Oertel lands on all-time WIAC net unit

West Allis - Rob Oertel, a West Allis native, has been named to the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference all-time men's tennis team.

Oertel, who graduated from West Allis Central, was a member of the University of Wisconsin-Stout squad which won four consecutive conference championships in the mid-1980's.

He captured the conference's No. 3 singles crown in 1984, the No. 1 singles title in 1985 and the No. 1 doubles championship in 1986.

Oertel was named an NCAA Division III All-American in both singles and doubles in 1986, and the Blue Devils claimed the conference championship in each of his four years at Stout. He was team captain in 1985 and 1986.

He was later inducted into the UW-Stout Athletic Hall of Fame in 1996.

Oertel then coached UW-Stout in 1989, launching his coaching career.

After leaving Stout, he became the men's and women's head coach at Indiana State University and was named the Missouri Valley Conference men's coach of the year in 1995 when the Sycamores won the regular-season MVC crown.

He then moved to the University of Denver, taking the Division II program to the Division I level, then left for Eastern Kentucky University in 2001.

While there, his teams have advanced to the NCAA Division I tournament the past three years: the women's team in 2009 and the men's squad in 2010 and 2011.

He has been the Ohio Valley Conference men's coach of the year four times.

"One of my goals when I took this position was to raise this program to national respectability," Oertel said. "I can say with great pride that we are now at that level. I hope we can keep building on our achievements."