports.  Frahm holds both the indoor and outdoor high jump records with jumps of 5'8" (indoor) and 5'5 ½" (outdoor).  In the 1983 outdoor season, she was named Rookie of the Year.  Cathy was a three- time National qualifier and a three-time first place finisher at the Indoor Districts.  Frahm competed at the Drake Relays in the 1985-86 season.

She was also successful on the basketball court.  In the 1985-86 season, Frahm was named NAIA District 15 Player of the Week and voted Most Valuable Player.  She also broke into the 1,000 point club and surpassed the career scoring record of 1189 that was previously held by teammate Nancy Eklund.  Cathy remains in the top ten of Iowa Wesleyan Women's Basketball records in four categories, career points, career rebounds, career field goals, and career blocked shots.

After leaving Iowa Wesleyan, Frahm worked from 1986-1990 for an architectural interior design agency in, Sarasota, Florida.   She then moved to Tampa, Florida where she worked in Home Health Management from 1990-2005.  From 2002-2005, Frahm also worked in computer technical support management. She was employed in a Florida hospital as a hospital emergency room auditor from 2005-2011, when she retired.  She is married to Daniel Frahm and has two children, Jacob and Samantha.

Don Grensing '52 joined Iowa Wesleyan in 1950 after transferring from Muscatine Community College.  While at Iowa Wesleyan, he was a two-year letter winner in both basketball and baseball.

Following his graduation from IW, Grensing began coaching baseball and basketball at LeClaire High School.  After two years at LeClaire, he spent four years at Wilton High School. In his first six years of coaching baseball and basketball, Grensing had an overall record of 83-41 (basketball) and 51-19 (baseball). Davenport Central High School became his home for the next 39 years.  From 1960-1985, he taught social studies, coached basketball and was the head tennis coach.  Grensing took over the head coaching duties for boys' basketball in 1961 and retired from coaching in 1984.  At that time, Don held a 401-257 overall coaching record for basketball from three schools. In his thirty-nine year coaching career, he coached a team to five conference championships, two shared conference titles, one state championship (1970), and a state runner up (1979).

Grensing had a post coaching career as the Davenport Central High School Activities and Athletic Director from 1985-1999. He was also an instructor at Eastern Iowa Community College and Marycrest University during that time.  In 1999, Don became the Executive secretary of the Mississippi Athletic Conference in Davenport, until his retirement in 2014.  He is married to Donna Grensing and they have three children, Vikki Habben, Michelle Shanks, and Linda Crum.

Don Grensing has received many awards for his outstanding coaching and administrative roles. In 1988, the Iowa High School Basketball Coaches inducted him into their Hall of Fame.  The Iowa High School Administrators inducted Grensing into their Hall of Fame in 1998, and in 2000 he was inducted into the Iowa Athletic Directors Hall of Fame. The accolades did not stop there.  In 2002, Don was put into the Muscatine High School's Hall of Honor, and in 2010 he was inducted into the Quad-City Sports Hall of Fame.  Grensing played his final game for the Muscatine Red Sox at the age of 77 in 2005.  He was a member of the team as a player, coach and manager, and was inducted into the National Baseball Semi-Pro Hall of Fame as the Class of 2014.  Grensing also spent time as the Chaplin of the Quad Cities professional baseball team from 1999-2015 and the Davenport Gideon's. 

The Hall of Fame ceremony once again tied into the student-athlete awards program.  Student-athletes were recognized for USCAA All-American honors, USCAA National All-Academic, SLIAC All-Conference, SLIAC All-Academic honors, and other awards.  Iowa Wesleyan also announced the winners of the Male and Female Outstanding Athlete of the Year and Male and Female Outstanding Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards.

This year's nominees for the Female Outstanding Scholar-Athlete were Dakota Flesner (SR/Payson, IL), a senior women's basketball player, and Lexa Mahr (SR/Colchester, IL), a senior on the volleyball team.  Lexa Mahr received the Female Outstanding Scholar Athlete award. She is the president of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee and played a vital role in organizing the Special Olympics event last weekend. Mahr managed to student-teach, be involved in numerous volunteer activities, and maintain a 3.95 grade point average, all while being a key player on the Tiger volleyball program.  The Male Outstanding Scholar-Athlete nominees included Nate Daniels (SR/Biggsville, IL), a senior linebacker for the Tigers, Joe Lennon (SR/Duncombe, IA), who is a senior men's basketball player, and Zac Cronkhite (SR/Washington, IL), a senior on the men's golf team. Zac Cronkhite was named the Male Outstanding Scholar-Athlete award.  During his time at Iowa Wesleyan, Cronkhite has been a resident advisor, a student ambassador, and student body president.  He is a two-time Academic All-American, and will be attending law school in the fall.

The nominees for the 2015-16 Male Outstanding Athlete of the Year are Chris Fowler (SR/Victorville, CA), Mitchell Schneider (JR/East Moline, IL), and Caleb Huss (SR/Pekin, IL).  Fowler is a senior on the men's basketball team, and Mitchell Schneider played both soccer and golf for IW.  Caleb Huss was the starting quarterback for the Tigers and is also a senior.  This year's Male Outstanding Athlete of the Year went to Caleb Huss.  Huss had a tough year battling injuries this football season, but he still managed to be named a USCAA First Team All-American.  He also was an Academic All-American and has accepted a teaching and coaching job for next year.  The nominees for the Female Outstanding Athlete of the Year are Rachel Williams (SR/Phoenix, AZ), Dakota Flesner, and Kaitlyn Dirth (SR/Burlington, IA).  Williams and Flesner were both seniors on the women's basketball team, and Dirth is a senior on the softball team.  The 2015-16 Female Outstanding Athlete of the Year was awarded to Rachel Williams.  She was the SLIAC Player of the Year and received First Team All-Conference honors. Williams was also a USCAA First Team All-American and an Academic All-American this year.

STORY COURTESY OF IOWA WESLEYAN UUNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION OFFICE