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 |

Irv Christenson joined the Concordia faculty as Director of Physical Education in addition to some coaching duties. He had graduated from St. Olaf and previously had taught and worked at several high schools in Iowa and came to Concordia from Fergus Falls.

The football team in 1946, coached by Jake Christiansen, posted a 3 - 3 - 1 overall record, 2 - 2 in the conference for fourth place. Assistant coaches were Irv Christenson, Bob Fritz, Shocky Strand and Bob Carriere. Seventy-five players, led by Captain Clarence Modin, reported for practice that fall. A highlight of the season was a victory over Valparaiso, Jake Christiansen's former team.

The season's results:

Concordia 7 MSTC 7
Concordia 6 NDAC 26
Concordia 0 St. Olaf 20
Concordia 19 Valparaiso University 14
Concordia 25 Augsburg 0
Concordia 6 Gustavus 26
Concordia 19 St. John's 6

Named to the All-Conference second team were Clarence Modin and Charlie Beck.

The starting lineup for the Cobbers was:
Beck LE
M. Johnson RE
Lee LT
Nemzek RT
Modin LG
Dale RG
Salveson C
Euren QB
Thompson HB
Jerde HB
P. Johnson FB

At the end of the season the conference standings were:

Gustavus 6 - 0
St. Olaf 3 - 1
St. Thomas 3 - 1
Concordia 2 - 2
St. John's 2 - 3
St. Mary's 1 - 2
Augsburg 1 - 5
Macalester 0 - 4

On the roster for the 1946-1947 basketball team, coached by Jake Christiansen and captained by Finn Grinaker, were Beck, Applin, L. Hegland, Elton, Melby, Skogerboe, M. Hegland, Mattke, Bohn, Ness, Anderson, Larson and Thorson. This team had a 9 - 15 record, 5 - 7 in the MIAC for fifth place.

Season's scores were:

Concordia 54 Minot State 43

Concordia 44 Wahpeton Science 46

Concordia 51 Mayville State 36

Concordia 33 NDAC 61

Concordia 38 Jamestown 47

Concordia 35 Jamestown 33

Concordia 44 NDAC 39

Concordia 26 Hamline 72

Concordia 23 St. Thomas 61

Concordia 55 Augsburg 41

Concordia 54 St. Mary's 50

Concordia 45 Macalester 55

Concordia 52 Wahpeton Science 48

Concordia 46 Gustavus 61

Concordia 41 Hamline 64

Concordia 42 NDAC 66

Concordia 44 MSTC 45

Concordia 47 Minot State 60

Concordia 34 Jamestown 41

Concordia 34 Macalester 53

Concordia 42 MSTC 50

Concordia 62 St. John's 52

Concordia 55 St. Olaf 47

Conference standings at the end of the season were:

Hamline 11 - 1
Gustavus 8 - 4
St. Thomas 7 - 5
St. John's 7 - 5
Concordia 5 - 7
Macalester 5 - 7
St. Mary's 5 - 7
Augsburg 4 - 8
St. Olaf 2 - 10

Hockey returned to the Concordia sports schedule in 1946 after a long absence. Coach Bob Bain led the team through a five-game schedule. They lost games to the Fargo Flyers, Crookston Aggies and Fargo High School during Fargo's Jack Frost Winter Carnival. In the last two games of the season Concordia defeated Sacred Heart (Shanley) 6 - 1 and Fargo High School 4 - 3 in overtime.

Fargo Flyers L
Crookston Aggies L
Fargo High School L
Sacred Heart W 6-1
Fargo High School W 4-3

Player-coach Bill Mattke greet 47 players to start the 1947 baseball season. Lack of a baseball field and the conflict with spring football were handicaps to be overcome. Prospects included pitchers John Saul, Hal Semingson, Chuck Reed, Willy Swanson, Wes Applin and Dewey Teigen. Infielders included Warren Kersch, Gene Berg, Orrin Eidsmoe, Sonny Gulsvig, Dor Lybeck and Dick Stromme while the outfielders included Herb Solum, Jim Clark, Allan Thompson, Elwood Bohn and Joel Belgum. The team ended the season with a 4 - 5 record:

Concordia 2 NDAC 9
Concordia 21 Mayville State 4
Concordia 1 MSTC 7
Concordia 6 Hawley 1
Concordia 2 Wahpeton Science 3
Concordia 5 MSTC 4
Concordia 3 Mayville State 2
Concordia 2 Wahpeton Science 3
Concordia 0 NDAC 7

Shocky Strand coached the Cobber track team for the 1947 season. The squad was handicapped by the lack of numbers, inadequate facilities and bad weather. Squad members were Luther Hegland, Arvid Skogerboe, Cal Berg, Earl Lee, Martin Hegland, Arnold Viske, Ted Amundson, Duane Bjerke, Byron Anderson, Herman Radig, Bill Johnson and Ivan Camrud.

The Dragon Relays were won by NDAC, with MSTC, second; Concordia, third and Wahpeton Science in fourth place. The Cobbers won fourth place in the UND Invitational. In the Jamestown Invitational which included all the colleges in North Dakota, the Cobbers placed in about the middle of the pack.

The tennis team under new coach Paul J. Christiansen (the choir director) had a very successful season. Don Pederson was the number-one man, followed by Bud Jenson, Lute Hegland and Dick Narum. Martin Hegland and Ralph Rygg were alternates. That spring the team had two victories over NDAC and one over UND. They split with MSTC and were beaten twice by Jamestown College.

The Concordia golfers started the season by beating MSTC. Ozzie Iverson shot 79, the low score of the day. In their second outing they defeated Jamestown College. The next meet with NDAC had the Bison scoring 324 to the Cobber's 334. This was the second loss to the Bison. Jamestown again was the victim as Concordia downed the Jimmies 11 1/2 to 1/2.

The golf team roster included Harold Iverson, Howard Casmey, Arland Elton, Finn Grinaker and Bob Sellberg.

Chapter 5

1.
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.