Ricketts, Jim
The Sioux Falls man was an official in South Dakota for 39 years for football, basketball and baseball. The Ames (Iowa) High and University of Wyoming grad also officiated six years in Colorado and Wyoming before coming to South Dakota. He worked 49 prep football playoff games and four state football finals. He also refereed […]
Robbie, Joe
Born July 7, 1916 in Sisseton. 1935 Sisseton HS grad. Northern State. 1946 USD law degree. Owner of the Miami Dolphins from 1966 until his death in 1990. His friendship with Sioux Falls’ Joe Foss, a former classmate at USD and then commissioner of the American Football League, led to Robbie’s securing a franchise in […]
Rudebusch, Tom
Tom Rudebusch has established himself as one of the most respected and hardest working sports broadcasters in South Dakota history. He began his career at KOTA Radio in Rapid City in 1974. He has been calling games ever since. Rudebusch is well known as the Voice of South Dakota School of Mines & Technology. He […]
Sheeks, Paul
A 1908 Mitchell High and 1913 University of South Dakota grad, Sheeks played two years in the NFL before gaining national fame in the 1920s and ’30s because of the success of the Firestone basketball teams he coached in Akron, Ohio. He helped found the National Basketball League and was named coach of the year […]
Stolze, Craig
Born Oct. 21, 1919 in Sioux City. 1938 (Sioux City) Central HS grad. 1949 USD grad. Stolze is the only person to be named South Dakota Sportswriter of the Year four consecutive years. He was sports editor at the Sioux Falls Argus Leader for 10 years (1953-63). While there, Stolze started the Associated Press basketball […]
Toland, Roger
In a 43-year sportswriting career, all at the Rapid City Journal, Toland was No. 1 when it came to numbers. A graduate of Rapid City High and National College of Business in Rapid City, Toland began working at the Journal in 1964. He retired in 2007. The 43 years is thought to be a state […]
Wahl, Kermit
Born in Columbia, S.D. Played youth baseball in Columbia and Aberdeen. 1946 Indiana University grad. Played pro baseball for 11 seasons, including four-plus years (1944-45, `47, `50-51) in the major leagues with Cincinnati, the Philadelphia Athletics and St. Louis Browns. His best season was 1950, when he hit .257 in 89 games for Philadelphia. His […]
Walseth, R.M. “Bus”
Clear Lake HS. SDSU. In 1937 he was named the first executive secretary of the South Dakota High School Activities Association, a position he held for 35 years. Before that, he coached at Barnard, Leola and Ipswich. When he retired in 1971, he had devoted 50 years to high school athletics as a coach and […]
James, Milo
Milo James Wepking graduated from Avon High School in 1940 and earned his bachelor’s degree from Southern State Teacher’s College in 1951. He later obtained a master’s degree in education from the University of South Dakota and pursued doctoral studies at the University of Minnesota. A multi-sport standout in high school, Wepking led Avon to […]
Whalen, Duane
Duane Whalen graduated from Rapid City High School in 1954. From 1954 to 1958 he attended Black Hills State University. In the fall of 1958, he began his 40-year teaching, coaching, and athletic administration career in Rapid City. Whalen began his career in athletic/activities administration in 1977 when he was appointed Junior High Activities Director […]