Bronco HOF inductees to be honored

The nine to be honored at an induction banquet set for the evening of April 21 at the AmericInn include:

• Bronko Nagurski, who played football at the Falls and the University of Minnesota in the 1920s before playing professionally for the Chicago Bears. He has been inducted into both the College Football Hall of Fame and Pro Football Hall of Fame.

• Bronko Nagurski Jr., who was a Falls football player in the early 1950s, including the 1954 state championship team, and also starred in hockey and baseball for FHS. After playing college football at Notre Dame, he played for Hamilton in the CFL.

• Frank Youso, who also played football for the Falls in the early 1950s. After playing college football at the University of Minnesota, he became a pro player for the New York Giants, Minnesota Vikings and Oakland Raiders.

• Jim Crotty, who was another member of Falls’ 1954 state championship football team, and also starred in basketball, baseball and track. After playing college football at Notre Dame, he became a pro player for the Washington Redskins, Buffalo Bills and Calgary Stampeders.

• Tim Sheehy, who was a Bronco hockey player on three state champion teams and another state runner-up team in the 1960s. After playing college hockey at Boston College, he was a co-captain of the 1972 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team that won a silver medal and went on to play for the New England Whalers, Edmonton Oilers and Birmingham Bulls. Sheehy was inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in 1997.

• Dick Dougherty, who played on Falls’ first varsity hockey team in the late 1940s and was on the 1950 state tournament team. He also played college hockey at the University of Minnesota and was on the 1956 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team that won a silver medal. Dougherty was inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in 2003.

• Tony Lynch, who participated in football, basketball and track and field at the Falls, and was a state champion in the low and high hurdles in 1960. He also ran track at Harvard and participated in the 1964 U.S. Olympic Trials.

• Larry Ross, who coached the Bronco boys hockey team for 31 seasons, which included six state championships and 14 state tournament appearances from 1954-1985. He was also Falls’ head golf coach for 33 seasons from 1955-1987 and an assistant football coach for 12 seasons. Ross was inducted in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in 1988.

• Stuart Nordquist, who was Falls’ head football coach for 34 seasons between 1974 and 2008, when the Broncos won 10 conference championships and made eight state tournament appearances. He also coached Falls’ boys basketball team for four seasons and the girls track and field team for six seasons. Nordquist was inducted into the halls of fame of the Minnesota Football Coaches Association in 2001 and the Minnesota High School Coaches Association in 2008.

The first group of inductees for the Bronco Hall of Fame was selected last November by a five-person committee comprised of Falls Athletic Director Don Rolando, Bronco sports booster and math teacher Timm Ringhofer, Nordquist, who is also a Falls School Board member, Bronco Basketball Boosters President Chris Oustad and Tim Wegner.

Though the group involved in setting up the hall of fame, which first began meeting in April of last year, had initially planned to vote on no more than six nominees in the first year and no more than four in subsequent years, the selection committee decided to expand the maximum number of possible inductees in the first year to 10.

The list of nominees included 23 athletes, seven coaches/directors/advisors, one at-large member and four teams.

After the committee members each voted on 10 individuals from the list, they agreed the nine having three or more votes should be inducted into the hall of fame. Lynch received three votes, while the other eight garnered four or five votes.

Forms became available last year for Bronco sports fans to submit the nominations of a player, coach/director/advisor, at-large member or team to the hall of fame in care of Rolando.

He said nominations could continue to be submitted for possible induction in future years, while the nominations previously submitted but not selected among the first nine inductees would be retained for future consideration.

The list of players nominated but not selected includes Howard Arch, Tina Bahr, Bob Bateman, Joe Crotty, Gary Davison, Aldo DeMarchi, Derek Dowty, Amy Erickson, Ann Erickson, Kion Hoffman, Arlys Johnson, Mike Mannausau, Howard Nevanen, Pat O’Brien, Jessie Reed and Elmer Walls.

The other five former coaches/directors/advisors nominated include Kevin Dowty, Wayne Haglund, Frank “Butch” Larson, Jim Rolando and Bruce Schmidt.

Bill Howard, a former longtime recreation director in the Falls, was nominated as an at-large member.

The four teams nominated include the 1954 football team, 1946 football team, 1955 track relay team and the 1987-88 girls basketball team.

HOF idea to reality

Ringhofer said the idea of forming a hall of fame originated from discussions he had with local sports personality Roger Jerome, prior to Jerome’s death in 2010.

“We had too many good athletes out of this area, and we should have a hall of fame,” Ringhofer said. “We started pushing around that whole idea. We always said, ‘We’ll get to it. We’ll get to it.’

“We never got to it before Roger passed away. Over the winter (of 2010-11) it kind of started to bug me a little bit that we hadn’t done anything and that something should be done.”

The group involved in forming FHS’s athletic hall of fame reviewed materials from some other halls of fame in the state to get an idea of what to have in one set up in the Falls.

To help cover start-up costs, such as expenses related to purchasing plaques and holding banquets to honor the inductees, the Falls School Board last summer approved establishing an assigned fund balance for the purpose of receiving charitable contributions for the Bronco Hall of Fame project.

Ringhofer said plaques honoring the first nine inductees have been ordered. The group has been looking into displaying the plaques on the wall area just outside of the FHS gym entrance so that they would have the most visibility.

To prepare for April 21 induction ceremony, the group’s next meeting is tonight at 7:30 in Room 212 at FHS.