General Tuesday, July 15, 2025 NWC Athletic Communications

Northwestern Announces 2025 Hall of Fame Class

ORANGE CITY, Iowa – The Red Raider athletics Hall of Fame selection committee has selected four individuals as the newest members of its Hall of Fame, to be honored at the annual Hall of Fame banquet this winter. Coaches of the Year and the Barnabas Award winner will also be honored. A ceremony honoring the Hall of Fame inductees, Coach of the Year winners, and Barnabas Award winner will be held on Saturday, January 17 at 6:00 p.m. in the Rowenhorst Student Center. Tickets will be available on nwcraiders.com/tickets at a later date.

HALL OF FAME – Katie (Bosch) Hollinger (Track and Field/Cross Country, 2014-18)
Katie (Bosch) Hollinger made her mark during her time in Raider Red, competing on the track and on the cross country course. On the track, Bosch was an NAIA All-American in eight events, won GPAC titles in the mile (2018 indoor), 800m (2017 outdoor), and twice was on the GPAC Champion outdoor 4x800 team. She still holds records in seven indoor events and three outdoor events. In cross country, Bosch earned NAIA All-American honors with an 18^th-place finish. She qualified twice for the NAIA Cross Country Championships, was a two-time All-GPAC finisher, and holds the third-best times in school history in the 5K (17:57) and 6K (23:02). Academically, Bosch earned NAIA Scholar Athlete honors in 2017 and 2018, and was a CSC Academic All-District selection. A 2018 graduate with a degree in nursing, Hollinger works as a NICU nurse at Regions Hospital in St. Paul, Minnesota.

HALL OF FAME – Doug Brunsting (Men's Basketball, 1983-86)
Brunsting put together a stellar career on the court, posting 20.8 points and 8.2 rebounds his senior year, preceded by 16.3 and 7.0 averages in his junior season. He shot an even 50% for his career, totaling 1,673 points and 733 rebounds. Brunsting is one of 13 Raiders to tally both 1,500 points and 700 rebounds for his career and is one of six Raiders to collect at least 250 offensive boards. At the end of his career, Brunsting ranked second among all-time Raiders in points and fourth in rebounds. A 1986 graduate with a degree in economics, Brunsting is the Vice President of Supply Chain at Interstates in Sioux Center.

HALL OF FAME – Mihai Burlea (Baseball, 2007-08)
Burlea put together one of the most dominant stretches in Red Raider history during his time in Orange City, needing only two seasons to put his name atop the record books. In 2007, Burlea was named the GPAC Pitcher of the Year, an NAIA All-American Honorable Mention, and an ABCA First Team All-Region selection. He holds single-season records for wins (12), winning percentage (.923), innings pitched (97.0), and strikeouts (113). For his career, Burlea sits in the top 10 of program records for wins (21), winning percentage (.808), ERA (3.06), WHIP (1.29), and K/9 (9.54). A 2009 graduate with a degree in public relations, Burlea works at Milky Way Day Nursery and resides in Parma, Italy.

HALL OF FAME – Nic Leither (Wrestling, 2008-12)
Northwestern's only three-time NAIA All-American, Leither placed as high as fourth at the NAIA Championships in 2010. He was a two-time First Team All-GPAC selection and once was a Second Team All-GPAC performer at 197 pounds. He collected 29 career pins and a .735 winning percentage over four years and had 14 wins by fall in the 2011-12 season alone. Leither excelled on the mat and in the classroom, also earning NAIA Scholar Athlete and NWCA Academic All-American honors. A 2012 graduate with a degree in psychology, Leither currently serves as a pastor at St. Mark's Lutheran Church in Aurora, Colorado.

COACH OF THE YEAR – Heather (Block) Grafing '03
A 2003 graduate with a degree in elementary education, Grafing has served as the head girls basketball coach at Central Lyon High School since 2014. Her team finished as state runners-up in 2025, the third time in four years that the Lions have reached the state championship game. Since becoming head coach, Grafing's teams have qualified for the state tournament five times.

COACH OF THE YEAR – Cole Spree '09
A recent inductee to the NJCAA Wrestling Hall of Fame, Spree coaches at Indian Hills Community College in Ottumwa, Iowa, starting the men's and women's programs in 2019. As the women's coach, he led a Warriors team that had 58 All-Americans and 13 individual national champions. In his first season leading just the men's program, Indian Hills captured the 2025 NJCAA North Central District Championship. He was also named the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) Coach of the Year in 2025. While at Northwestern, Spree earned a degree in management.

COACH OF THE YEAR – Adam Potter '14
The head men's soccer coach at Northeast Community College in Norfolk, Nebraska, led his team to an NJCAA DII national title in 2024, taking down Neosho County CC 2-1. In two seasons at the helm, Potter has been named the NJCAA DII Coach of the Year, has two national tournament berths, a national championship, and was the first men's soccer coach at Northeast to win a national title. Four athletes from last year's team were named to the all-tournament team, and three players were selected as First Team All-Americans. A standout men's soccer player at Northwestern, Potter graduated with a degree in physical education.

BARNABAS AWARD – Todd TeGrotenhuis '96
A member of the Raider track and field team, TeGrotenhuis currently serves as a fifth-grade teacher at MOC-FV and is an assistant cross country coach, having coached other middle school sports as well in the past. For years he has led a Bible study for fifth-grade grade boys before school one morning a week. When MOC-FV opened their new school, the Bible study remained in the same location, and he recruited older men to drive the boys to school, doing his part to encourage young men to develop Bible study habits at an early age. TeGrotenhuis is a 1996 graduate of Northwestern with a degree in elementary education.

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