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2022 TLU Athletics Hall of Fame, Wall of Honor Class Announced

Seguin, TX, USA / Seguin Today
2022 TLU Athletics Hall of Fame, Wall of Honor Class Announced


TLU Sports Information & Sports Marketing

Bryce Hayes

For Immediate Release
SEGUIN, Texas — Six members of the Texas Lutheran community have been selected to join the Texas Lutheran Athletics Hall of Fame for the Class of 2022. The TLU Athletics Hall of Fame is an elite group of alumni and coaches who demonstrated outstanding performance and achievement in athletic competition while representing Texas Lutheran University.The newest members of the Texas Lutheran Athletics Hall of Fame are former TLU men’s golfer Ryan Kiel ’11, former TLU baseball players Jacob Kaase ’12, Ryan Nokelby ’10, Brad Orosey ’12; and former TLU women’s track and field sprinter Destiney Jones ’12. They will be joined in the class by David Doerfler – who will be enshrined on the TLU Athletics Leadership Wall of Honor.The Class of 2022 will be honored in a ceremony on campus Saturday, September 24, 2022, and will be honored at halftime of the Homecoming football game between the Bulldogs and Sul Ross State University. Kickoff is set for 6 PM.

TEXAS LUTHERAN ATHLETICS HALL OF FAME CLASS OF 2022

DESTINEY JONES

Destiney Jones was a four-time NCAA Division Ill All-American in Women’s Indoor/Outdoor Track & Field. Jones earned two indoor All-America honors to go with two outdoor All-America awards. She was sixth in the triple jump at the 2011 outdoor championships, and she was on the Bulldogs’ 2008 outdoor national runner-up team in the 4×400 relay. She was eighth individually at the 2012 indoor championships and on the 2008 third-place team in the indoor 4×400 relay. Jones was a leading point-scorer on three ASC Championship squads. She was a member of the 2012 ASC Championship-winning TLU women’s track and field and won three ASC Championships in her career (all in the triple jump). She just missed a fifth NCAA All-America award by placing 10th at the 2012 NCAA DIll Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

JACOB KAASE

A 2007 D3baseball.com All-American and the 2007 ASC West Division Co-Most Valuable Player, Jacob “Jake” Kaase helped the Bulldogs to three consecutive American Southwest Conference Championships. Kaase also was a part of three consecutive TLU appearances in the NCAA Division III West Region Championships. He played on regional runner-up squads in 2005 and 2006 (twice coming within a victory of an NCAA World Series appearance). A native of Austin and a product of Manor High School, Kaase was drafted by the Texas Rangers after his junior season at TLU. (He played four seasons in the Rangers organization and appeared in 306 career minor league games. He hit.260 and had 16 home runs and 124 RBI.) At the conclusion of his baseball career, he came back to TLU to finish his degree and graduated in 2012. Kaase, the 2007 TLU Male Student-Athlete of the Year, was a three-year letterman and two-year starter for the Bulldogs. In his three years with the Bulldogs, Kaase hit .389 with 99 RBI, 102 runs scored, six home runs and 15 stolen bases. In the 2007 season with TLU, Kaase enjoyed career-bests in nearly every offensive category. He hit .422 with 56 RBI, 15 doubles, two triples, and four home runs. He had a slugging percentage of .583 and an on-base percentage of .477. Kaase was also one of the top defensive shortstops in the country. He recorded 146 assists, 69 putouts and 15 errors in 230 defensive chances, and he was involved in turning 25 double plays. Kaase was named a 2007 D3baseball.com Honorable Mention All-American and a 2007 ABCA All-West Region Second Team selection for NCAA Division III. He finished second in the voting for 2006-07 ASC Male Athlete of the Year. Kaase also was a 2006 ABCA All-West Region Second Team choice. He was named to the All-Tournament teams at the ASC Championships and the NCAA West Region Championships. At the time his TLU Baseball career ended, Kaase shared the single-game triples record (2), and his career average of 389 was second all-time for players with three years of playing experience. Kaase also ranked third all-time in single-season at-bats (192 in 2007), second all-time in hits in a single season (81 in 2007), fifth all-time in single-season RBI per game (1.22 in 2007) and sixth all-time for total bases in a single season (112 in 2007). He still ranks in the top five in all of those categories.

RYAN NOKELBY
Ryan Nokelby was a 2010 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American Third Team selection. Nokelby finished his collegiate baseball career as the American Southwest Conference career hits record-holder (270) and, at the end of his collegiate career, he was 13th all-time in NCAA DIII for career hits. Nokelby started all four years and played in every game of his Bulldog baseball career. He was named to the 2010 American Southwest Conference West Division Second Team. He was a key player in TLU’s drive to a second consecutive ASC West Division Championship in 2010. Nokelby played on three ASC West title teams (2007, 2009, 2010), on one ASC Championship squad (2007), and on one NCAA Division III West Regional squad (2007). In 2010, Nokelby hit a team-best .414 with a team-high 72 hits, 16 doubles, and four triples. He drove in 42 runs and scored 50 times. Nokelby is TLU Baseball’s all-time leader in hits, with 270, and he also ranks first all-time in four-year batting average (.388). Nokelby also is second all-time at TLU for career at-bats (695), second all-time in runs scored (186), second in doubles (53), fourth in total bases (370), and fifth in walks (92). Nokelby was a three-time ASC Academic All-Conference selection and a three-time ASC Distinguished Scholar-Athlete representative for the baseball team. He was named the 2009-10 TLU Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

BRAD OROSEY

Blessed with one of the best sliders in school history, Brad Orosey was a two-time All-American pitcher for the Bulldogs. When his four-year career with the Bulldogs was over, he shared the all-time TLU pitching wins record, with 32. He shared that record with Ron Churchman. With those 32 wins, Orosey was also the all-time wins leader among all-time American Southwest Conference pitchers and held the ASC record for most career strikeouts. Orosey concluded his TLU career with a record of 32-6 and career ERA of 2.86. He was a two-time TLU Male Student-Athlete of the Year (2009-10 and 2011-12) and a two-time ASC West Pitcher of the Year. He played on two ASC West Division Championship teams and was the staff ace during each of his four seasons. In his sophomore year, Orosey tossed a no-hitter at Katt-Isbel Field in a 10-0, seven-inning win over Southwestern. As a true freshman in the 2009 season, he went 10-1, pitched 92 innings, and struck out 88. The next year, he again went 10-1, pitched 97 innings, and struck out 104. After an injury caused him to miss some time in his junior year, he still went 4-1 with a 2.60 ERA and tallied 72-2/3 innings. In his senior year, he posted a career-low 1.77 ERA. He allowed only 16 earned runs in 81-1/3 innings of work. His career strikeout rate per innings was 8.711. Orosey went on to pitch six years of independent league professional baseball. He appeared in 128 professional games and posted a career W-L record of 23-20 with 343 Ks in 339 career innings.

RYAN KIEL
As a men’s golf All-American in his senior year, Ryan Kiel was one of just 24 honorees on the 2011 All-Nicklaus Team. A First Team NCAA Division III All-American, Kiel joined players from NCAA Division I, II, and III, the NAIA, and the NJCAA on the All-Nicklaus Team, which recognized the top collegiate players in the nation for their outstanding play during the 2010-11 season. Kiel led the Bulldogs to a third-place finish at the 2011 NCAA Division III Men’s Golf Championships – then the highest finish at the NCAA Division III Championships by an American Southwest Conference school and at the time the best finish in school history for a team sport in an NCAA Division III championship. Kiel finished fourth individually at the national tournament and was named a First Team All-American and to the PING First Team All-West Region. Kiel was the ASC individual runner-up and led TLU to the 2011 ASC Championship. He was named the 2010-11 TLU Male Co-Athlete of the Year and finished third in the voting for 2010-11 ASC  Male Athlete of the Year. A business administration major, Kiel was TLU’sDistinguished Scholar-Athlete for men’s golf. Kiel was named PING All-West Region three times. He won the ASC Men’s Golf individual championship as a freshman and was the individual runner-up twice (sophomore and senior seasons). He played one year at the University of Texas at San Antonio, but he returned to TLU for his final season with the Bulldogs (in the 2010-11 academic/athletics year).

DAVID DOERFLER

David’s ties to the University started in 1926 when his Uncle Jack Doerfler became the first head football coach for Texas Lutheran. He instilled in his players self control, integrity and determination. In 1931-1932, his father, Alfred Doerfler, played running back and cornerback for the bulldogs and went on to graduate from Wartburg Seminary. With David’s passion for football and his ties to the college, TLC was the natural choice. In 1967 David received the Friedrich Schotz Award for Most Valuable Freshman—excelling as a running/cornerback. He was team captain 2 of his 4 years and was chosen Most Valuable Player his senior year. Following his graduation, he was torn between staying at the college to coach with Jim Wacker and Tom Mueller or following in his fathers footsteps to Wartburg Seminary. After receiving his Master’s of Divinity from Wartburg Seminary in 1975 he returned to TLU as Campus Pastor and to assist coach Dan Knight. After leaving the university in 1979, David served in numerous roles within the church but discovered his true passion was working with victims and offenders for accountability and healing.  He developed this first in kind program within the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and went on to replicate both nationally and internationally. When David retired, he turned his attention back to the University to develop meaningful relationships between present and former players. Remembering, Renewing and Restoring that which is most meaningful is the foundation for David’s Gathering of Champions event he has hosted at his ranch over the past 6 years. David shares his life with his wife Cindy of 28 years, his 4 daughters, 4 son-in-laws and 7 grandchildren.

For information and updates Texas Lutheran athletics, you can always find updates on tlubulldogs.com and all official TLU social media channels (@tluathletics on Twitter, @tlu_athletics on Instagram and TikTok, and @tlubulldogs on Facebook).