COTTONWOOD — Lakeview High School announced its 2025 athletics Hall of Fame induction class last week, with an honors brunch to celebrate the group slated for Saturday, Sept. 27. The group includes former athletes Jason Fischer, Matthew Gabbert and Sadie Stelter, coach Mike O’Reilly, overall community contributor Tom Hinz and the 1966 Wood Lake boys and 1976 Cottonwood girls basketball teams.

The Honors brunch will be hosted in the Lakeview High School commons on Sept. 27 at 10 p.m., with tickets currently available for sale at Lakeview High School. The school will also honor the inductees at the Lakers’ homecoming football game against Yellow Medicine East the night before at 7 p.m.

Stelter was a three-sport athlete for Lakeview High School, competing in basketball, volleyball and softball.

Stelter was a Class A All-State first-team selection in girls basketball as a senior, as well as the Independent’s Player of the Year, and was an All-state honorable mention in softball. She was also named All-Conference and Independent All-Area in all three sports.

As a senior in basketball, Stelter averaged 23 points and seven rebounds per game, finishing her career with 2,357 points.

After her time at Lakeview High School, Stelter played five years of basketball for Southwest Minnesota State University, finishing with 1,321 points and 199 3-pointers. Stelter was the program’s all-time leader in 3-pointers made upon her graduation in 2022 (still sitting third behind former teammates Sam Wall at 254 and Jenna Borchers at 251), and was 11th on the Mustangs’ all-time scoring list at the end of her career.

Stelter is still active in the Lakeview athletics community as an assistant coach under Mike Imes for the Lakeview girls basketball team.

Fischer earned 17 varsity letters during his time on the Cottonwood baseball, football, basketball and golf teams before graduating in 1987. His time at Cottonwood High School was highlighted by his role in the team’s 1987 District 9 baseball championship and his state golf tournament qualification the same season.

Fischer went on to play baseball for Southwest Minnesota State University, earning the team’s Most Valuable Player award in 1989 and 1990, as well as NAIA All-American honorable mention in 1989. He continues to play a role in Lakeview baseball lore as the manager for the Cottonwood Cardinals of the Minnesota Baseball Association.

Gabbert competed for the Echo-Wood Lake basketball and football teams, finishing his prep career with 1,262 points for the basketball team upon his graduation in 1990. He had a career night with 45 points and 22 rebounds in a game against Ivanhoe, and went on to play at the collegiate level with Gustavus Adolphus College.

O’Reilly spent 25 years as the Cottonwood boys basketball head coach from 1966 to 1990 as well as one of the founders of the Cottonwood golf program. He coached the girls golf team to a pair of state championships in 1988 and 1991, and the boys basketball team to a District 9 runner-up finish in 1975, as well as a pair of undefeated regular seasons and 16 winning seasons.

For 15 years, O’Reilly also served as the District 9 delegate to the Minnesota State High School League.

Hinz played baseball at Wood Lake High School through his graduation in 1969, but his greater impact is what he’s done for the athletics community outside of his role as a player. He was a manager of the Wood Lake Lakers and Cottonwood Cardinals and has now spent 40 years behind the scorer’s table at Lakeview basketball games and 33 in the press box for the football games. He’s also impacted the community as a sports writer, bat boy and student manager.

The 1966 Wood Lake Warriors are being inducted for their Cinderella run in the postseason. The Warriors were awarded the No. 5 seed in the District 9 tournament, upsetting No. 1 Tracy 55-45, No. 3 Marshall 63-61 and undefeated No. 2 Balaton 61-59. Wood Lake’s run came to an end with a 4-point loss to Hutchinson, which went on to finish third in the one-class state tournament.

The 1976 Cottonwood girls basketball team was a juggernaut that earned the top seed in the District 9 tournament after a 13-3 regular season. The Raiders took down Balaton, Lake Benton and Milroy to claim the district title, and earned a Region 3 win over Ortonville before falling to Class A state champion Redwood Falls.