Concordia Sports - The First 100 Years by Finn Grinaker

by Vernon Finn Grinaker
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Chapter 5 -- The War Years

1940-1941 | 1941-1942 | 1942-1943 | 1943-1944 | 1944-1945 | 1945-1946 | 1946-1947 | 1947-1948 | 1948-1949 | 1949-1950 | Looking Back -- The War Years |

The 1942 football team, with Jake Christiansen at the helm, were the conference champs, sharing first place honors with St. Thomas. For the first time in the history of Concordia football, the team was undefeated. Their MIAC record was 3 - 0 - 1 with a 6 - 0 - 1 record overall. Captains of the team were Buel Brodin and Mag Lutness. Named to the All-Conference first team were Buel Brodin, Mag Lutness and Charles Beck. Ray Grande and Robert Carriere earned second team honors while Warren Johnson received honorable mention honors.

Season results were as follows:
Concordia 7 NDAC 6
Concordia 19 MSTC 0
Concordia 7 St. Olaf 6
Concordia 46 Wahpeton Science 0
Concordia 19 Augsburg 6
Concordia 26 Hamline 13
Concordia 14 St. John's 14

On the starting lineup were:

Charles Beck LE Richard Dale RE
Mike Johnson LT Ed Haller RT
Bob Carriere LG Warren Johnson RG
Jim Solum C Desmond Jerde QB
Mag Lutness HB Ray Grande HB
Buel Brodin FB

The conference champions lost five seniors from the squad of 36 men. Also on the roster were Luther Hegland, Arne Qvallen, Luther Strand, Ralph Hvidsten, Henry Reitan, Adler Strandquist, Clarence Modin, Ivan Hanson, Mert Olson, Evan Salveson, Harry Solberg, Bob Salveson, and Waldo Jerde.

Craig Hertsgaard, Basketball, Baseball 1939-1943

Coach Jake Christiansen led the 1942-1943 basketball team to an 11-8 overall record, placing third in the MIAC with a 5 - 3 record. Eight lettermen formed the nucleus of the team. Three were seniors and the remainder of the team could be lost to the armed services at any time. On the team were Ray Grande, Hartvick Strand, Charlie Beck, Buel Brodin, Bob Carriere, Craig Hertsgaard, Luther Hegland, Sig Bjertness, George Norlin, Adler Strandquist, Henry Reitan, Winfield Hefty, Finn Grinaker, Mike Johnson and Bill Mattke.

The season's results were:

Concordia 37 NDAC 26
Concordia 45 Mayville State 33
Concordia 36 Bemidji State 25
Concordia 42 MSTC 31
Concordia 39 UND 49
Concordia 43 Gustavus 41
Concordia 29 MSTC 38
Concordia 46 St. John's 41
Concordia 37 Augsburg 44
Concordia 28 Hamline 40
Concordia 49 Mayville State 24
Concordia 32 Bemidji State 33
Concordia 29 UND 37
Concordia 46 NDAC 44
Concordia 38 St. Olaf 33
Concordia 42 Macalester 48
Concordia 45 Gustavus 41
Concordia 41 MSTC 44
Concordia 50 St. John's 45

At the conclusion of the season, Raymond Grande was named to the second team All-Conference.

In February of 1943 the MIAC Conference was reported ready to disband for the remainder of the war. Competition was becoming more difficult because of the transportation problems and because more and more athletes were being called into the service causing a shortage of players.⁽⁹⁾

The 1943 baseball roster included Dewey Lele, Art Halglrimson, Reid Seastrand, Rolf Espeseth, Craig Hersgaard, Buel Brodin, Captain Dick Dale, Charlie Beck, George Norlin, Adler Strandquist, Lane Eastby, Orville Schoesser, Jens Bale, Winfield Hefty, Willard Johnson, Ralph Hvidsten, Hartvick Strand and Warren Johnson. Only scores reported were three games with MSTC:

Concordia 1 MSTC 9

Concordia 9 MSTC 0

Concordia 2 MSTC 6

H. Folmer Hanson, a Fargo insurance agent, inaugurated a tri-college golf meet for the three local schools. NDAC won the team trophy with Concordia's Don Hanson receiving the individual honors.

Chapter 5

2. Concordian, November 28, 1940.
3. Concordian, February 13, 1941.
4. Concordian, May 8, 1941.
5. Concordian, May 15, 1941.
6. Concordian, March 5, 1942.
7. Concordian, November 13, 1941.
8. Concordian, May 14, 1942.
9. Concordian, February 25, 1943.
10. Concordian, May 20, 1944.
11. Concordian, May 24, 1946.
12. Concordian, October 27, 1948.
13. Concordian, November 1, 1948.
14. Concordian, April 1, 1949.
15. Concordian, June 1, 1948.
16. Don Sponheim, Concordian, March 24, 1950.
17.
18. Howard Wagner, Concordian, March 31, 1950.
19. Concordian, March 17, 1950.
20. Concordian, , 1950.

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These pages are maintained by Jerry Pyle - pyle@cord.edu and Finn Grinaker - cgrinaker@juno.com. These pages are copyrighted © and may not be published or reproduced without the express permission of Finn Grinaker.