Hall of Famer Charlie Peterson passed away on February 18th. He was 80 years old.
Peterson excelled as an athlete in football, wrestling, and golf in high school for Owatonna and at Luther College after that. He went on to be a head wrestling coach at Tracy and Wayzata High Schools.
Continue readingHall of Famer Pete Veldman passed away on January 14th. He was 86 years old.
A native of Hollandale, Minn., Veldman was a 1951 state champion for Albert Lea. He went on to wrestle for the Minnesota Gophers in college placing third and fourth at the Big 10 Championships and was a member of The Gophers’ l957 and l959 Big 10 Championship teams.
Veldman contributed greatly to the sport of wrestling in Minnesota as a wrestler, coach, athletic director, official, scholarship coordinator, and as part of the MSHSL management team at the State Tournament.
Continue readingHall of Fame Coach Ed Ferkingstad passed away on January 4th. He was 87 years old. Ferkingstad started the wrestling program in Caledonia in 1963. In 1970 his team won a state title under the one-class system. Ferkingstad was inducted into the Minnesota Wrestling Coaches Association Dave Bartelma Wrestling Hall of Fame (2009), the Mayo Civic Minnesota Region 1 Wrestling Alumni Hall of Fame, and Caledonia Wrestling Hall of Fame.
Continue reading2019 Section 2AA Assistant Coach of the Year
Kevin Sherman Simonson, 61 of Glencoe, MN died at GlenFields Living With Care on November 10, 2019, after a 28 month battle with a cancerous brain tumor. Kevin was born to Beverly (Gieser) and Sherman Simonson at Rapid City, SD on August 2, 1958, and baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church at Rapid City on August 23rd. He was confirmed at Evanger Lutheran Church on May 6, 1973.
Kevin graduated from Hayfield High School in 1976, and graduated from the University of Minnesota, Crookston in 1979. He worked as a sports reporter for the Hayfield Herald, and was a reporter for The Guillotine (a wrestling magazine). Kevin and Linda owned and published The Hancock Record at Hancock, MN.
Since 1987, Kevin managed Hardees and Burger King restaurants in Minnesota and South Dakota. He was named “Manager of the Year” for them several times.
Continue readingHall of Fame Coach Don Dravis of Staples passed away on November 3rd. He was 82 years old.
Dravis’ Staples teams won seven state championships and were runners-up four times. He received National High School Wrestling Coach of the Year honors in 1980 and 1981.
Continue readingLong-time Adrian assistant wrestling coach Bruce Loosbrock passed away on Tuesday, October 29th. He was 59 years old.
Continue readingAaron “Boomer” Widboom was born on October 19, 1978, and passed away on Monday, September 9, 2019, in Duluth, Minn. Widboom, was a Worthington High School class of 1997 graduate who was a member of their 1997 Section 2AAA Team Champions that went on to take 6th in the Class AAA state tournament.
Continue readingHall of Fame Coach Roy A. Minter died Sunday, September 1st at Carris Health Rice Hospital in Willmar. He was 83 years old.
Minter was a state champion wrestler for Owatonna High School in 1954. He went on to wrestle at Mankato State where he was a three-time NCAA Division I All-American. Minter coached wrestling at Worthington High School and Willmar Community College, retiring in 1992. He was inducted into the Minnesota Wrestling Coaches Association Dave Bartelma Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1979 and was a Charter Member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Minnesota Chapter, inducted in 2003.
Mass of Christian Burial will be at 9:30 am, Thursday, September 5th at Church of St. Mary in Willmar. Visitation will be from 5-7:00 pm, Wednesday at the church and continue one hour prior to his service. Burial will be in the church cemetery.
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