A throwback to yesterday in local wrestling history.
The following is a list of the first three head wrestling coaches at Brooten High School, from 1971 to 1983. I found it while browsing over The Guillotine (MN-based) amateur wrestling website.
The link is theGuillotine.com.
In preceding order:
Jerry Huls, Brooten, 42-6, 87.5% (Retired 1983)
Keith Krebsbach, Brooten, 40-6, 86.95% (Retired 1979)
Don Larson, Brooten, 37-17-1, 67.27% (Retired 1975)
Cumulative, the Brooten Buccaneers wrestling program was an eye-popping 119-29-1 overall from 1971 through 1983, when Huls moved to St.Cloud.
From 1983 to 1988, Joe Traen led the Buccaneers on the wrestling mats before the pairing with Belgrade-Elrosa took place for the 1988-1989 season.
Traen's best season came in 1984-1985, when they won the District 20 championship and advanced to Region 5A. The 1987-1988 squad was loaded with junior high talent that lost their first four varsity matches, then rebounded to finish 6-5-1 overall in dual meets. That season capped a nearly two-decade stretch where the Brooten Buccaneers never had a losing season in dual meets.
Not only that, but according to conversations I've had with Bud Heidgerken, the Buccaneers won 12 Prairie Conference championships in a row, from 1975 through 1987.
In fact, their "poorest" seasons came in the first and last seasons. The first edition of the Buccaneers wrestling team went .500 (5-5) in dual meets, with the last team finishing one win above .500.
Not bad for a tiny school district on the west central Minnesota prairies.