WETHERALL NAMED CO-GLVC PLAYER OF THE WEEK (March 28, 2000) 

 Kentucky Wesleyan pitcher Phil Wetherall has been named the first Great Lakes Valley Conference Player of the Week of the 2000 baseball season along with Southern Indiana's hurler Aaron Piening.

This marked the second straight year Wetherall has been named GLVC Player of the Week. He earned the award on April 28, 1999.

Wetherall, a senior right-hander from Springfield, Ill., tossed two complete games, allowing just two earned runs, in leading the Panthers to victories over Brescia (2-1 on March 21) and conference foe Indianapolis (8-4 on March 24).

Wetherall gave up only 13 hits in 16 innings of work, with 15 strikeouts and only four walks. Wetherall is now 5-1 on the year with an 4.19 ERA.

The Panthers are tied for second in the South Division of the league with a 3-1 slate and have won eight of their last nine games to run their record to 11-6 going into tonight's home contest with Oakland City at Shifley Park starting at 5 p.m.

BATES SIGNS PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL CONTRACT (March 19, 2000)

Karl Bates, a two-time first-team All-American defensive tackle at Kentucky Wesleyan College, signed a professional football contract to play for the Houston Thunderbears of the Arena Football League on Friday.

The 6-foot-4, 250 pound native of Largo, Florida/Seminole HS, led the Panthers in sacks with nine, four forced fumbles and tackles for lost yardage with 24 (101 yards in losses). He also finished second on the team with 81 tackles.

"Bates was one of the best defensive players in Division II last season," said Thunderbear head coach Steve Thom. "He was an impact player and a force on defense at Kentucky Wesleyan. Bates will play both on the offensive and defensive line."

Bates, who becomes the first KWC player to play professionally in the Arena League, will join former KWC defensive coordinator Ron James who serves as the Thunderbears Line Coach and Director of Player Personnel.

BOLING NAMED LINEBACKER OF THE YEAR PLUS FIVE CHOSEN TO ALL-AMERICA SQUAD (March 13, 2000) 

John Johnson, the winningest football coach in Kentucky Wesleyan history, has been named NCAA Division II Non-Scholarship Coach of the Year by Football Gazette for leading the Panthers to a record breaking seven wins (7-4) and their highest final national ranking where they finished No. 2 in the non-scholarship poll.

This is the first time a KWC coach has received a post-season award.

Football Gazette also selected five Panthers for All-America honors. Nick Boling, a junior from Reynolds Station, Ky./Hancock County HS, was named Linebacker of the Year. He also was named first-team All-American for the second straight year by the magazine. Boling led Kentucky Wesleyan with 88 tackles this past season.

Joining Boling on the first-team were defensive tackle Karl Bates, a senior from Largo, Fla; and punt return specialist Anthonio Newton, a sophomore from St. Petersburg, Fla.

Bates, a two-time first-team All-American, led KWC in tackles for lost yardage (24) and quarterback sacks (9) and recorded a second best 81 tackles. Newton averaged 11.2 yards per punt return and score one touchdown.

Newton, a two-time honorable mention All-America honoree as a running back, led the Panthers with 730 yards on 136 carries for seven touchdowns. Also on the squad was quarterback J. D. Meyers and wide receiver Corey Jordan.

Meyers, a senior from LaGrange, Ky./Oldham County HS, earned his third straight All-America selection by breaking every passing record in Kentucky Wesleyan history. He threw for 2,2521 yards and 24 touchdowns on 174 completions in 1999. For his four-year career, Meyers tossed for 7,440 yards with 64 touchdowns on 519 completions in 39 games played.

Jordan, a sophomore from Barnesville, Ga./Lamar County HS, led Kentucky Wesleyan with 48 pass receptions for 768 yards and nine touchdowns this past season.

Coach Johnson led the Panthers to their highest national ranking in history when they reached No. 1 on Oct. 18, and now has seen 10 players be named All-America 16 times.

KENTUCKY WESLEYAN LEROY JOHN, RAY HARPER WIN TOP GLVC AWARDS (March 7, 2000) 

For the third straight year, Kentucky Wesleyan College coach Ray Harper has been named Coach of the Year in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. In addition, a KWC player has won Player of the Year for the third straight season as chosen by league coaches.

The last two years, it was Antonio Garcia who received the league’s MVP honors. This year, another Panther center, Leroy John, captured the award, barely edging Lewis forward Tarrie Monroe for the honor.

Quincy University center Brian McNeil won Freshman of the Year honors after averaging 11.3 points and 6.4 rebounds this season.

Joining John on the first team with Monroe is Kentucky Wesleyan guard Lorico Duncan, Indianapolis guard Andy Foster, Southern Indiana guard Brandun Hughes and IUPU Fort Wayne senior guard Steve Griffin. Hughes and Griffin tied for the final spot on the first team.

The second team consists of Southern Indiana's Derrick Lyons and Habib Ademi, Wisconsin Parkside's Willie Robinson, KWC’s Albert Richardson and Bellarmine’s Jared McCurry.

Tarrie Monroe, Lewis F 6-7 Sr. Rantoul, IL 17.3 10.3

Andy Foster, Indianapolis G 6-4 Jr. Frankfort, IN 17.4 3.3

*Brandun Hughes, Southern Indiana G 6-2 Sr. Peoria, IL 14.0 4.4-apg

*Steve Griffin, IUPU Fort Wayne G 6-3 Sr. South Bend, IN 19.1 4.6

Derrick Lyons, Southern Indiana G/F 6-4 Jr. Albany, GA 14.1 3.3

Habib Ademi, Southern Indiana F 6-9 Sr. Krsko, Slovenia 14.1 6.0

Willie Robinson, Wisconsin Parkside C 6-8 Sr. Chicago, IL 15.2 8.7

Jared McCurry, Bellarmine G 6-3 So. Elizabethtown, KY 16.3 5.5

Honorable Mention — Craig Sanders, Northern Kentucky; Craig Conley, Northern Kentucky; Terence Herbert, UMSL; Chris Martin, Indianapolis; Kevin Listerman, Northern Kentucky; Brad Bixler, Bellarmine; Brian Coffman, UW-Parkside; Romano Dees, Saint Joseph’s; Jeremy Warner, Lewis; and Ryan Kelley, Southern Indiana

*tied for final position on first team

apg - assists per game

Newcomer of the Year — Brian McNeil, Quincy

KENTUCKY WESLEYAN TO HOST NCAA GREAT LAKES REGIONAL (March 5, 2000) 

Kentucky Wesleyan College, the defending NCAA Champions and ranked #4 in the nation, will host the NCAA Division II Men's Great Lakes Regional Championship, Friday, March 10, through Sunday, March 12, at the Owensboro Sportscenter (5,002).

The Panthers (27-2) are making their 29th record breaking appearance in the NCAA. Kentucky Wesleyan has won the NCAA Championship a record seven times (1966, 1968, 1969, 1973, 1987, 1990 and 1999) and have won 78 of 102 games played in NCAA postseason.

Kentucky Wesleyan won the Great Lakes Valley Conference regular season title and the tournament championship to receive the league's automatic qualifier for the third consecutive year.

The Great Lakes Regional Championship begins on Friday, March 10 with #4 Northern Michigan University Wildcats (24-5) from Marquette, facing #5 seed and No. 22 ranked Northern Kentucky University Norse (25-6) from Highland Heights, at 2 p.m. CT. Then #3 seed Gannon University Golden Knights (23-4) from Erie, Pa., takes on #6 seed Michigan Tech University Huskies (20-9) from Houghton, Mich., at 4 p.m. CT.

The semifinals are slated for Saturday, March 11 with #1 seed and No. 4 ranked Kentucky Wesleyan College Panthers versus the winner of the Northern Michigan/Northern Kentucky game at 1 p.m. CT, followed by #2 seed and No. 8 ranked University of Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles (24-5) against the winner of the Gannon/Michigan Tech matchup at 3 p.m. CT.

The championship will be on Sunday, March 12, at 3:00 CT.

Tickets go on sale at the Kentucky Wesleyan Athletic Ticket Office, located in the Health and Recreation Center, Monday, March 6, at 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. KWC season ticket holders have until Tuesday March 7, at Noon to pickup their tickets. Any unclaimed season tickets will go on sale to the general public at 1 p.m. on Tuesday.

Ticket packages are:

3 days (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) $27 chairbacks, $19.50 bench seats, $10.50 students.

2 days (Saturday, Sunday) $18 chairbacks, $13 bench seats, $7 students.

1 day (Friday) $9 chairbacks, $6.50 bench seats, $3.50 students.