Wayne State College Athletics and the Alumni/Foundation Office will honor four individuals, one team and two contributors at the 2026 Hall of Fame Banquet on Saturday, September 12th.  New this year, the 2026 Hall of Fame Class will be honored at a brunch banquet/ceremony in the Kanter Student Center starting at 10:30 a.m. and will also be recognized at halftime of the Wildcat home football game that afternoon vs. Minnesota Duluth at 1 p.m. at Bob Cunningham Field. 
Advance tickets are required for the event and cost $30 per person and $12 for children and can be purchased by calling Caitlin Morris at the WSC Alumni Office at 402-375-7510 or email cabell01@wsc.edu.
            2026 WSC Athletic Hall of Fame members include baseball player Nick Bidroski, women's basketball standout Clare Duwelius, football player Zach Molacek, retired WSC instructor Jeff Meyer, the 1974 Wildcat softball team and contributors Marie and the late Tony Kochenash.    
            Listed below are the 2026 Athletic Hall of Fame inductees:
            Nick Bidroski (Athlete): Nick Bidroski was a four-year starter at second base for the Wildcat baseball team from 2007-11.  The graduate of Omaha Roncalli was named the NSIC Co-Freshman of the Year in 2008 after batting .390 and was named to the 2008 NSIC All-Tournament Team.  Bidroski was named to the 2009 NSIC All-Tournament Team during a season hitting .348 with four homers and 35 RBI and 41 runs scored.
Bidroski hit .348 as a sophomore and had his best season in 2010 as a junior batting .420 with seven homers, 23 doubles and a team-high 48 RBI to earn First Team All-NSIC and Gold Glove honors, First Team ABCA All-Region and ABCA Third Team All-American honors.  Bidroski reached base safely in 48 of 49 games during the season with a streak of 41 straight games.
Today, Bidroski still ranks second in career doubles (57), second in single season doubles with 23 in 2010 and is sixth in career assists.  He currently resides in Elkhorn and is employed by Quipt Home Medical.
            Clare Duwelius (Athlete): Clare Duwelius played four years at WSC (2008-12) and is the school's all-time 3-point shot leader with 252 and tied for single season 3's with 83 during her senior season.
            A graduate of Des Moines Dowling Catholic HS, she was named NSIC Freshman of the Year coming off the bench averaging 11.8 points per game.  As a senior Duwelius was All-NSIC First Team averaging 10.3 points per game and leading the league shooting 45.3 percent from the 3-point line and third in 3-pointers per game (2.42).
            She played on three straight NCAA Tournament Teams, back-to-back NSIC regular season championship teams as a junior and senior and won two NSIC Tournament titles (2010, 2012).  Duwelius made the game-winning 3-pointer vs. Augustana in the 2012 NSIC Tournament Championship game as time expired for a 62-59 win over the Vikings in Rochester. WSC went on to host the NCAA Central Regional, winning the title and advancing to the NCAA Elite 8 with a school-best record of 32-3.
            Duwelius ranks 20^th in career scoring at WSC with 1,170 points and is the schools' all-time leader in 3-point field goals made (252).
            Following her playing days at WSC, Duwelius served as a graduate assistant coach at Southwest Minnesota State under former Wildcat assistant Alison Kruger and then moved on to work for the Minnesota Lynx in the WNBA where she started out as operations coordinator in 2014, named Basketball Operations Manager in 2016, promoted to Assistant General Manager in 2018 and named General Manager on December 13, 2022.  She worked 10 years for the Minnesota Lynx organization and on November 11, 2024 was named Executive Vice President and General Manager of the new Unrivaled 3-on-3 Professional Women's Basketball League.  Duwelius resides in New Brighton, Minnesota.
            Zach Molacek (Athlete): Zach Molacek led the Wayne State football team in rushing four seasons from 2003-06.  The Stanton graduate was a three-time First Team All-NSIC selection for the Wildcats and still ranks second all-time in career rushing yards (3,391) and fourth in touchdowns with 31.  He is one of only three backs in school history to gain over 1,000 yards in two different seasons (2004, 2006) and is the only running back in school history to record over 2,000 yards rushing and 1,000 yards receiving. 
            Molacek gained a career-high 1,155 yards as a senior in 2006 – fifth most in a single season – while scoring 10 touchdowns.  As a sophomore in 2004, he gained 1,041 yards (5.3 avg/carry) with seven TD's to go with 27 catches for 270 yards. 
Considered one of the best pass-catching running backs at WSC, had 79 career receptions for 1,038 yards and six TD's in four years.  As a freshman he had 27 catches for 536 yards averaging 19.9 yards per catch with four TD's.
            Molacek earned First Team All-NSIC honors as a sophomore, junior and senior and resides in Bennington.
            Jeff Meyer (Staff): Jeff Meyer was an instructor in the sport management program at Wayne State from 2001 until his retirement in 2022.  His creation of the SPORTS Club (Students Pursuing Occupations Related to Sports) helped dozens of Wayne State students gain experience in the field while impacting Wildcat home events and also helping make the Sport Management program at Wayne State one of the best in the region. 
            Jeff and the SPORTS Club put on such events as Pack the House Night for volleyball while also running the concession stand at WSC home soccer, baseball and softball games just to name a few of the things organized by Meyer.  Under Jeff's leadership, WSC SPORTS Club made numerous donations with proceeds from the concession stands giving back to a variety of charities in Wayne while also creating one of the best home atmospheres in all of the Northern Sun Conference.
            Meyer also volunteered with the American Volleyball Coaches Association and used WSC sport management students to work the AVCA Final Four at various cities across the country to help gain experience in the field.
            Meyer earned his master's degree from Wayne State in 1996, then served as as associate athletics counselor at the University of Wyoming from 1997 to August, 2001 when he began his tenure at Wayne State. 
            Even during retirement, Jeff still works for Wayne State as a game management/event host for Wildcat home football and volleyball games. 
            1974 Softball Team (Team): The 1974 Wayne State softball team captured the Nebraska State Tournament title and went on to a third-place finish at the Women's College World Series featuring numerous Division I teams with a 22-4 record.
The team won the Nebraska State Tournament beating Peru State 10-0, Midland 10-4, Omaha 8-4, losing to Omaha 12-3 then beating Omaha in winner take all final 11-1.
            At the Women's College World Series WSC opened with a 4-3 win over Michigan State that ended at 2 a.m. due to rain delays.  The 'Cats then shocked #1 Arizona 2-0 thanks to a four-hit shutout and 12 K's from Mary Gerken.  WSC then blasted #4 seed Northern Colorado 23-7 before losing their next two games to eventual champion Southwest Missouri 8-5 and Northern Colorado 9-8.
            Gerken had a stellar 20-3 record in the circle for WSC that season.  Cheryl Finke had the top batting average at  .360 with the top six hitters on the team separated by only three hits.   
            Marie and the late Tony Kochenash (Contributors): Marie Mohr Kochenash and the late Anthony Kochenash have demonstrated an extraordinary and sustained commitment to Wayne State athletics through both philanthropic leadership and personal engagement. 
            The Kochenashs' have supported Wildcat athletics through lifetime contributions and student-athlete scholarships helping make a transformational impact on the success and stability of Wayne State student-athletes and Wildcat baseball.  Their recent documented estate commitment shows their continued support that will benefit Wayne State student-athletes for generations to come.
            Before his passing in 2024, Anthony, who played baseball for the Air Force in the late 1950's and was an avid Philadelphia Phillies fan, was a familiar and enthusiastic supporter at countless Wildcat games, events and campus activities encouraging and celebrating Wayne State student-athletes.  Now Marie has taken Anthony's spot and even makes snacks for weekly bible study sessions.