Michigan Tech Names 2014 Sports Hall of Fame Class

HOUGHTON, Mich. — Six individuals and the 1965 NCAA Men’s Ice Hockey National Championship team will join the Michigan Tech Sports Hall of Fame at an induction ceremony in November. The individuals are: longtime football coach Bernie Anderson, former hockey player Tom Bissett, former basketball player Matt Cameron, former football player Alex Kowalski, former basketball player Jenny Sorenson (Wypych) and former football player Nick Sturm.

The 1965 team will be the second to be inducted into the Hall of Fame after the 1962 Huskies National Championship team was inducted in 2012.

2014-15 will be the 50th season since the 1964-65 Huskies defeated Boston College 8-2 in the national title game. The team, coached by John MacInnes and captained by Al Holm, featured Hockey Hall of Famer Tony Esposito and former Tech Athletic Director Rick Yeo. The squad posted a 24-5-2 overall record and claimed the WCHA championship en route to the Huskies’ second national championship

The new inductees to the Michigan Tech Sports Hall of Fame will be enshrined at a Nov. 7 ceremony on campus.

Below is a brief biography of each of the individual inductees.

Bernie Anderson
Bernie Anderson is the winningest football coach in Michigan Tech history. The Ishpeming, Mich., native posted 93 wins during 19 seasons at the helm from 1987-2005. His most prolific year was 2004, when the Huskies won their first GLIAC title and earned their first and only NCAA Playoff bid. Tech posted a 9-2 record that season, and Anderson was named GLIAC Coach of the Year. Paired with the 1992 season, when he guided the squad to a 9-1 mark as an independent, Anderson has coached two of the three nine-win seasons in school history.

Tom Bissett
Tom Bissett was a standout forward for the hockey team from 1985-89, amassing 159 career points in 163 games. He posted 65 goals and 94 assists and sits in 11th on Tech’s career scoring chart. The Seattle, Wash., native was runner-up for WCHA Rookie of the Year honors in 1985-86. He later gained WCHA Honorable Mention as a senior in 1988-89. Bissett served in a captain role for three seasons and earned the Merv Youngs Award as the team MVP and the Raymond L. Smith Award as Tech’s top senior male student-athlete in 1988-99. Following his playing career, Bissett played professionally for the American Hockey League’s Adirondack Red Wings for two seasons. He played five games for the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings in 1990-91 and finished his career with 12 professional seasons in Europe.

Matt Cameron
Two-time All-American on the hardwood, Matt Cameron, played for the Huskies from 1999-2003. Not only did he rack up individual accolades with GLIAC Player of the Year nods in both 2002 and 2003, Cameron led the Huskies to three straight GLIAC titles and an impressive 98-26 overall record over his four years. The Alpena, Mich., native was named GLIAC Freshman of the Year in 1999-2000. He helped the Huskies to a 27-3 mark and NCAA Regional Semifinal in 2001-02 while earning All-America Second Team and Academic All-District First Team. Michigan Tech put together a 29-3 mark in 2002-03, earning a national No. 1 ranking and hosting the NCAA Midwest Regional—both firsts in program history. Cameron was a unanimous All-America First Team pick that season. He concluded his career tops in rebounding (795) and second in points (1,953) in 119 games.

Alex Kowalski
Alex Kowalski played quarterback for the Huskies from 1997-2000. He was the GLIAC Offensive Back of the Year in 2000 after throwing for a school-record 2,163 yards and 15 touchdowns. The St. Louis, Mich., native also earned the Jack McAvoy Award as the GLIAC’s Outstanding Leader of the Year. Kowalski, who was a two-time GLIAC All-Academic Team selection and an all-region honoree, helped the Huskies to their first winning season as a member of the GLIAC (6-4 in 1999). They also matched their best finish in GLIAC with a fifth-place showing in 2000. Following graduation, Kowalski remained involved through Tech’s Football Advisory Council. He has been a leader on numerous football enhancement projects.

Jenny Sorenson (Wypych)
Three-time All-GLIAC First Team selection Jenny Sorenson played basketball for the Huskies from 1997-2001. She was an All-America Honorable Mention as a junior who averaged 15.1 points. That 1998-99 team went 28-3, won the GLIAC and advanced to the NCAA Regional final. Sorenson sat out the 1999-2000 season with injury and returned to help Michigan Tech to another GLIAC title and 26-4 mark in 2000-01. With 1,519 career points, Sorenson finished her career third on Tech’s all-time scoring chart. The Plymouth, Wis., native also ranked among the top 10 in both career free throw percentage (4th, .755) and career steals (6th, 177) upon the time of her graduation. All told, Sorenson helped Tech to a 96-26 record, three NCAA Sweet Sixteens and two GLIAC titles during her playing career.

Nick Sturm
Nick Sturm is the leading tackler in the history of Michigan Tech football. Between 1995 and 1999, the linebacker notched 405 tackles with 214 solos and 191 assists. Only five players in Huskies history have reached the 300-tackle plateau. Sturm gained All-America status in 1998 after a 104-tackle season. He was twice named all-conference including an All-GLIAC First Team nod in 1999 when he also gained all-region first team laurels. The Rhinelander, Wis., native earned the Fred Baird Memorial Award as the team’s top defensive player three times (1996, 1998 and 1999). He also gained the Alan Bovard Award as team MVP in 1999. No other defensive player has won the honor since.