Minnesota High School Coach of the Year

Previously I've picked a Coach of the Year, many of whom have been high school coaches. But with the MSHSL's recent selections of Minnesota's all-time state tournament coaches, it occurred to me to choose high school coaches of the year through the decades. Coaches listed in boldface are the overall Minnesota coach of the year. Coaches listed in italic are multiple winners of high school coach of the year honors.

1914 Harry Gammons, Stillwater
1915 Raymond Hanson, Red Wing (player-coach)
1916 Alfred Jackson, Virginia
1917 Endre Anderson, Rochester
1918 Leigh McQueen, Waseca
1919 Hartness Taylor, Albert Lea

1920 Art Rolfe, Red Wing
1921 Weston Mitchell, Mpls. Central just ahead of Roland Church, New Ulm
1922 Reginald Kraemer, Madison
1923 Harold Taylor, Aurora
1924 Louis Benson, Two Harbors
1925 Edwin McKee, St. Paul Mechanic Arts
1926 B.F. Borchert, Gaylor
1927 Otto Engenbrecht, Mpls. South ahead of Neal Heis, Faribault
1928 Glen Hanna, Moorhead
1929 Ed Buckley, Ely just ahead of Ray Parkins, Mpls. Edison

1930 Peter Deanovic, Columbia Heights
1931 Jack Sterrett, Glencoe
1932 Roger Dooley, Thief River Falls
1933 William Dammann, Brainerd
1934 Harvey Roels, Chisholm
1935 Thomas Antil, Glencoe
1936 Anthony Chermak, Wadena
1937 Ray Parkins, Mpls. Edison
1938 George Lee, Thief River Falls
1939 Sam Ettinger, South St. Paul

1940 Walt Mikulich, Breckenridge
1941 Muxie Anderson, Buhl
1942 Bernard Cole, Marshall
1943 Harry Falk, Alexandria
1944 Frank Cleve, Mpls. Patrick Henry
1945 Dick Buckley, Ely
1946 Chet Bisel, Lynd
1947 Len Espeland, Granite Falls
1948 Butsie Maetzold, Hopkins
1949 Sam Ruzich, Dawson

1950 Roger Isaacson, Canby
1951 Wayne Keto, Gilbert
1952 Butsie Maetzold, Hopkins over Bert Munson, Mountain Lake
1953 Mario Retica, Hibbing
1954 Fred Kellett, Brainerd
1955 Clarence Johnson, Esko
1956 Wayne Courtney, Mpls. Roosevelt
1957 Dick Reinhart, DeLaSalle
1958 Ove Berven, Austin
1959 Jack Thurnblad, Wayzata over Dick Nielsen, Carlton

1960 Richie Olson, Edgerton
1961 Bun Fortier, Bemidji
1962 Lloyd Holm, St. Louis Park
1963 Glenn Mattke, Marshall
1964 Ray Merry, Luverne
1965 Ron Eickhoff, Franklin
1966 Dick Beetsch, Windom
1967 Duane Baglien, Edina over Shocky Strand, Moorhead
1968 Orris Jirele, Rochester Lourdes over Duane Baglien, Edina
1969 Al Wold, Rochester John Marshall

1970 Dennis Christopherson, Sherburn
1971 Jim Hastings, Duluth Central  over Del Schiffler, Melrose
1972 Judge Veglahn, St. James
1973 Bob McDonald, Chisholm
1974 Del Schiffler, Melrose over Janet Willand, Glencoe girls
1975 Bob McDonald, Chisholm over Al Baumann, Little Falls
1976 Ed Prohofsky, Mpls. Marshall-U over Gene Biewen, Mankato Wilson
1977 John Nett, Winona Cotter
1978 Mike Jerabek, Prior Lake
1979 Jim Hastings, Duluth Central

1980 Tony Queen, Mpls. North over Jerry Cool, Little Falls girls
1981 Jerry Wohler, Bird Island-Lake Lillian
1982 Jack Evens, Bloomington Jefferson over Donna Mark, St. Cloud Apollo girls
1983 Del Schiffler, Woodbury
1984 Jerry Cool, Little Falls girls over Jim Galvin, White Bear Lake
1985 Ron Beachy, Staples-Motley girls
1986 Phil Frerk, St. Louis Park girls
1987 Jack Evens, Bloomington Jefferson
1988 Bob Brink, Rocori
1989 Len Olson, Owatonna over Dave Thorpe, Osseo girls

1990 Myron Glass, Rochester Lourdes girls
1991 Len Horyza, Cretin-Derham Hall
1992 Len Horyza, Cretin-Derham Hall over Dave Tank, Anoka
1993 Terry Hunst, Bloomington Jefferson girls
1994 Louis Boone, Mpls. Washburn
1995 Lynn Peterson, Staples-Motley
1996 Nikki Scholl, Hastings girls
1997 Mike Dreier, New London-Spicer girls
1998 Faith Johnson Patterson, Mpls. North girls
1999 Ziggy Kauls, Mounds View

2000 Lawrence McKenzie, Mpls. Patrick Henry over John Carlson, Litchfield
2001 Terry Culhane, Marshall
2002 Lawrence McKenzie, Mpls. Patrick Henry over Andy Berkvam, Lakeville girls
2003 Brett McNeal, Mpls. North
2004 Bob Vaughan, Braham over Brian Cosgriff, Hopkins girls
2005 Myron Glass, Rochester Lourdes girls over Percy Wade, Bloomington Kennedy girls
2006 Tom Vix, Rushford-Peterson
2007 Nicholas Guida, Buffalo
2008 Shannon Hartinger, Totino-Grace girls
2009 David Smart, Ada-Borup girls

2010 Vernon Simmons, St. Paul Johnson
2011 Dave Cresap, Perham

Mythical Mr. Basketball 1970-1974

Mostly easy choices, even 1970 though Krebs is not remembered much today.

1970 Stan Krebs, Eveleth

Jeff McCarron, Sherburn

Tom Mulso, Sherburn

Mike Peroutka, Faribault Bethlehem

Dennis Riley, Robbinsdale

1971 Kurt Knoff, East Grand Forks

Scott McDonald, Two Harbors

Como Pontliana, Duluth Central

Emanual Rogers, Mpls. Central

Kim and Ken Van Sickle, Welcome

1972 Mark Lindahl, Duluth East

Larry Mulder, Renville

Jeff Nessler, St. James

Jim Riles, Austin

Kevin Smith, Mpls. North

1973 Brad Akason, St. Cloud Apollo

Keil Anderson, Preston

Tim Casey, Chisholm

Warner Huss, Osseo

Mark Landsberger, Mounds View

1974 Brian Denman, Richfield

Mark Olberding, Melrose

Mike Vesel, Tower-Soudan

Jack Vogel, Bemidji

Randy Williams, Mpls. Washburn

Mythical Mr. Basketball The 1960s

Mostly pretty easy choices except for 1964 and 1967.

1960 Sid Bostic, Pipestone

Bill Davis, Richfield

Ron Hanson, Thief River Falls

Merle McClung, Montevideo

Clayton Reed, Austin

1961 Bob Dropp, Chisholm

Terry Kunze, Duluth Central

Dave Nelson, Mpls. Roosevelt

Mike Patterson, Mahtomedi

Dean Veenhof, Edgerton

1962 Bruce Ackland, St. Louis Park

Bob Bruggers, Danube

Herb Hasz, Ada

Joe Mucha, Montgomery

Chuck Wobbrock, Medford

1963 Dick Braun, Rothsay

Bobby Kelly, Bloomington

Greg Lens, Marshall Central Catholic

Dave Meisner, Cloquet

Alan Redman, Wells

1964 Bryan Grohnke, Edina

Bob Laney, Proctor

Larry Mikan, Benilde

Terry Porter, Marshall

Greg Thone, Luverne

Best class of the decade but only Mikan among the 5 went D1.

1965 Dave Daugherty, Rochester John Marshall

LeRoy Gardner, St. Paul Central

Del Jessen, Luverne

Dave Lobb, Austin Pacelli

Tom Weaver, Faribault

1966 Steve Gagnon, Waverly St. Mary’s

Carl Johnson, Balaton

Marty Jorgenson, Worthington

Bob and Dick Peterson, Henning

Steve Strandemo, Kenyon

1967 Steve Fritz, Rochester Lourdes

Jim Hill, St. Paul Central

Joe Keenan, Mankato Loyola

Tom Masterson, Walnut Grove

Kurt Shellhas, Edina

This could go any which way. I could make a case for any one of the 5. Fritz would be #2. Keenan is underrated. I was shocked to learn that Hill never led the St. Paul City in scoring.

1968 Vic Moore, Montgomery

Mike Poepping, Pierz Memorial

Phil Rogers, St. Paul Central

Rick Webb, Alexander Ramsey

Bob Zender, Edina

1969 Dennis Fitzpatrick, St. Thomas

Bill Gross, Hayfield

Dan Halvorsen, Owatonna

Rolf Iverson, Waseca

Tony Jenkins, Shattuck

Lew Rickert, Duluth East

A big year in southeastern MN and of course Rochester John Marshall won it all. I have no idea who was the best player in the SE which is how it ends up with Rickert. Gross or Halvorsen would be a good choice and Jenkins was the only one who went D1.

Mythical Mr. Basketball 1950s

1950 Charles “Buzz” Bennett, Duluth Central
Pete Castle, Anoka
Don Dale, Robbinsdale
Ron Dreas, Winona Cotter
Irwin St. John, Bemidjji

1951 Gene Auck, St. Paul Monroe
Burdette “Burdie” Halldorson, Austin
John Horan, St. Thomas Academy
Bill Simonovich, Gilbert
Jim Smith, Brainerd

What a class! The 6-10 Simonovich outscored Halldorson 35-4 in the state tournament and went on to play at the U. Halldorson played for Colorado and had a productive post-college career. Horan played for Dayton U and the Minneapolis Lakers.

1952 Jim Akason, Halstad
Vern Bagenstoss, Albany
Maynard Meyers, Mountain Lake
Ervin Mickelson, Canby
Don and Doyle Rasmussen, Austin

1953 Jerry Dreier, St. Paul Marshall
Leroy German, Madelia
Omar Larson, Granite Falls
Bernie Raetz, Red Wing
Dave Tschimperle, Hopkins

1954 Bob Anderstrom, Willmar
Warren Jeppeson, St. Louis Park
Art Johnson, Thief River Falls
Rod Skoog, Brainerd
Norris Stenson, Starbuck

1955 Charles Benson, Roseau
Harold Bergstedt, Esko
Jim Colosimo, Eveleth
Jerry Olson, Austin
Dick Peterson, Ortonville

1956 Larry Exel, Mpls. Roosevelt
Lee Hopfenspirger, Morgan
Ron Johnson, New Prague
Jerry Olson, Glenwood
Virgil Sonju, Kennedy

1957 Dick Erickson, Anoka
Jon Hagen, Belview
Paul Lehman, DeLaSalle
Tom Nordland, Mpls. Roosevelt
Cal Sabatini, Hibbing

Another super class but now its the jump shooters and guards. Hagen broke Ron Johnson's record for career points. Lehman played at the U. Nordland was widely regarded as the best jumper shooter ever.

1958 Ray Cronk, Bemidji
Norm Grow, Foley
Orris Jirele, Austin Pacelli
Steve Malmar, Red Wing
Bill Mattson, Virginia

Grow finished up as the all-time leading scorer and rebounder in Minnesota. Cronk and Grow played at the U, Jirele was point guard for St. Bonaventure when the Bonnies were rated as high as #3 in the nation in 1961. Malmar was more of a football QB, Mattson played hoops at UMD.

1959 David Erickson, Duluth Cathedral
Tom Kezar, Austin
Dick Longworth, Mora
Dick Peik, Brownton
Dick Reidberger, Hawley

Mythical Mr. Basketball 1940s

For the 1940s, I've got 5 candidates for most years. Mythical Mr. Basketball is again the fellow in boldface type.

1940 Orlando Bonicelli, Chisholm

Ray Cimbura, Breckenridge

Tony Jaros, Mpls. Edison

Donald “Red” Mattson, Mpls. Marshall

Howie Schultz, St. Paul Central

This was a monstrous class. Jaros was among the best ever to that time. Schultz of course played for the Brooklyn Dodgers, not to mention the Hamline basketball team. Mattson played at the U. Cimbura led his team, improbably, to the state title this year. If they played it 10 times, Mpls. Marshall wins 5.

1941 “Big Bill” Ekberg, Mpls. Marshall

Kleggie Hermsen, Mpls. Vocational

Jim Lewison, Owatonna

Dave Ruliffson, Mpls. Washburn

Junior “Spike” Skoglund, Hopkins

Kids are getting taller. Lewison was 6-8, Ekberg was "Big" (his nickname), Hermsen was "big" and played at the U. Ruliffson was not big and played at the U. Skoglund was in between and played at Gustavus.

1942 Jack Hiller, Marshall

Jack Johnson, St. Paul Mechanic Arts

Ed Nylund, Buhl

Wally Salovich, Mpls. Marshall

If there's a 5th wheel it's Nylund's teammate John Klarich. Buhl was the 2nd team to win back-to-back state titles. Salovich played at the U.

1943 Tom Corrigan, Bemidji

Hal Haskins, Alexandria

Dick Kaess, St. Paul Washington

Bill Madden, Cretin

Stewart Skoglund, Hopkins

Haskins became an all-American at Hamline, but Kaess and Washington demolished his team at the state tournament. Skoglund joined his brother at Gustavus.

1944 Ed Jacobson, Crosby-Ironton

Bob Leiviska, Virginia

Duane Nelson, Mankato

A down year for this decade, but Leiviska played at Hamline.

1945 Jim Korth, Mankato Loyola

Jim McIntyre, Mpls. Henry

Vern Mikkelson, Askov

McIntyre became an all-American at the U but it was Mikkelson who had the Hall of Fame career in the NBA.

1946 Don Avikainen, Tower-Soudan

Don Gruber, New Ulm Holy Trinity

Jim Malosky, Crosby-Ironton

Dick Ravenhorst, Austin

C-I was rated #1 in the state coming into the state tournament but Austin was the champ.

1947 Dave Hegna, Granite Falls

Herb Mickelson, Canby

Rudy Monson, Duluth Denfeld

Ray Wall, Mountain Lake

Monson was an easy choice.

1948 Chuck Grover, Bemidji

Lawrence Krause, Waseca

Virgil Miller, Hopkins

A tough choice this year.

1949 “Shorty” Cochrane, Rochester

Neil Fedson, Lyle

Don Frye, Cotton

Jim Fritsche, St. Paul Humboldt

Milan Knezovich, Hibbing

The toughest choice ever. Fritsche led the St. Paul Conference in scoring twice and led Humboldt to the state title in '49. And Mpls. Central beat Hibbing 37-34 in the 1st round, then lost to Humboldt 53-47 in the semi. Still, Knezovich was the state's all-time leading scorer at the end of the season with more than 1,400 points.

Mythical Mr. Basketball 1930s

For the 1930s I've picked 3 finalists. The Mythical Mr. Basketball is in boldface.

1930 James Delmont, St. Paul Mechanic Arts

Don Laidlaw, Redwood Falls

Earl Moran, Moorhead

1931 Joe Malkovich, Chisholm

Wilbur “Bud” Marquard, Moorhead

Chester Thompson, Buffalo

1932 O.J. Belluzzo, Chisholm

George “Stinky” Davies, Winona

Joe Perpich, Crosby-Ironton

1933 Don Griffin, Mpls. North

Everett Hanson, Mountain Lake

Art Lillyblad, Red Wing

1934 Gordon Burich, Chisholm

Wendell “Buzzy” Gray, Cass Lake

Marty Rolek, Mpls. Edison

1935 George Lindner, Glencoe

Ken Skyberg, Luverne

Marvin Vernstrom, St. Paul Humboldt

1936 Myrvin DeLapp, Luverne

Johnny Dick, Buhl

Norm Galloway, Bemidji

1937 John Barger, Farmington

John Frahm, Tri-Mont

Willie Warhol, Mpls. Edison

1938 Clark Mickelson, Thief River Falls

John Norlander, Virginia

Nick Pepelnjak, Virginia

1939 Louis Bozich, Gilbert

Ruben Epp, Mountain Lake

Nick Vujovick, North St. Paul

Mythical Mr. Basketball 1900-1929

The Minnesota Mr. Basketball award began in 1974. Who would have or should have won it prior to 1974? Here are my choices.

1901--George Tuck, St. Paul Central

1911--"Slip" Little, Madison

1913--"Bunk" Harris, Duluth Central

1914--Harold Gillen, Stillwater

1915--Raymond Hanson, Red Wing

1916--William Rooney, Virginia

1917-- Fred Enke, Rochester

1918--Albert Tousley, St. Paul Humboldt

1919--Carl Nordly, Red Wing

1920--Frank Cleve, Mpls. South

1921--Martin Norton, Mpls. Central

1922--Clarence Martin, Duluth Cathedral

1923--Matthew Turk, Aurora

1924--Mally Nydahl, Mpls. South

1925--Ted Catlin, Buffalo

1926--Bennie Lichtenegger, Gaylord

1927--Harold Schoening, Appleton

1928--Cliff Halmrast, Moorhead

1929--Steve Smerkar, Ely

More to come.