Over the course of UW Oshkosh’s historic athletic program’s history, the school has taken home 47 national championships, and this article will review some of the most notable Titan champions.

Of the 47 times that UWO has come out on top nationally, 32 of those occasions have been in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division-III competition, 9 have been in National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) competition, three have been in NCAA Division-II competition and one has been in Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women Division II competition.

1973 men’s gymnastics

UWO’s 1973 men’s gymnastics team won the school’s first ever national championship in any sport while competing in the NAIA. This came just seven years after gymnastics was named an official sport at UWO in 1966.

The team was coached by Ken Allen, who held the job from 1969-1992. While funding for the sport fizzled out in the mid-1990’s, this championship will always be marked as one that started a legacy in the UWO athletic program.

1985 baseball

UWO’s 1985 baseball team was the first group of Titans to take home a national championship as an NCAA Division III team (the status of UWO now).

This team was an absolute juggernaut, as they put together a 37-3 regular season record and had four players (Tory Cota, Bob Stocker, Kevin Reichardt and Terry Jorgensen) receive All-American recognition.

After defeating Marietta College (Ohio) 11-6 in the championship game, head coach Russ Tiedemann (who the home field is currently named after) was named NCAA D-III coach of the year.

1996 women’s basketball

UWO’s 1996 women’s basketball team had the perfect season, winning all 31 of their games including the national title against

Mount Union College (Ohio) by a score of 66-50.

This team was led by head coach Kathi Bennett, and their scoring efforts were bolstered by Shelley Diaz, who scored 20 points with a 6-for-9 shooting effort from behind the three-

point line.

Wendy Wangerin, UWO’s all time points leader with 1,743 points, was also on this historic roster. Among other attributes, the team scored a season-high of 94 points against UW-Superior while also allowing a season-low of 26 points to UW-River Falls.

2014 women’s indoor track and field

UWO’s 2014 women’s indoor track and field team claimed the most recent women’s national championship of any women’s team at the school, and they did it in back-to-back fashion after winning in 2013 as well.

Christy Cazzola set the school 3000-meter run record time by completing the race in 9:38.72, and a 1600-meter relay team including Stephanie Jahn, Caitlyn McCormick, Elizabeth Pospyhalla and Kylee Verhasselt ran a school record time of 3:49.21 in the same year.

Ben Dorsey, who stayed with the team from 2014-2016, was the track and field coach for this season.

2019 men’s basketball
UWO’s 2019 men’s basketball team claimed the most recent national championship for the school when they defeated Swarthmore College (Ind.) by a score of 96-82.

The Titans went 13-1 in the regular season before going undefeated all throughout the playoffs to win the school’s 47th national championship.

Jack Flynn led the team’s efforts in the title game with a career-high 33 points while shooting 13-for-18 from the field. Flynn was also named the Most Outstanding Player at the Final Four.

Matt Lewis, the current head coach, coached the team to the national championship in his very first year with UWO.