Madison Sports Hall of Fame Club

06/06/2026

VOTE FOR MADISON’S OWN!

Drake Baldwin, our 2026 Madison Sportsman of the Year from Madison West and the Atlanta Braves needs our assistance. Drake is healing well from his Oblique Strain and should be back in playing form soon. Having an opportunity to be part of the All-Star game would be outstanding but it all relies on fan votes.

If you have an extra five minutes and feel like helping a Madison raised, really good young man out, please vote for National League Catcher, Drake Baldwin, Atlanta Braves on the MLB All Star Ballot. You can vote 5 times each day within the same visit. Thanks for your help!

The Official Site of Major League Baseball

06/02/2026

On Wednesday, June 3, 2026, the 63rd Annual Induction Banquet of The Madison Sports Hall of Fame will take place at Monona Terrace. We are pleased to be inducting four great examples of what athletics in Madison represent.

Class of 2026 Inductees are Adam Burish, Anne Cooley-Piesczak, Wesley Matthews IV and Jay Wilson.

In addition we are pleased to be honoring Dennis Semrau as our Friend of Sport Award winner; Caden Van Buren from Middleton High School as the Madison Area Sportsperson of the Year; Nyajuacni Riak of La Follette as the Madison Sportswoman of the Year; Atlanta Brave 2025 Rookie of the Year, Drake Baldwin as the Madison Sportsman of the Year and twin brothers Caleb and Ezra Liggon of Memorial as the Rob Andringa Multi-Sport Athletes of the Year.

Six other area athletes will be given Special Achievement Awards for their outstanding accomplishments during the last year. They are:

Hilary Blomberg - UW and Madison Night Mare softball player
Megan Egstad - Sun Prairie East WIAA Wheelchair Track and Field State champion and wheelchair basketball player
Steve Emt - USA Paralympian and National Champion wheelchair Curler
Matt Glittenberg - Head Coach of the Madison West Regent WIAA State Champion Soccer team
Addie Oeth - Madison Edgewood All-State volleyball player
Owen Porter - Edgewood All-State hockey player leading Edgewood to their 2nd consecutive WIAA State D1 Championship

05/26/2026

Our April Monthly High School Athletes of the Month award winners were presented their awards at our weekly luncheon held at Schwoegler’s Park Towne Lanes on Tuesday, May 26, 2026.

The male Athlete of the Month is Owen Koch, Senior, Lacrosse from Edgewood. In 7 games during April, Owen scored 19 goals and handed out 8 assists while leading Edgewood to a 6-1 record. Owen is a 4-year varsity player who has earned all-conference and all-academic all-state honors. Owen is shown below receiving his award from Club President, Mike Meissen along with his father John.

The female Athlete of the Month is Memorial Senior Soccer player Kate Erlandson. Kate was converted from defense to a wing this season and responded with 8 goals and 3 assists in April including a three-goal game against Janesville Craig. During April, Kate scored more points by herself than the rest of the team combined. Kate is shown here accepting her award from Club President Mike Meissen along with her mother Lori.

04/28/2026

The March Male and Female High School Athletes of the Month have marched into the Madison Sports Hall of Fame Club’s luncheon to accept their awards.

Our Female Athlete is Ni’Kera Martin, a senior basketball player from Memorial. During March, Ni’Kera had games of 19, 16 and 18 points while collecting 21 rebounds in those three post season games. Ni’Kera was named to the Big 8 Conference 1st Team and led Memorial to a share of the the Big 8 conference championship.

Ni’Kera will continue her basketball career next year at Madison College.

Ni’Kera is seen below accepting her award from Club President Mike Meissen along with Memorial Athletic Director Tim Richardson, her mother Katrina and brother Darnell.

Our Male Athlete of the Month is also from Memorial. He is senior basketball player, Anthony Miller. Anthony earned All Big 8 1st Team recognition and averaged 14.2 points per game during the Spartans playoff run leading up to a 2nd place finish at the WIAA State tournament. Anthony set a state record with 6 made 3’s in the semi-final win and another record of 10 made 3’s in the state tournament.

Anthony is seen below accepting his award from Club President, Mike Meissen along with Memorial Athletic Director Tim Richardson and his sister Anna.

04/23/2026

A huge welcome to the Madison Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2026. These three outstanding athletes from Madison and the “Dean of Madison Sports” will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on Wednesday, June 3rd, 2026.

All are invited to attend this community event. In addition to their induction, the Club will be honoring additional highly talented and accomplished athletes and coaches from Madison and the Madison area.

For tickets, go to madisonsportshalloffame.org/banquet and order your tickets.

See you there!

03/31/2026

The February Male and Female High School Athletes of the month were presented their awards at today’s Madison Sports Hall of Fame Club luncheon.

Male: Max Garbacz, Madison West, Sophomore Swimmer - Max won the 500 yard freestyle and the 200 yard individual medley and swam a leg in the Regents 5th place finish 200 yard freestyle relay and a 9th place finish in the 400 yard freestyle relay at the WIAA State Swim meet in February. With these accomplishments, Max help West account for 86 of the Regents total 147 points. Max has a goal to continue his swimming career at the University of Texas when his high school career is completed.

Max is seen here being presented his award by Club President, Mike Meissen along with his parents Tina and Jeff.

Our February Female Athlete of the Month is Maya Assad Thompson, also from Madison West who is a Senior Wrestler. Maya finished her high school wrestling career at the WIAA State Wrestling Championships. She completed her wrestling career with 107 wins and was the first female wrestler to ever reach 100 career wins in the Big 8 Conference. Maya was named All-City in her weight class every season she competed. She finished the 2025-2026 season with a record of 35-7 with 30 of those wins by fall. Maya takes her 3.71 GPA and will continue to wrestle at UW Steven’s Point in the fall.

Maya is seen here being presented her award by Club President, Mike Meissen along with her mother, Nadia.

03/31/2026

A very inspiring talk at today’s Madison Sports Hall of Fame luncheon, held at Schwoegler’s Park Towne Lanes, by 2002 Olympic 500 meter Speed Skating champion, Casey FitzRandolph.

All are invited to attend our luncheons every Tuesday during the school year starting at 11:30 am.

Below is a picture of Casey with his 2002 Olympic Gold Medal from the games in Salt Lake City, Utah.

02/25/2026

A huge congratulations to the Madison Sports Hall of Fame Club’s 4 new Inductees into the Hall of Fame for 2026.

Congratulations to a Madison Edgewood and UW Madison hockey athlete who in 2006 won a the National Championship while playing hockey for Wisconsin, and NHL star, Adam Burish.

We also would like to congratulate Madison LaFollette and DePaul University softball pitcher, Anne Cooley-Piesczak on her upcoming Induction.

Congratulations also goes out to former Madison Memorial, Marquette University and 15 year member of the NBA, Wesley Matthews IV on his selection to the Class of 2026.

Our final Inductee for 2026 has often been given the nickname “The Dean of Madison Sportscasters”. Longtime Sportscaster at WKOW TV, WISC TV, the voice of many WIAA State Tournament broadcasts and Big10 Network play by play voice, Jay Wilson.

Congratulations to these outstanding members of the Madison Sports community.

Come to the banquet on Wednesday, June 3, 2026 at the Monona Terrace Convention Center. For ticket information, go to madisonsportshalloffame.org/banquet

02/24/2026

Our January Male and Female Athletes of the Month are:

Owen Porter; Madison Edgewood, Senior, Hockey

Owen scored 26 goals and had 21 assists in leading Edgewood to a perfect 9-0 month of January. On January 13, Owen scored 7 goals in a 13-0 win over Memorial. He earned his 100th point of the season in an 8-2 win over the University School of Milwaukee on February 11th. For the season, Owen has 56 goals and 47 assists.

Owen was unable to receive his award in person due to school commitments.

Avery Blue; Madison Memorial, Senior, Basketball

Avery averaged 14.8 points per game to lead the Spartans to a 6-3 record in January. She became the programs all-time leader in 3-pointers made and surpassed career marks of 200 steals and 200 assists. Avery is also the all-time scoring leader at Memorial and has committed to continue her basketball career next year at Division 1 Wagner next year.

Club President Mike Meissen is seen presenting Avery her award along with her coach Marques Flowers and her father Seneca Blue.

01/27/2026

Our December Male and Female High School Athletes of the Month are:

Nathan Pietrzykowski, senior, basketball, St. Ambrose

Nathan Pietrzykowski became the first St. Ambrose player to ever record a triple-double. He accomplished that feat during the Guardians 82-49 win over Wisconsin Heights, where he scored 18 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and dished out 10 assists.

Pietrzykowski followed that record performance by posting a double-double in St. Ambrose's 58-45 win against Williams Bay. He had 14 points, 10 rebounds and five steals to help St. Ambrose remain unbeaten.

"Nathan is our aircraft carrier, everything goes through him offensively and defensively and he’s been awesome," Madison St. Ambrose coach Chris Zwettler said.

Nyajuacni Riak, sophomore, basketball, La Follette

Nya scored a career-high and school record 50 points in a 90-42 victory over Janesville Parker on Dec. 5. She made 20-of-28 field goal attempts, including 4-of-7 3-pointers, and 6-of-6 free throws. She also grabbed 21 rebounds, nine on the offensive end, and added three assists, three steals and two blocked shots.

Nathan is seen below accepting his award from Club President, Mike Meissen along with his parents and coach.

Nya was unable to attend due to a Chemistry exam. Accepting her award on her behalf was her coach, Will Green.