Jul 12, 2025
Troy Mattson, shown here during an NMU women’s basketball game at the Berry Events Center in January 2022, is among those who will be inducted into the NMU Sports Hall of Fame on Sept. 19. (Photo courtesy Daryl T. Jarvinen)
MARQUETTE — Tickets are now on sale for the 2025 induction banquet for the Northern Michigan University Sports Hall of Fame to be held in mid-September on campus.
The Northern Center ballrooms will host the induction of five individuals and two Wildcats’ teams on the evening of Friday, Sept. 19.
A cash bar will be available at 6 p.m., dinner will be held at 7 p.m. and the ceremony is slated to start at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets are $40 for the general public and $20 for children 12 years old and younger. They are available at the NMU Ticket Office or on the NMU Tickets website, either by visiting nmu.universitytickets.com/ and looking under the Sept. 19 date, or directly at nmu.universitytickets.com/w/event.aspx?id=3763.
The inductees will also be recognized at halftime of Northern’s homecoming football game against Davenport, which kicks off at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 20, in the Superior Dome.
Here are quick sketches of the 2025 induction class:
Jennie (Long) Barlage — Named an All-American in 1994, this two-time national NCAA Division II volleyball champion in 1993 and ’94 was one of the most dominant two-way players in Wildcats’ history, one of only seven NMU players to surpass 1,000 in two major statistics — kills and digs.
Dean Ellis — The winningest coach over more than a century of Northern men’s basketball, he went 369-303 in 24 seasons from 1986-2010.
He led NMU to the GLIAC regular season title in 1993, when he was named conference Coach of the Year, and the league tournament championship in 2000, also getting Northern to the NCAA tourney three times and winning two games there.
This Negaunee native also coached the NMU men’s golf team for two decades.
Renee LeBlanc — The most decorated attacker in Wildcat women’s soccer history, she still holds several team records with 44 career goals and 99 points even while only playing 70 games — tied for 24th all-time at NMU — in four years from 2004-07.
She still holds Northern’s season goals record of 16 and game-winning goals mark of eight, while she is tied for most points in a season with 37.
She is also the first women’s soccer player to be inducted into the NMU sports hall.
Troy Mattson — While best known as the Wildcats’ women’s basketball coach from 2005-22, he also was an assistant and associate head coach of the men’s program for two decades while heading up the women’s tennis team for a decade and the golf teams for a single season.
This Westwood High School graduate scored 1,018 points in his men’s basketball playing career at NMU, then as women’s head coach had a 240-231 record, including three NCAA tournament appearances with two national tourney game victories, and the 2013-14 GLIAC tournament title.
Berndt Rognstad — He excelled in an interesting two-sport combo at NMU as a nordic skier and football placekicker.
He was top-five nationally three times at the Nordic Skiing National Championships, including runner-up in 1974, and played for the Wildcats’ national championship football team in 1975, never missing an extra point in 18 attempts in his career.
He signed with the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons, but tragically lost his life in an auto accident in 1976.
1990-91 and 1991-92 women’s swimming and diving teams — These back-to-back Wildcat teams had historic seasons, the first one finishing third at the NCAA Division II Championships while the latter was runner-up.
Between them, they had 16 NCAA event championships, with Kirsten Silvester a four-time champ each year and earning D-II Swimmer of the Year once.
Each was coached by Anne Goodman James, named 1991 D-II Coach of the Year while earning GLIAC Coach of the Year each of these seasons.
Story contents based on Northern Michigan University Sports Information press release reviewing the NMU Sports Hall of Fame induction banquet. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee’s email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.
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