RELEASED:  Tuesday, August 12, 2008

WRST Radio Earns Tom Butler Award

Madison, Wis.--University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh student radio station WRST is the 2008 recipient of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference’s (WIAC) Tom Butler Award.

WRST, which has broadcasted UW-Oshkosh sporting events for nearly 40 years, is the first student organization to win the Tom Butler Award.  The award was established in 1998 and has been given annually to a representative of the print or electronic media for their outstanding coverage of WIAC athletics.  The league’s sports information directors select the award winner.  The award is dedicated to Tom Butler, who served the conference faithfully as its sports information director from 1967-96.

WRST, located at 90.3 on the FM radio dial, began broadcasting diverse programming to Oshkosh and other Fox Valley communities in 1966.  The radio station began streaming all local programming on its Web site of www.uwosh.edu/wrst on April 5, 2005.  During the 2007-08 academic year, WRST broadcasted UW-Oshkosh baseball, football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, men’s soccer, women’s soccer, women’s softball, women’s volleyball and wrestling sporting events.  In addition, they aired the NCAA Division III and WIAC wrestling championships.

The call letters of WRST stand for Wisconsin’s Radio Station of the Titans.  The WRST staff includes station manager Daniel VanDenEng and sports directors Scot Frassetto and Matt Gabriel.

WRST also serves as a training facility for UW-Oshkosh students, primarily those in the Radio-TV-Film major.  Former WRST personalities include Bob Brainerd of Time Warner Cable Sports and WISN-TV in Milwaukee, Burke Griffin of WFRV-TV in Green Bay, Mike Heller of WTSO Radio in Madison, Dennis Krause of Time Warner Cable Sports in Milwaukee, Dan Needles of WISN-TV in Milwaukee and Doug Russell of WSSP Radio in Milwaukee.

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