Greenbush-Middle River/Badger Approaching 50 Years of Excellence
By Jim Mack
February 16, 2009
The Greenbush-Middle River/Badger wrestling program is proud to
announce that they will be celebrating their 50th year of high school
wrestling history next year on Saturday, February 13th, 2010. The
weekend reunion will include a series of activities to commemorate and
acknowledge the accomplishments and commitments of the many teams and
individuals who have helped build and establish the program into what
it is today. Activities will start at the Greenbush-Middle River High
School with a parade of past and present participants, starting with
the introduction of the 2010 Gator wrestling team. From there, past
teams will be introduced and recognized starting with the most recent
teams and ending with the team from 1960, which was the first team in
the programs history. These team introductions will include wrestlers,
coaches, managers, and cheerleaders alike. The Gator wrestling team
will take the mat that day against neighboring opponent Thief River
Falls at 3:00. Reunion plans include the Junior Varsity starting at
12:00 with the parade planned to follow before the varsity action. A
meal for past and present alumni and fans is planned for after the
match in the school cafeteria. Events will then follow at the Greenbush
Legion for the remainder of the night.
The program first rolled out its mats in the Greenbush High School at
the beginning of the 1959-60 season under the leadership of young
coach, Dale Roth. Coach Roth was hired by Greenbush Principal and
wrestling advocate, Elmer Doran. There was a plan in mind when Doran
came to Greenbush from the military service, and that was to start a
wrestling program. As a member of the Army wrestling team, Doran
brought great knowledge and respect for the sport to the community of
Greenbush. Along with hiring Coach Roth, Doran also pushed for the
purchase of the school’s first wrestling mat as well as organizing the
first competitive schedule in 1960. The Greenbush Tigers got the
program off on the right track in their first dual that year with a
convincing win over Thief River Falls, which is the purpose of the two
teams matching up again for the reunion. It is Doran whose influence 50
years ago built what is now a strong wrestling community in the local
area.
Many more successful years would follow, with many changes taking
place. One of those biggest changes was the hiring of Doug Dahl in
1964. Dahl took the program to what few thought possible at the time.
For good reason, Coach Dahl has engraved his spot in the legacy of the
program and the respect of all who he has influenced. Today, the
beliefs, pride, and hard work that he instilled are still felt and
present in the everyday work of those still involved with the community
and program. Coach Dahl would retire from coaching and teaching after
31 years in 1995, compiling 333 wins as a coach.
For athletic enrollment reasons in sports other then wrestling, the
Greenbush and Badger School Districts were forced to coop for sports in
1990, which brought in the new name and start of the Greenbush/Badger
Bulldogs. Only two years later, Greenbush and neighboring Middle River
consolidated their two school districts, once again forcing the
athletic mascot name to change. The three neighboring towns changed
their name to the Badger/Greenbush-Middle River Gators. For wrestling
only, the abbreviation of G-MR/B has been used to this day, considering
that Greenbush was the only town to have wrestling prior to the coop.
Coach Dahl who was there through each major change had pushed hard for
this change at the conception of the merger.
The wrestling program at G-MR/B has flourished since that 1959-60
season. Individually, they’ve qualified over 152 individuals for the
state tournament. From those individuals, they’ve had 55 wrestlers
place at the state tournament, including 12 State Champions. In there
50 years of existence, there have been only five years where they have
failed to advance an individual out of the section tournament. A major
feat, considering all five of those years were prior to the 1976
season, when Minnesota Wrestling had only a single class system. Not to
mention, at that time only the champion out of Section 8 advanced to
the State Tournament. As well as individually, the program has sent
five teams to the State Tournament, those years being 1986, 1993, 1996,
1998, and 2005. The program has also turned out numerous College
wrestlers at the DI, DII, DIII and JC levels.
1959-60 Greenbush Tigers. First Row: Coach Roth, A. Snare, A.
Bertilrud, B. Pomplun, O. Waage, J. Gonshowrowski, W. Paulsen, M.
Gjovik, W. Klemetson, J. Stolp, Student Manager. Second Row: D. Flaten,
E. Waage, E. Aamodt, R. Eeg, R. Melby, D. Erickson, M. Gonshorowski, V.
Ames, R. Gonshorowski, R. Hedquist.
Today, with an enrollment (9-12) of only 125 students, GMRB’s wrestling
future looks strong for years to come as the elementary program
continues to turn out great youth numbers and talent despite having
much smaller enrollment numbers then its competitors. It’s that talent
pool that will continue to grow and improve up into the high school
ranks which is hoped to eventually bring a State Team Championship home
to GMRB in the sport of wrestling. The strong support and unity as a
whole within the program from coaches, parents, wrestlers, and fans of
all ages has built the Gator program into a model program for Northern
Minnesota. That foundation and philosophy will continue to be a major
factor in the continued future success of the program.
The planning committee for the 50th Reunion would like to extend an
invitation to past Tiger, Bulldog, and Gator wrestlers, coaches,
cheerleaders, managers and fans to attend next year’s celebration. For
more information or questions, please contact Vince Ames or Todd
Bergeron.
Vince Ames
Email: 1vames@gra.midco.net
Phone: (701) 772-5960
Todd Bergeron
Email: TLBergeron@greenbush.k12.mn.us
Phone: (218) 782-2232 ext-235
