Norm Buktenica (2010) - Wabash College Athletics Hall of Fame

Wabash College Athletics Hall of Fame

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Norm Buktenica

Class

1952
Induction

2010
Sport(s)

Football, Baseball

Norman A. Buktenica ’52
Wabash Athletics Hall of Fame
November 12, 2010

Norman A. Buktenica, when you arrived on the Wabash campus from your home in Chicago in the fall of 1948, freshmen were not permitted to letter in intercollegiate athletics. But once you were eligible to play, you became a three-year star on the football gridiron and the baseball diamond.

In football, you played for coaches Glen Harmeson and Garland Frazier on teams that posted a three-year record of 16-4-5, and better still, you beat DePauw three straight years. You were a stalwart player, barely missing a minute of playing time at linebacker and fullback. As a sophomore, you earned your “Sportscenter Moment” when you threw a 38-yard touchdown pass to Ken Beasley to beat DePauw 25-21 in what really was a “Hail Mary” pass if ever there was one.

As a senior, you were captain and Most Valuable Player on perhaps the best Wabash football team ever, the Little Giants who went undefeated with a 7-0-1 record. That team was high-powered on offense — averaging more than 36 points per game — and boasted a bruising defense that held five of eight opponents to a touchdown or less. And what a thrill it must have been to earn the MVP award at the banquet where “Red” Grange was the keynote speaker.

Your senior year was made even more special when your baseball coaches and teammates voted you team captain and Most Valuable Player. You were also a campus leader, serving as President of the Senior Council and as a member of the W Men’s Club, Blue Key, and the Sphinx Club.

Tonight, the National Association of Wabash Men is proud to place you right where you belong — along side your 1951 teammates — including Jerry and Stan Huntsman, Ken Beasley, and Vaino Grayam — in the Wabash College Athletics Hall of Fame. Norm Buktenica — Some Little Giant!

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