Concordia Sports - The First 100 Years by Finn Grinaker

"Concordia Men's Sports - The First One Hundred Years"
by Vernon Finn Grinaker
| Return to Index | Chapter 1 | 1903-1921 | 20's | 30's | 40's | 50's | 60' | 70's | 80's | 90's |
Chapter 9-- The 80's The Eighties - a Decade of Excellence

| 1980-1981 | 1981-1982 | 1982-1983 | 1983-1984 | 1984-1985 | 1985-1986 | 1986-1987 | 1987-1988 | 1988-1989 | 1989-1990 |

It has always been a difficult job to recruit outstanding athletes to a private college. As the cost gap widens between public and private colleges, the task becomes more of a challenge.

Concordia is located in a fairly thinly populated area with a large number of colleges and universities competing for athletes. Many of these colleges are Division II schools that offer athletic scholarships. The competition is keen. Even the smaller colleges in North Dakota are actively involved in the recruiting process.

As the Concordia sports program ends its first one hundred years and enters into the next century, the recruitment of student athletes will have to be intensified in order for the college to compete with other schools in the area.

1980 Football

An exciting opener to the decade of the eighties was the conference championship won by Jim Christopherson’s football team. After two years of sharing the title, the Cobbers won it outright with a 7 - 1 conference record and 8 - 2 overall record. Many honors followed the conference title. Jim Christopherson was named MIAC Coach of the Year, based on this season’s performance and his 85 - 31 - 1 record after eleven seasons. Six members of the team received All-Conference recognition: seniors Bart Bridwell, Mark Heysse, Jon Dahl, Ralph Halvorson, and Jeff Holter and junior Dave Rosengren. Captains were Mike Zigler and Ralph Halvorson.

The season’s results were:
Concordia 30 UW - Eau Claire 7
Concordia 0 Moorhead State 26
Concordia 34 Hamline 8
Concordia 31 Macalester 0
Concordia 49 Bethel 3
Concordia 14 St. Thomas 26
Concordia 19 St. John’s 0
Concordia 10 Augsburg 0
Concordia 16 St. Olaf 6
Concordia 23 Gustavus 22

The conference race ended up:
Concordia 7 - 1
Gustavus 6 - 2
St. John’s 5 - 3
Hamline 5 - 3
St. Olaf 4 - 4
Augsburg 4 - 4
St. Thomas 2 - 5 - 1
Bethel 2 - 6
Macalester 0 - 7 - 1

On the roster were Mark Thompson, Ron Rasmus, Jeff Holter, Craig Samuelson, Chuck Zigler, Steve Lingo, Dave Anderson, Jeff Canakes, Brad Rasmus, Randy Jorgenson, Dick Egeberg, Dan Olson, Steve Holm, Kevin Haugstad, Mark Bruns, Ron Sannes, Greg Richardson, Anthony Simpson, Brad Grorud, Chuck Butenhoff, Craig Simmons, Nelson Rotto, Jim Klug, Mark Wanner, Terry Sandven, Steve Weber, Kevin Arndt, Mark Redemske, John Solheim, Dave Rosengren, Rich Lorenz, Jay Weyers, Ralph Halvorson, Dave Borchard, Steve Jungers, Cal Stenso, Chuck Brown, John Lageson, Brad Peterson, Greg Brolsma, Brian Kirkhorn, Mike Bursack, John Burns, Mike Youso, Mark Larson, Roger Lindahl, Earl Mergens, Pete Hennum, Bruce Rimmereid, Clay Bezenek, Judd LaRowe, Dave Schwartz, John Teeling, Lyle Eidelbes, Gary Gilbert, Mark Tommerdahl, Doug McMillan, Brad Lindberg, Dwight Hintermeister, Bart Bridwell, Kris Lahren, Dave Jones, Mark Heysse, Bob Vangerud, Steve Lahti, Mark Ekman, Mike Zigler, Pete Simonson, Doug Bergland, Jeff Benson, Dave Roen, Mitch Hofstedt, Craig Brandeen, Jon Dahl, and Joe Gotta.

An article appeared in the Concordian concerning unethical practices in big-time athletics:

Altering academic transcripts, granting false course credits, unethical recruiting tactics and other similar activities involving college sports have been comint into the light recently. Among the offenders are UCLA, U of Southern Californig and other various college, There are three other schools who are involved in similar misdealings in the Pacific-10 Conference which USC and UCLA are a part of.
Physical Education Chairperson Armin Pipho feels these incidents give athletics in general a black eye and it’s unfortunate to have happened. Football coach Jim Christopherson finds it hard to believe these extreme situations are so prevalent. “If we suggested anything like that at Concordia College, we would be run out.

One factor which helps the Division I NCAA schools recruit is that they can offer scholarships to prospective athletes. Many of these athletes are lured by the amount of money they receive plus the possibility of being scouted and drafted by the pros. These universities appear to look for the athlete and don’t take the academic part of the student’s life as seriously.

Concordia cannot give out athletic scholarships because of NCAA Division III requirements. Athletes have to go through the same financial aid process as everyone else.

A school that gives athletic scholarships can get more numbers to come out of their program. That is an advantage, but “because of Concordia College’s quality, we can get some good athletes,” according to Pipho.

Many athletes don’t get any financial aid because of their family’s earnings. Football players give up two weeks in August for preseason practice and they could earn $300 - $400 in that time, according to Jim Christopherson. Another example he mentioned were the track and baseball athletes. Their season continues after school is out, so they miss out on early job hunting. “Not many people realize the sacrifice an athlete has to make,” said Christopherson.

Coach Christopherson states the following as his recruiting philosophy: a student who is qualified academically, a student interested in our kind of college and a student who is NOT looking for a free ride. “I feel fortunate with 30 or 40 freshmen out for football as freshmen stick with it until they graduate,” according to Christopherson. Since retention is high, “this tells us the boys enjoy football.” Those who don’t stay, go into other sports, a few transfer, and some drop out.

1980 Cross Country

Paul Fredrickson was coach of the 1980 cross country team which included Craig Rothfusz, Kevin Benson, Mike Ginder, Kevin Johnson, Mark Larson, Rick Brandl, Brian Brinkman, Steve Danielson, and Greg O’Brian. Rick Brandl was Concordia’s top cross country runner, turning in an impressive season of meet wins and shaved times. He competed at the NCAA Division III regional meet but had to drop out after 80% of the course because he had pushed too hard.

Meet results were:
St. John’s Invitational: 6th place
Bemidji State Invitational: 6th place
NDSSS Invitational: 2nd place
Moorhead State Invitational: 5th place
MIAC Conference Meet: 5th place
NCAA III Regional Meet: 21st place

John Eidsness coached the 1980 - 1981 Cobber basketball team to a 9 - 15 record overall and an 8 - 10 record in the MIAC. Assistant coach was Duane Siverson and Junior Varsity Coach was Sonny Gulsvig. Team leaders were Andrew Askegaard and Claude Oppegard. Askegaard led the team in both scoring and rebounding, was voted the 1981 Cobber Most Valuable Player and earned a spot on the All-Conference team. Oppegard, the team’s only senior was voted the honorary captain and the most inspirational player. Greg Strand earned honorable mention to the 11-man All-Conference team.

The basketball team included Greg Strand, Steve Knutson, Dale Moe, Brad Willis, Chad Sheets, Mark Streed, Paul Dahlgren, Jim Knutson, Jon Eide, Claude Oppegard, Andy Askegaard, Kenny Nelson, and Kyle Hansen.

Scores for the season were:
Concordia 89 Alumni 86
Concordia 79 U of Manitoba 97
Concordia 78 Mayville State 83
Concordia 79 Moorhead State 81
Concordia 85 NDSU   89
Concordia 88 Hamline 77
Concordia    Augsburg
Concordia 105 St. Scholastica 72
Concordia 59 Valley City State 84
Concordia 51 St. Olaf 56
Concordia 68 St. Thomas 72
Concordia 67 St. John’s 66
Concordia 58 Gustavus 66
Concordia 90 Moorhead State 107
Concordia 79 Bethel   80
Concordia 55 Macalester 67
Concordia 72 Hamline 59
Concordia 65 Augsburg 70
Concordia 68 St. Mary’s 74
Concordia 80 St. Olaf 57
Concordia 67 St. Thomas 73
Concordia 72 St. John’s 66
Concordia 75 Gustavus 78
Concordia 75 Bethel   79
Concordia 84 St. Mary’s 70
Concordia 57 Macalester 64

Results in the conference were:
Macalester 13 - 5
St. Thomas 13 - 5
St. John’s 11 - 7
Gustavus 11 - 7
Hamline 9 - 9
Augsburg 8 - 10
Bethel 8 - 10
Concordia 7 - 11
St. Mary’s 7 - 11
St. Olaf 3 - 15

1980-81 Wrestling

Finishing third as a team in MIAC competition, the 1980 - 1981 Cobber wrestling team boasted an individual champion in heavyweight Malcolm “Molly” McLeod. McLeod went on to gain All-American status for his second year in a row. Placing seventh, upsetting the top-seeded wrestler, McLeod won three of his five matches in the national tournament.

Wrestlers were Chuck Collins, Larry Feldt, Phil Bungum, Craig Rothfusz, Steve Leonhardi, Rick Balow, Craig Peterson, Leif Wallin, Wade Christensen, Doug Soderman, Erik Peters, Bob Mlynar, John Butenhoff, Murdick McLeod, Dewey Kilbo, Craig Austinson, Gary Raedeke, and Molly McLeod. Finn Grinaker coached the team.

Dual meet scores were:
Concordia 33 Valley City State 9
Concordia 0 NDSU   44
Concordia 15 St. John’s 25
Concordia 24 Gustavus 23
Concordia 16 UND   24
Concordia 9 Bemidji State 38
Concordia 17 Augsburg 32
Concordia 33 Hamline 4
Concordia 21 Moorhead State 30
Concordia 42 St. Olaf 3
Concordia 6 St. Thomas 35
Concordia 44 St. Mary’s 5
Concordia 37 Bethel   10

Tournament results were:
St. Cloud State Invitational: 13th place out of 16 teams
North Country Tournament: 3rd place out of 10 teams (Larry Feldt, 1st)
All-Lutheran Tournament: 6th place out of 7 teams (Molly McLeod, 1st)
MIAC Conference Meet: 3rd place out of 9 teams (Molly McLeod, 1st)

1980-81 Hockey

Al Rice’s 1980 - 1981 Concordia hockey team ended the season as MIAC co-champions with Augsburg, with identical 12 - 4 records. Their overall season record as 21 - 9 - 1, the best record in the history of the school. The Cobbers defeated St. Cloud State in a two-game total goals playoffs to advance to the national NCAA Division III meet where they lost two games. Three Cobber skaters were named to the All-Conference team — Kevin Johnson, Steve Baumgartner, and Lonnie Vatnsdal.

Players were Mark Vatnsdal, Tom Fisher, Brian Vatnsdal, Jamie Ross, Andy Odegaard, Tom Samuelson, Steve Baumgartner, Paul Bjorklund, Mark Jordahl, Lonnie Vatnsdal, Mike Pitsenbarger, Gary Tolkinen, John Latterell, Steve Geatz, Brad Howard, Dave Noah, Jeff Goos, Tom Bruce, Chip Ammerman, David Larson, Kevin Johnson, John Harlander, Mark Hedstrom, and Steve Little.

Hockey scores were:
Concordia 4 St. Cloud State 3
Concordia 3 St. Scholastica 3
Concordia 5 St. Scholastica 4
Concordia 3 St. John’s 5
Concordia 7 Bethel   2
Concordia 6 St. Mary’s 5
Concordia 4 UA - Anchorage 3
Concordia 8 UA - Anchorage 1
Concordia 5 UA - Fairbanks 2
Concordia 4 UA - Fairbanks 0
Concordia 6 Bethel   8
Concordia 4 Bethel   6
Concordia 4 St. Olaf 3
Concordia 6 St. Olaf 2
Concordia 4 St. Cloud State 2
Concordia 9 St. Mary’s 6
Concordia 6 St. Mary’s 5
Concordia 5 Hamline 2
Concordia 4 Hamline 7
Concordia 6 St. John’s 3
Concordia 7 St. Thomas 4
Concordia 2 St. Thomas 0
Concordia 1 Augsburg 2
Concordia 8 Augsburg 5
Concordia 6 Gustavus 5
Concordia 8 Gustavus 3
Concordia 4 St. Cloud State 5
Concordia 5 St. Cloud State 2
Concordia 4 Plattsburg 10
Concordia 7 Mankato State 9

Conference standings in the MIAC were:
Augsburg 12 - 4
Concordia 12 - 4
Gustavus 11 - 5
St. Thomas 9 - 7
Hamline 7 - 8
St. Mary’s 8 - 8
St. Olaf 7 - 7 - 1
Bethel 3 - 12 - 1
St. John’s 0 - 14 - 2

1981 Baseball

The 1981 baseball team compiled a 19 - 21 - 1 overall record, finishing 11 - 7 in the MIAC for fourth place. Bucky Burgau’s team set an all-time record for most wins in a season with the best pitching staff in the league. Two Cobbers were named to the all-conference squad — pitcher Howard Berglund and shortstop Mark Redemski. Pitcher Dan Schroeder was voted the team most valuable player by his teammates. Sonny Gulsvig served as assistant coach.

The baseball roster included Howard Kangas, Jeff Huguelet, Brett Ulrich, Dave Schroeder, Brian Howland, Bryon Novotny, Dan Olson, Mark Redemski, Bob Schepper, Steve Anderson, Jon Ahrndt, Gary Gilbert, Greg Schmid, Dan Schroeder, Will Stearns, Howard Berglund, John Kost, Ron Sannes, Chad Sheets, and Craig Simmons.

Scores for baseball were:
Concordia 11 Marymount College 7
Concordia 3 Marymount College 2
Concordia 18 Friends University 1
Concordia 4 Friends University 1
Concordia 5 Kearney State 15
Concordia 5 Kearney State 12
Concordia 14 Augustana 0
Concordia 13 Augustana 6
Concordia 6 Minot State 14
Concordia 5 Minot State 2
Concordia 7 Augsburg 2
Concordia 7 Augsburg 6
Concordia 5 Bethel   4
Concordia 9 Bethel   1
Concordia 8 Valley City State 10
Concordia 11 Valley City State 11
Concordia 0 Gustavus 6
Concordia 3 Gustavus 2
Concordia 7 St. Olaf 0
Concordia 2 St. Olaf 1
Concordia 4 St. Thomas 14
Concordia 1 St. Thomas 2
Concordia 4 St. John’s 2
Concordia 1 St. John’s 6
Concordia 6 St. Mary’s 1
Concordia 1 St. Mary’s 2
Concordia 5 Hamline 7
Concordia 2 Hamline 1
Concordia 14 Moorhead State 8
Concordia 7 NDSU   10
Concordia 7 Macalester 0
Concordia 3 Macalester 4

1981 Track

The 1981 track team began fresh under a new coach, Jim Fischer. Although losing two valuable athletes from last year’s team, they still managed a first in the Concordia Triangular, beating U Minnesota - Morris and Bismarck College. Dave Klug was the assistant coach.

Results for the season were:
Intercity Indoor: 3rd place out of 3 teams
Concordia Quadrangular: 3rd place out of 4 teams
Concordia Triangular: 1st place out of 3 teams
MSU Dual Meet: 2nd place
NDSSS Quadrangular: 3rd place out of 4 teams
Northern Invitational: 4th place out of 10 teams
Al Cassell Relays: 5th place out of 8 teams
MIAC Conference Meet: 8th place out of 9 teams

Trackmen were Kevin Johnson, David Vik, Brad Bateman, Blair McNoa, Clay Loeffler, Paul Kjer, Donn Nelson, Joel Dahl, Captain Mark Bruns, Bryan Brinkman, Kein Benson, Nelson Rotto, Barry Lundeen, Mark Rask, Buzz Dahl, Dan Sheridan, Don Hanson, Captain Craig Dresser, Dave Jones, Godwin Gegbefia, Mike Ginder, Eric Lund, Brian Kirkhorn, Mark Larson, Rick Brandl, Dave Rosengren, Pete Seljevold, Kris Lahren, Chuck Brown, Kory Cease, Mark Dale, Steve Danielson, Greg Enerson, Jim Grorud, John Hanson, Kevin Haugstad, Dan Johnson, Mike Pederson, Jay Peloquin, Lyle Peterson, and Craig Rothfusz.

1980-81 Golf

Highlighting the men’s 1981 golf season was the conference meet at the Roseville Midland Hills course. There the team took second place, only two strokes behind the champs, St. Thomas. The team also finished first in the Concordia Invitational Meet. John Eidsness replaced Finn Grinaker as golf coach. Those on the team were James Ross, Dan Rasmus, Tim Tingelstad, Brad Norr, Scott Steinbach, Jeff Goihl, and Jeff Linden.

Results were:
Southern Minnesota Invitational: 3rd place
Northern MN Invitational: 3rd place
All-City Meet: 2nd place
Concordia Invitational: 1st place
Bemidji Invitational: 2nd place
MIAC Conference Meet: 2nd place
NAIA District 13 Meet: 9th place

1981 Tennis

The 1981 tennis team, under Coach Bob Nick, won 6 and lost 11. They finished in fourth place in the MIAC which was won by the Gustavus squad. On the team were Pete Simonson, Jim Bischoff, Al Cedergren, Mark Jordahl, Dave Eidsmoe, Andy Odegaard, and John Peterson.

Meet scores were:
Concordia 0 UND   9
Concordia 4 NDSU   5
Concordia 6 Moorhead State 3
Concordia 0 St. Thomas 9
Concordia 2 Northern 7
Concordia 8 Augsburg 1
Concordia 9 Eau Claire 0
Concordia 9 Gustavus 0
Concordia 5 Moorhead State 4
Concordia 2 St. John’s 7
Concordia 7 Bethel   2
Concordia 1 St. Olaf 8
Concordia 4 St. Mary’s 5
Concordia 3 UND   6
Concordia 4 NDSU   5
Concordia 5 Hamline 4
Concordia 8 Valley City 1

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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.