Frederick N. Wyman raised the bar for the men’s tennis program at Washington College. A full-time dentist, he spent his spare time transforming the program into an elite power. Wyman worked quickly; in his first season as head coach, inheriting a team that had gone 2-8 the previous season, he guided the Shoremen to 16-8 record.
A tireless recruiter, the charismatic Wyman was able to bring big-time tennis players to the small liberal arts college on the Eastern Shore. In fact, he shares tonight’s Hall of Fame induction with his very first recruit, David Marshall ‘88. Wyman built a solid foundation for his own and future conference champions, All-Americans, and national champions.
In his seven years as coach, Wyman never had a losing season. He piled up 172 victories against only 38 losses, 51 more wins than all his predecessors combined. His teams won 20 or more matches six years running, and the 1987 team established a program record that still stands of 28 wins in a single season. Along the way, Wyman coached nine All-Americans, a national Arthur Ashe Award recipient, a NCAA Division III National Player of the Year, a National Rookie of the Year and a Division III National Champion.
Wyman’s teams won six Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) championships in a row in what was then the largest conference in NCAA Division III. His players won three MAC singles championships and five doubles championships.
He is the first coach in program history to have a team qualify for the NCAA Division III National tournament. The Shoremen reached the NCAAs during each of Fred’s final six seasons, advancing to the Final Four in ‘87, ‘88, ‘89 and ‘91. Their best finish was in 1987, when they placed third in the tournament and third in the final rankings. In each of the years from 1986 through 1991, Washington finished seventh or better in the final national poll.
Wyman coached the college’s first tennis All-Americans, Alejandro Hernandez, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2003, and his doubles partner Enrique Leal. He also was the first to coach a national champion, Hall of Famer Larry Gewer in 1990, and the first coach to have two players, Gewer and Scott Read, in the national championship match. After his stint at WC, he continued coaching tennis at Kent County High School and has remained very supportive of the tennis program at Washington College.
Washington College considers it an honor and a privilege to induct Frederick N. Wyman into its Athletic Hall of Fame on this seventh day of October, 2005.
