(class of '67 - football/basketball/baseball)

Fred Fischer was one of the most versatile athletes to attend Nicolet High School.

There were not enough semesters to participate in all the sports he liked.  He attended Nicolet from 1963 – 1967 where he played Football, Basketball, Golf and Baseball.  He quarterbacked the Knights to a conference championship and a state rating.  He also pitched a couple of no hitters of 1967.

Fred received honors in Football, Basketball and Baseball and because of this leadership was voted Captain in all three sports.  He was honored with the W-Club award as the best student-athlete in 1967.  He continued at the University of Wisconsin, Madison in Football and Baseball for one year before deciding on a degree in Electrical Engineering.  There he picked up the game of Handball and continues today to play in National and International Tournaments.

Most importantly at Nicolet the coaches taught him the value of mentoring of young people.  Those lessons continue today with his dedication to Big Brothers/Big Sisters and it’s mentoring of youth across America.  Fred will be remembered as an athlete who believes in the Teamwork, Competition, and Work Ethic that Nicolet Athletics has always strived to teach to its Athletes

(class of '67 - football/track)

Michael Gaborsky was one of the Nicolet High School’s most accomplished athletes.

Michael attended Nicolet High School from 1963-1967.  He was an All-Conference running back when Nicolet played football in the old Braveland Conference.  He lettered all 4 years in football earning All-Conference honors.  He set many Nicolet and Conference football records when he played such as points scored in a single game (24), points scored in a season (72) and points scored in a career (120).  He once held the record for the longest run from scrimmage (82 yards).   Mike also lettered all four years in Track as well, earning Team MVP honors in both his junior (1966) and senior (1967) seasons.  He dominated his era in 5 events:  the 100, 220, 440 & 880 yard dash and the mile relay.  He earned numerous All-Conference recognitions and earned a State Championship in the 220-yard dash in 1966.

Michael was a member of the Nicolet Varsity Club and was positively influenced by his high school coaches like fellow Hall of Famers Frank Wolf, Doug Irwin and Dick Huxtable.  After earning a football scholarship to UW-Madison, he attended UW for one year before transferring to LaCrosse where he graduated on the Dean’s List.  He would go on to become a very popular high school teacher and coach.  Coaching high school athletics gave him the opportunity to make an indelible mark on young athletes just as his Nicolet High School coaches had made on him.  Michael always thought of others before himself.  He gave everything he had without any strings attached.  He always saw the best in everyone and was willing to give people a second chance.
Michael was diagnosed with a terminal brain disease in 1998.  And here he began to be a teacher again.  With all the disease took away, he said “there is someone who has it worse than me”.  He never complained or said “why me?”, but continued to teach and coach all of those around him how to live with what you are dealt with and to die with dignity.

Michael Peter Gaborsky
January 11, 1949-November 17, 2005

“What you are will show in what you do”—Thomas Edison

(class of '02 - basketball)

To score 25 points in a basketball game in itself is a pretty good accomplishment.  To score 25 consecutive points for your team in a game takes it to a whole other level.  But that’s exactly what Dan Grunfeld did as a senior in a win at Germantown to set a school record.  This is just one example of the sheer dominance that Dan displayed during his three seasons (.800 win percentage) as a member of the Knights boys’ varsity basketball team.  As a junior, Dan averaged 17.2 ppg and was a 1st Team All-Conference performer to help the Knights to a 14-0 North Shore Conference record during a stellar season that included a 16-game win streak.  Going into his senior year, Dan was named by The Sporting News as the Best Shooter amongst 3000 players at a tournament in Las Vegas.  As an Academic All-State scholar as a senior, Dan racked up numerous basketball accolades:  Associated Press & WBCA 1st Team All-State, CNI Suburban Player of the Year, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel 1st Team All-Area, and North Shore Conference MVP.  He averaged 23.9 ppg and 7.1 rebounds per game to lead his team to a second consecutive conference title (13-1 mark and 26 straight conference wins) and 19 overall victories with a #2 state ranking. After high school, Dan’s tremendous work ethic both on the court and in the classroom helped him embark on a highly successful career at Stanford University.  He was 1st Team All Pac-10 Conference as a junior while leading his team in scoring (18 ppg) as well as a three-time 1st Team Pac-10 All-Academic selection and two-time Academic All-American.  Starting in 2006, his professional basketball career took him to Germany and then Spain.  At the time of his induction, he was entering his third season of pro ball in Israel as well as being a contributing writer to the sports website SBNation.com.  With achievements as such, Dan Grunfeld will certainly go down as one of Nicolet’s greatest basketball legends.

(class of '90 - track)

Bryan Jones, a member of the Nicolet High School class of 1990 was  one of the most outstanding track athletes of all time at NHS.  An unassuming natural athlete, Bryan was known for his true team focus and willingness to encourage others to achieve at their highest levels. This is evidenced by the facts that  while Bryan was a member of the Nicolet Track Team in 1988,1989 and 1990 also serving as team captain and MVP in 1989 and 1990, the school won three North Shore Conference Championships, the only ones in school history and the only WIAA State Track Championship in school history.

Bryan’s records are truly inspiring. He is the holder of six indoor meet or track records indoors and nine outdoor  meet or track records. Among the most memorable are his 1990 WIAA State Track Championship 400 meter run and  4X400 meter relay. His time in the 400 meter run of 47.12 seconds still stands after 22 years. The 1990 4x400 meter relay time of 3:16.09 also is still standing.  These outstanding records were part of  an excellent season overall which lead to a team WIAA state boys track championship in 1990 and Bryan’s recognition as the Wisconsin Track and Field Coaches Association’s Boys Track and Field Athlete of the Year for 1990.

After high school Bryan continued his success on the track running for the UW-Madison team from 1990-1995.  During this time he was both a three time team captain and three time All Big Ten honoree.  He was a member of the current all time record relay team for the 4x400m relay at UW-Madison.  As a result of Bryan’s lifetime achievement in track and field, he was inducted into the Wisconsin Track and Field  Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2004.

(coach/athletic director)

Jim Liska, selected as the WIAA District 7 Athletic Director of the year in 2009, began his career at Nicolet in 1975 following seven years of teaching and coaching men’s gymnastics, track, cross country, and baseball at Menomonee Falls.  Gymnastics was his first coaching job, which later morphed into a WIAA officials position and shortly he was deemed good enough to judge three WIAA State Meet Finals including the last official boys meet won by Nicolet in 1981.

At Nicolet, he began as an assistant track coach under Dick Huxtable and took over as the head coach in 1976-77.  He continued that position until 1985 winning numerous conference and individual event titles, as well as four sectional championships,
After a two-year stint as the sophomore football coach, he became the assistant cross country coach in 1980, and converted in the head cross country coach in 1982 winning conference and sectional titles and sending four teams to the WIAA State Meet.
In 1984 he was selected as the first Executive Secretary of the newly organized North Shore Conference, a position he enjoyed for 25 years until he retired in 2009.

Jim served a number of years as the boys’ athletic coordinator combined with brief stints with the girls basketball and track teams before becoming Nicolet’s Athletic Director in 1998.  He is an NIAAA Certified Athletic Administrator, was a regular presenter at the Wisconsin Athletic Director’s Association workshops, and served three years as a member of the WIAA Cross Country Advisory Committee.

During his tenure as AD, Nicolet won 10 WIAA state championships, had 46 individual state champions, and won 39 North Shore Conference crowns.

In 2009 the Nicolet All Sports Booster Club honored him by awarding an ongoing scholarship in his name.

(coach - basketball/girls golf)

Tom Puls built quite an impressive coaching resume during his career, not to mention an equally impressive athletic resume.

Tom was an accomplished athlete, excelling in golf and basketball.  Beginning in 1952 when he was the Wisconsin representative in the National Junior Golf Championships, Tom continued to win golf championships all the way to 1987 when he finished first in the Rice Lake Open.  In between, he golfed in college at the University of La Crosse and won numerous tournaments throughout his competitive golf career.

As a basketball player, Tom was Fond Du Lac High School’s MVP in 1954 and went on to play on two University of La Crosse conference champion basketball teams in 1958 & 1959.

Tom’s athletic prowess enabled him to eventually become a successful high school coach.  His coaching career began in 1960 at Barron High School in Barron, WI where he coached Basketball, Football, Golf and Cross Country.  He came to Nicolet in 1967 to coach Boys Basketball.  In 1969, he coached the Nicolet Knights cagers to the WIAA State Tournament.  In 1978, he became Nicolet’s first Girls Golf coach, eventually leading his teams to the State Tournament in 1982, 1983 & 1984 and a WIAA State Championship in 1983.

Tom finished his coaching career at Nicolet with 349 wins and 7 conference championships in Boys Basketball and 3 conference championships in Girls Golf making Tom Puls one of the most successful coaches in Nicolet High School history.

(class of '99 - track/football)

There is fast.  There is super fast.  And then there is Baigeh (BJ)
Tucker fast.  Without question, BJ will go down as one of the most superior track and football athletes to ever grace the athletic fields of Nicolet.  In track and field, he was a 6-time State Champion as he won the 100m, the 200m, and 400m Relay in both 1998 & 1999.  He would blaze to school records of 10.2 seconds in the 100m Dash, 20.7 seconds in the 200m Dash, and 41.6 seconds in the 400m Relay.  These accomplishments would not only get him named team MVP and team captain in 1998 & 1999, but also earn him enshrinement into the Wisconsin Track Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2009.  BJ would continue to shine with a stellar track career at UW-Madison from 1999-2003.  On the football field, he was equally dominating.  Named 1st Team All-Conference in both 1997 & 1998, he was selected conference Defensive Back of the Year in 1998 as well as a starter in the annual North vs South Shrine Bowl All-Star game.  He was also team captain in both his junior and senior seasons.  BJ would go on to shine at defensive back in a four-year career for the Wisconsin Badgers before being drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the 2003 NFL draft.  He would spend time with the Steelers, the Seahawks, and the 49ers from 2003-2007.  Of the many tremendous athletes in the history of Nicolet, BJ Tucker can lay claim to being the fastest of them all.

(coach - swim)

Charles “Chuck” Walters served as the Boys and Girls Swimming Coach from 1969 through 1979.    During his tenure at Nicolet, he built a solid foundation on which decades later the success of Nicolet Swimming is still based.  He was the quintessential tough “old school” coach who entrusted his teams to take ownership of both their successes and failures.  

Chuck had an impressive record during his years at Nicolet.   The Boys Swim/Dive Team under his leadership won Conference titles in 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1978, & 1979, Sectional championship years were 1971, 1972, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978,  & 1979.  In 1977, the team was state runners up.  He coached 8 individual State Champions and 6 All-Americans.   The Girls Team during this period was Conference Champions in 1975, won Sectionals in 1975 & 1976 and he coached 1 individual State Champion and 1 All-American.   He also dedicated his talents to youth swimmers, serving as the Northshore Swim Club head coach for several years.

Coach Walters is a member of the Wisconsin Interscholastic Swim Coaches Hall of Fame and continues to support Nicolet Swimming and Diving through the denotations of his time as a volunteer coach and financial gifts he has provided throughout the years.  Inside his tough exterior is a guy who cared deeply for his team members and the program that is Nicolet Swimming.