Record-Setting 1963 Men’s Tennis Team To Join Trinity Athletics Hall of Fame

For more than six decades, the accomplishments of Trinity University’s 1963 men’s tennis team have echoed through the program’s history. On October 17, 2026, that legacy will be permanently enshrined in the Trinity Athletics Hall of Fame.

The induction ceremony will take place during the university’s Alumni Weekend celebration, and it is a fitting tribute to a squad whose dominance helped establish the standard for generations of Tiger tennis players to follow.

Among those celebrating the honor will be Trinity’s Director of Tennis Butch Newman '65 and Trustee Miles Cortez '64, both members of the 1963 team and individual inductees into the Trinity Athletics Hall of Fame. Trustee Emeritus Cliff Buchholz '65, also an individual Hall of Fame member, will be unable to attend.

The numbers alone tell an extraordinary story. The 1963 Tigers completed their third consecutive undefeated season, extending what became a 60-match winning streak. The program's dominance continued through 1965, when Trinity set an NCAA record of 78 consecutive victories. Decades later, Inside College Tennis ranked the 1963 squad as the fifth-greatest men's college tennis team of all time.

For Newman, who was a sophomore on that unforgettable team, the greatest legacy wasn't simply the victories; it was the foundation they created for the future of Trinity tennis.

“Looking back at those incredible years that went so quickly, I think they laid the foundation for all the notoriety that the Trinity tennis program has continued to attain,” Newman says. “But I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the importance of our coach, Clarence Mabry, our leader, who put this team together. He was a great mentor and role model for us young men and was genuinely concerned for each of us to always be the very best we could be!”

That foundation was built by a roster filled with extraordinary talent.

The team included 1963 Wimbledon champion Chuck McKinley '64, who also teamed with Dennis Ralston to win the 1963 Davis Cup title for the United States and captured three U.S. National Men's Doubles Championships. Rather than pursue a professional tennis career, McKinley became a stockbroker after graduation. He died in 1986 and was inducted posthumously into the Trinity Athletics Hall of Fame.

Frank Froehling '64 finished runner-up at the 1963 U.S. National Men’s Singles Championships and was ranked fourth in the world that year. He later delivered a critical victory for the United States in the 1971 Davis Cup final against Romania before spending more than 40 years as a tennis court contractor. Froehling, who died in 2020, was inducted into the Hall of Fame prior to his passing.

Their collegiate accomplishments were equally remarkable. McKinley compiled a 48-2 career record, including a 25-match winning streak during the 1962-63 season. He and Newman became Trinity's first tennis All-Americans following the 1963 season. Newman posted a career singles record of 53-2, still the best individual mark in Trinity history. Buchholz earned All-America honors in 1965 and teamed with Newman to reach the NCAA Doubles quarterfinals that same year, while Newman collected his second All-America honor.

The success of the 1963 team continued far beyond their collegiate careers.

Following graduation, Newman served as a Marine captain in Vietnam and was awarded the Navy Commendation Medal with a Combat “V.” After careers as a stockbroker and teaching tennis professionally, he returned to Trinity as head coach in 1986. One of the defining moments of his coaching career came in 2000, when Trinity's men's and women's teams captured NCAA Division III national championships on the same day—the only time a coach has won men's and women's NCAA tennis titles in the same season. Newman became director of tennis in 2009.

Buchholz competed professionally before attending law school and later owning tennis and fitness clubs. He and his brother, Butch, founded the Miami Open Tennis and Fitness Clubs, and Cliff later served as tour director of the Miami Open. He also served as a Trinity trustee from 2018 to 2021.

For Buchholz, the 1963 team represented a continuation of a championship culture that was already taking shape at Trinity.

“The standard was set in 1962 when Karen Hantze Susman (’64) won Wimbledon without losing a set,” Buchholz said. “In 1963, Chuck McKinley won Wimbledon without losing a set. They established the high level of tennis at Trinity, and their tradition has been carried forward to future Tiger teams.”

Cortez, a Trinity trustee since 2006, partnered in doubles with the late Al Hill Jr. ’67, for whom Trinity's Upper Campus tennis stadium is named. After receiving his commission as an Army second lieutenant, his service entrance was deferred so he could attend law school. He was deployed to Vietnam in 1969 with the First Infantry Division, “The Big Red One,” where he earned a Bronze Star before beginning a distinguished legal career.

“I am immensely proud to be a member of that record-setting team,” Cortez says. “We remained close and held annual tennis reunions for 25 years.”

The Hall of Fame induction will also recognize teammates who are no longer here to celebrate. Bobby Joyner '65, who died last March, compiled a perfect 17-0 doubles record with Froehling from 1961 to 1963. Family members of Joyner and Froehling are expected to participate in the Hall of Fame ceremony.

The record books will always tell the story of the 1963 team’s remarkable success. The Hall of Fame induction cements the legacy of how one standout team laid the groundwork for a collegiate tennis powerhouse.