Dozer, Dick
Born March 12, 1925, in Minneapolis. Sioux Falls (Washington High). 1950 Missouri grad. A nationally respected sportswriter for 30 years, mostly with the Chicago Tribune. In the early 1950s, he worked for KIHO Radio in Sioux Falls and made history in July 1950 by broadcasting the first remote play-by-play of the state amateur golf tournament. […]
Comstock, Ev
Born in Kansas in 1909. Known as “Mr. Golf” in South Dakota, he was the first South Dakotan in the PGA Half Century Club, for those who have been pros for 50 years or longer. First encounter with golf came as a 10-year-old caddie in 1922 after his family moved to a farm right beside […]
Taplett, Howard
Born May 23, 1921. 1939 Tyndall High and 1943 University of South Dakota grad. Taplett built Tyndall into a Class B track power. In 16 years as Tyndall’s coach, Taplett coached the Panthers to seven state Class B titles (1953-56, 1960 and 1966-67) and one runner-up finish (1965). The four consecutive titles is a feat […]
Swisher, Clark
Born March 27, 1916 in Vermillion. 1934 Vermillion HS grad. 1938 USD grad. Was a coach and/or athletic director at Northern State from 1946-1986. When he started at NSU, he coached football, basketball, track, tennis and golf – with no assistants. The winningest football coach in NSU history, he was 146-42-4 with four perfect seasons […]
Schroeder, Bob
The Miller High and University of South Dakota grad was an extremely successful high school football, basketball and track coach at Miller from the 1940s to the mid-1970s, and he coached two of the greatest teams in state history. Schroeder was an accomplished athlete at Miller while competing in those three sports. He was the […]
Reed, Gary
Gary Reed attended Egan High School where he played varsity basketball for five years. He continued his basketball career at the University of Sioux Falls as a four-year starter. Graduating from USF in 1963, Reed began his teaching and coaching career in Jasper, MN. In 1965 he returned to Sioux Falls to continue teaching and […]
Kolb, Gus
Gus Kolb graduated from Leola High School in 1943 and South Dakota State College in 1951. As a high school athlete, he lettered four years in football, basketball and baseball. He did not participate in athletics in college. As a basketball coach, Kolb literally built teams from scratch. Walt Conahan, Kolb’s nominator, commented “Kolb was […]
Farrand, Floyd
Floyd Farrand graduated from Superior, NE High School in 1948 and from Sioux Falls College in 1952 and earned his master’s degree from South Dakota State University in 1963. At Sioux Falls College, he competed in football, basketball and track & field. Farrand was a teacher and coach for almost 40 years, most of that […]
Ekeland, Clare
Clare Ekeland was a 1934 Washington High School and 1938 Augustana College graduate. Ekeland began his high school teaching/coaching career at Dell Rapids in 1938. From 1945-48 he was at Luverne, MN, serving as athletic director, coach and teacher. He also taught and coached at Rapid City High School from 1948-52. In 1952 Ekeland started […]
Clodfelter, Dwane
Woonsocket native. 1947 USD grad. Coached USD to the 1958 college-division national basketball title. That team won its last 20 games and was the first North Central Conference team to go unbeaten (12-0) in conference play. His USD teams also set the state record for consecutive home wins (34, 1956-59). In 13 seasons at USD […]