Buena Vista University

Merritt Ewalt had a hand in about every men’s sport on campus during his 26-year association with the Beavers. The Coralville native directed the men’s basketball program for 16 seasons and guided the Beavers to a trio of NAIA national tournaments. His 1962 team earned the Beavers their first league championship in 36 years, finishing the campaign with a 25-3 mark.

Ewalt also coached men’s track and field for 15 seasons, and his student-athletes set numerous school records and earned numerous all-conference accolades. The longtime BVU football assistant coach (16 years) directed the Beavers in men’s golf for five seasons and won the school’s first conference title in 1958. He also served as head wrestling coach for the Beavers in 1976 and 1977.

A Korean War veteran Ewalt served as a Sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps following his graduation from Iowa State Teachers College in Cedar Falls. Following his military service, Ewalt attended graduate school at the University of Iowa before embarking on a teaching and coaching career at Mount Vernon High School.

In 1957, he made the trip to Storm Lake to join the ranks of a young coaching staff that, in short order, would feature John Naughton and Jay Beekmann, a trio that became synonymous with Beaver athletics.