BVU announces 2026 Athletics Hall of Fame class

Buena Vista University used its June 15 Hall of Fame announcement to put a spotlight on the athletes, coach and teams that helped define its place in Storm Lake sports history. The 2026 class reaches across men’s golf, men’s wrestling, football and women’s basketball, with a banquet set for Oct. 2 to formally enshrine the inductees.

The class includes Bill Naughton of men’s golf, Dail Fellin of men’s wrestling, Michael Irvin of football and men’s wrestling, and head coach Janet Berry, who guided women’s basketball, golf and volleyball. BVU also selected the 1979 and 1980 men’s golf teams, a choice that elevates not only individual careers but entire eras of Warrior athletics.

That mix matters in a college town like Storm Lake because it shows the university is honoring more than the most visible names. BVU’s athletic legacy has been built through different sports and different generations, and this class ties together the players and coaches who carried the school’s identity in competition, in practice gyms and on the golf course. By recognizing both individuals and teams, the university is preserving the record of how those programs became part of campus memory.

Janet Berry’s inclusion links the Hall of Fame to more than one sport, reflecting a coaching career that reached across women’s basketball, golf and volleyball. The two men’s golf teams from 1979 and 1980 add a program-based milestone to the class, signaling that BVU is honoring sustained success, not just single standout seasons. Naughton, Fellin and Irvin bring the selection back to the individual athletes whose performances helped shape the school’s athletic reputation.

For current students, the announcement reinforces that BVU’s sports tradition did not begin and end with the present roster. For alumni and longtime supporters in Buena Vista County, the Oct. 2 banquet will serve as a reunion point and a reminder of how deeply the university’s teams are woven into Storm Lake’s civic life. The class gives BVU a chance to celebrate that history now, before the formal induction ceremony puts those names into the institution’s permanent record.