History of Athletics at Ferrum College

Early History

1920s: Ferrum Training School has limited sports for men and women
1950s: Ferrum Junior College begins playing men's sports in NJCAA
1955: Ferrum's first football season
1965: Football wins first of four national championship (also in 1968, 1974, 1977)
1966: Football NJCAA national runner-up
1972: Men's basketball NJCAA national runner-up
Mid-late 1970s: Women's sports begin to compete in NJCAA
1974: Ferrum College becomes a 4-year school
1985: Ferrum reclassifies to NCAA Division III

Affiliations

9/1/71: Ferrum joins NJCAA
9/1/85: Ferrum reclassifies to NCAA (Division III)
9/1/88: Ferrum joins Dixie Conference (eventually became USA South)
8/1/98: Ferrum joins Atlantic Central Football Conference (remains three seasons before beginning football competition in Dixie Conference 2001)
7/1/18: Ferrum joins Old Dominion Athletic Conference
7/1/25: Ferrum Ferrum reclassifies to NCAA Division II, joins Conference Carolinas

National Championships, Runner-Up & National Semifinalist Finishes

10/30/1965: Ferrum wins NJCAA football national title, beat McCook JC 16-0
11/25/1966: Ferrum NJCAA national runner-up, lost to Kilgore JC 28-7
10/26/1968: Ferrum beats NJCAA defending football national champ NW Oklahoma A&M 29-19
11/29/1968: Ferrum wins NJCAA football national title, beat Phoenix JC 41-19
March 1972: Ferrum NJCAA men's basketball national runner-up
Nov. 1974: Ferrum wins NJCAA football national title (declared champions, no title game)
Nov. 1977: Ferrum wins NJCAA football national title (declared champions, no title game)
9/10/1988: Ferrum beats NCAA Div. III football defending national champ Wagner 40-13
12/3/198: Ferrum competes in NCAA Div. III football national semifinals, lost to Ithaca 62-28
12/2/1989: Ferrum competes in NCAA Div. III football national semifinals, lost to Union 37-21
2003: Dixie Conference changes name to USA South Athletic Conference
3/11/17: Zach Beckner posts national runner-up finish at 2017 NCAA Division III Wrestling Championship (2nd place at 125 lbs)

Miscellaneous

11/14/1970: Coach Rick Tolley and seven former players from Ferrum's 1968 NJCAA national championship team killed in the Marshall University football plane crash
(Thomas Brown, David Griffith, Patrick Norrell, James Patterson, Art Shannon, Jerry Stainback, Rick Tolley, Tommy Zborill)
12/13/1977: Former men's basketball coach Bobby Watson killed in Evansville University men's basketball plane crash (Watson was in first season as Evansville's head coach)
4/22/1990: Chris Warren drafted by Seattle Seahawks (4th round, #89 overall)
Spring 1992: Billy Wagner sets NCAA single season record for strikeouts per nine innings (19?)
6/1/1992: Eric Owens drafted by Cincinnati Reds (4th round, #101 overall)
6/3/1993: Billy Wagner drafted by Houston Astros (1st round, #12 overall)
11/6/1993: Hank Norton coaches last football game at ferrum, retires after 34 seasons as head coach (244-77-11 record)
Fall 2020: Liz Adams named Ferrum's first Academic All-American (women's soccer, basketball, tennis)
5/5/2012: Ferrum opens new athletics facility, Hank Norton Center

Ferrum, NCAA Playoffs

Baseball: 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 2005, 2007
Men's Basketball: 1992
Women's Basketball: 1995, 2012, 2013, 2014
Football: 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 2005 (national semifinals 1988, 1989)
Men's Golf: 1995
Men's Golf individuals (4)
    1993 Matt Jordan
    1997 Ed Alvarez
    2017 Brandon Bailey
    2018 Lance Keiser
Softball: 2002, 2005, 2012, 2016
Wrestling individuals (18)
   2014 Logan Meister (141)
   2016 Meister (157), Paul Biggs (149)
   2017 Zach Beckner (125), Collin Saunders (149), Logan Meister (157)
   2018 Andrew Tolbert (165) Antavian Leary (197), Alveno Matthews (285)
   2019 Levi Englman (133), Mario Vasquez (141), Blake Rosenbaum (174)
   2020 Levi Englman (133), Braden Homsey (197)
   2023 Braden Homsey (197), Rayshawn Dixon (285)
   2024 Zach Beckner (133), Rayshawn Dixon (285)

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