Hall of Fame
The men’s tennis doubles team of David Buerkle and William Esser finished the 1995 tennis season ranked tenth nationally in NAIA and went on to win the conference championship.
Buerkle, from Lake Worth, Florida, was a four-year member of the Abbey’s tennis and cross country teams from 1993-1996. As a junior, he won the CIAC singles and doubles championships, and was named second-team NAIA All-American. Later that year, he and Esser finished tenth in the NAIA doubles championships, after the pair entered the tournament unseeded, and Buerkle was named an NAIA Scholar Athlete. Off the court, Buerkle was a Dean’s List student all four years and was awarded a Monastery Leadership Scholarship. In 1994, he was named to “Who’s Who Among American Colleges and Universities.” After leaving the Abbey, he continued his competitive career in tennis. In 2001, he and his doubles partner were the Men’s Open Florida State Closed Doubles Champions and were ranked fourth in the USPTA Grand Prix Circuit Men’s Open. They were also ranked the number one USTA Doubles Team in the nation in 2002.
