Rice Lake Sports Hall of Fame Foundation Candidates for Induction 2014

Rice Lake Sports Hall of Fame Foundation Candidates for Induction 2014 Mike Bearman Mike graduated from RLHS in 1962 earning letters in baseball and football. Mike tried out for the football team in his senior year and by sheer determination and total commitment cracked the starting line-up as a defensive tackle for the final 4 games of the season. He was very proud to wear the Warrior colors on his letter sweater and letter jacket. He was also the school sports editor for the Northern Light for 4 years. In 1966 Mike graduated from UW-Eau Claire with a teaching degree. While at Eau Claire, he was sports editor of the campus newspaper and an accomplished bowler for the Blugolds school team. After working in the insurance industry in New York and then as a teacher in Illinois and Arizona, Bearman settled in Reno and made a living with his two passions, sports and poker playing. He was an umpire, and as a poker player, loved strategy and crossing wits with his opponents. Mike began his umpiring career in Rice Lake in the 1970 s. After moving to Reno in the late 70 s it is estimated that he worked 17,000 athletic contests in the 25 years he called Reno his home. He also umpired in Lake Tahoe. He combined a tireless work ethic with a hard line on integrity in a career as a baseball/softball umpire and basketball official. Mike loved the rules and abiding by them was his mission. He was a colorful character who had a flair for controlling a game. He prided himself on knowing how to run a game, using common sense and a sense of humor to manage players, coaches and fellow umpires. Student-athletes, coaches and school administrators became part of Bearman s extended family, not adversaries in a contest. Mike died in June of 2004 and was posthumously inducted into the Nevada Interscholastic Assoc. Hall of Fame in February of 2005. His induction biography described Bear, as he was affectionately known, as one of the most dedicated and talented high school officials with which the Silver State has ever been blessed. Bob Buergi A 1951 graduate of Rice Lake High School, Bob was one of the original founders of the Rice Lake Hockey Association. In 1969, he served on the first board of directors, held several office positions on the board and was an officer of the Wisconsin Amateur Hockey Association. Bob helped plan and personally supervised the actual construction of the Rice Lake hockey arena; erected the existing bleachers, the concession area and, along with his father Adolph and others, built the foundation of the inside hockey rink. In addition, Bob spent many enjoyable hours coaching several youth hockey teams, including assisting the 1980 State Champion Rice Lake A Bantam team. Bob loved baseball and coached many amateur teams including the 1962 Barron County League Champion Rice Lake Robins, also finalists of the W.B.A. State Tournament. Bob Curtis Born in Long Lake Township in 1926, Bob attended Spooner High School through his sophomore year, and graduated from Belvidere in 1943. After WWII he moved back to Rice Lake and pitched fast-pitch from 1950 through the mid 60 s, accumulating over 300 wins, dominating the County Fast-pitch League and the Rice Lake Municipal League. Bob played for Sockness Shoe Company, Breunig s Lager, Manson s Clothing Store, Grouchy Don s Café, Mathison Tire, Corners Bar and Club 48. Curtis Field, a softball diamond at Tate Park was named after him on June 10, 1983. He was also instrumental in organizing many chapters of Ducks Unlimited in Northwest Wisconsin. Bud Epp In the 1950 s, Bud started working with harness horses in Rice Lake. He was an owner, trainer, driver and advisor to anyone that needed his help. During this time he had hundreds of winners. His first horse was named Monte Ota, which brings back many memories, as well as the rest: Whiz By, Little Joker, John Allen, Bret s Blaze, Dorset, Little Alice, Billy Brooks, Minnesota Fats, Jenna Direct, Keyed Up, Steady Bo, Little Fiddler, Bestrow, Happy Wish, and many more. Bud did it all, including shoeing, both for himself and numerous others until his health would no longer allow him to do so. He continued to give advice, and check the angles and toe lengths before the farrier finished the job. This man thought like a horse at times and seemed to know what the horse needed or wanted. Earlier in his career, he drove as well as trained. Bud s last drive was in Rice Lake with Dorset. This horse went down near the front of the grandstand. Among other disappointments was the most devastating the fire in Elkhorn that burned his stable of horses. In that fire he lost Bestrow, Happy Wish and several other beloved horses. Like other horsemen, Bud picked up the pieces and continued in his beloved sport. Bud worked extremely hard to promote harness racing at the Barron County Fair. He did radio work, poster advertisements, obtained donations for the purse money and donations for the grandstand for between races, secured bedding for the horsemen and worked closely with the fair board. Bud tried in every way to make it enjoyable for the horsemen as well as providing a great show for the people viewing the races from the grandstand, and many railbirds around the track. Bud was a retired Rice Lake cattle dealer who came out of Nebraska as a teenager to join the Navy during World War II. Following the war he raised his family in Rice Lake. Bud

Epp was inducted into the Wisconsin Harness Racing Association Hall of Fame in 2008. He passed away in November of 2013. Bonnie Faber When Bonnie coached her final game for the Rice Lake Girls Softball Team in 2000, she became the winningest coach in the history of Rice Lake High School sports. It is a distinction she held from 1999 to 2012. She was the first coach of the Warrior girls softball team beginning in 1983. In her 18 years as coach, her teams won 215 games against 112 losses; a winning percentage of 65.7. In her first 7 years of coaching, her teams won 6 Ho N conference championships. All told she won 7 conference championships, 5 regional championships and gained the sectional finals once in 1998, all against Division I schools. Bonnie graduated from Granton, WI high school in 1968 when there were no girls sports. She received her B.A. from UW-Eau Claire in 1973 and her Masters from UW-La Crosse in 1976. After 5 years in Medford, she began her career in Rice Lake in 1981 as a learning disabilities teacher. She retired from teaching in 2006. In addition to coaching the Warriors girls softball team, she helped the Warrior girls volleyball team for 25 years, either as head coach or as an assistant. Bonnie was also an accomplished softball player in the Rice Lake Slowpitch Association. Don Falstad No other golfer in Rice Lake has ever created the excitement that Don did when he emerged onto the golf scene at the Hi- Dale Golf Course (now Turtleback) when he was only 15 years old. Golfing against men of all ages, the freshman won the Short-Stop Golf Tournament and the Junior Division of the Presidents Cup at Hi-Dale. He finished 13 strokes off the winning score in the WI State Amateur Tournament and 15 strokes off the winning score in the State Jaycee s Junior Golf Tournament. As a sophomore Don repeated as champion of the Short-Stop Tournament and as champion of the Junior Division of the Presidents Cup. As a 16 year old he finished 2 nd in the WI State Amateur Tournament and was ranked fifth among Wisconsin s amateur golfers. As a 17 year old Don tied for top honors in the State Jaycees Golf Tournament and was invited to golf in the International Jaycee s Golf Tournament. In 1965 he repeated as champion of the Rice Lake Open Tournament. Don graduated from Rice Lake High School in 1965. He finished high school with 15 medalist honors and on May 26, 1965 he shot a 4 under par 31 for a school record that still stands today after 48 years. The Warrior golf team went to state all four of his years where they finished 12 th in 1964 and 20 th in 1965 when all teams were in one class. As an individual, Don finished 3 rd in state as a junior, 4 strokes behind the leader and as a senior he placed 6 th overall. In 1964 the Warriors finished 10 and 0 in dual competition and were the Ho N Champions. In 1966 Don led the UW-BC Chargers to the Collegiate Golf Conference State Championship. That summer he won the prestigious Chippewa Valley Golf Assoc. (C.V.G.A.) Ladysmith Open and the WISSOTA Open. Don and his wife Judy reside in Rice Lake. Katy Olsen Gilles Katy is a 1995 graduate of Rice Lake High School. She ran both Track and Cross-Country, lettering all 4 years in Cross- Country. She qualified for the state cross-country competition as a sophomore and was named 1 st Team All-Conference 3 times, as well as Team Captain for 2 years. Katy graduated from UW-Stout in 1999 and was inducted into the UW-Stout Athletic Hall of Fame in September of 2010 for achievements in Track and Cross Country. Running both indoor and outdoor seasons at Stout for 4 years, Katy was one of the top 2 women s distance runners in the school s history. She qualified 5 times for the NCAA Division III track championship. In 1998 she ran in the indoor 5000- and 10,000- meter runs and in 1999, the indoor 3000- and 5000-meter runs. Katy placed 10 times at the WIAC track championships, earning All-America honors in 1997 and 1998. Katy is the great, great niece of Harold Ole Olsen and lives in Minnesota. Dean Harrington Dean is one of the original founders of the Rice Lake Speedway, which was founded in 1952. He has been track president an unprecedented seven times and has held all the other board positions as well, some of them numerous times. Dean has done every job at the speedway and has never missed a race since its beginning in 1952. In 1963, Dean was a co-founder of the spectacular infield fireworks display now known as the Firecracker Special. Dean was also an excellent racer at the track. He began racing at the Rice Lake Speedpit in 1952 in his famous black and yellow #U2 car with the lightning bolt on the roof. He started out racing Modifieds, then Super Modifieds and then moved to the Late Models. Dean was the first Aquafest Race Super Modified feature winner in 1964 and won again in 1974. He was the Late Model Points Champion in 1973 and 1976 and the Mid-Season Champion in 1973. Dean is still involved at the speedway on a weekly basis, working the infield scale following each race. When he weighs in the first car of the 2012 racing season, it will make a remarkable 60 th consecutive year of involvement wit auto racing at Rice Lake. Dean is a 1946 graduate of Spooner High School, served with the U.S. Marine Corps, and then settled in Rice Lake in 1949. He was inducted into the Rice Lake Speedway s Hall of Fame in August of 2011.

Pat Hauck The youngest of 12 children, Pat grew up on a dairy farm and graduated from RLHS in 1972. He is one of the most dominant drivers in the history of snowmobile racing. For over 38 years, Hauck and Yamaha have performed in ice racing to grass drags and everything in-between. Pat began racing snowmobiles in 1974. He is a Yamaha Factory Team racer and holds 9 NSSR World Records, was named ISR Driver of the Year, has been a continuous top ten racer and Pro Stock Hi-Points Champion. He won the Wisconsin Cup in 2004, the Wausau Cup, Minocqua Cup and the Minnesota Cup, along with numerous Manufacturer s Challenge races and 19 Worlds Championships. In the Minnesota Cup Haydays, generally regarded as the World s greatest grass drag, Pat has a winning streak no other driver can match by winning at least one class of racing a record 31 consecutive years. Also known as The Ice-Man, he holds the world record 4-stroke 1000 foot radar run with speeds in excess of 150 mph. Pat has been a Yamaha snowmobile owner and dealer since 1989. In 1996 he purchased a 20 acre site on the western edge of Rice Lake known as Hauck Power Sports where he is able to test sleds on a grass drag track, snow cross jumps and a ¼ mile asphalt strip. He also designs and manufactures snowmobile parts that are shipped all over the world. In addition to snowmobiles, Pat has also raced motorcycles, ATV s, and race cars. Bob Jacobson 1965 RLHS graduate. Three sport athlete earning 7 letters. Baseball 3 year letterman, Captain in 1965. As a catcher hitting from the left side, Bob led the Warriors to 3 Ho N conference championships, 3 sectional finals and Rice Lake s second berth in the WIAA State Baseball Tournament in 1964. He played 5 years of American Legion baseball for Post 87 of Rice Lake earning MVP honors in 1965. Bob attended UW-River Falls and lettered 3 years, graduating in 1969. He then served in the U.S. Army in Germany from 1969 to 1972. From 1972 to 2004, Bob established himself as one of the finest catchers in the Province of Alberta, Canada, playing for the Calgary Odeons National team from 1972 to 1978 and major senior baseball teams annually representing Alberta in the 40-50 years of age and older World Series of Baseball Finals in Phoenix, AZ. He was instrumental in the promotion and founding of the Little League Baseball program in Vermilion, Alberta Canada during the early 1980 s. Football 2 year letterman for the Warriors playing on both sides of the line as the team quarterback and 1 st team All Ho N Conference cornerback in 1964. Basketball 2 year letterman. As a guard, Bob led Rice Lake to consecutive 10 and 4 Ho N conference records in 1964 and 65 and a 5 and 1 run in the WIAA tournament in 1965 for a 16 and 6 record. Dann Kann Dann competed in football, wrestling and track at Stratford High School in the 1960 s, setting a school record of 4:37.1 in the mile and advancing to State three times in the mile event. He went on to compete in track at UW-Stout, setting the fieldhouse record in the mile. Kann rekindled his athletic career by entering the Superior to Rice Lake 83-mile World Championship Snowshoe Race in 1978. Dann won the race in a record time of 13 hours, 24 minutes, more than 9 hours better than the previous winning time. Kann then turned to cross country skiing. After only one year, Dann placed 23 rd at the Birkebeiner and the next year won the Birkebeiner Citizen s Class as the first American finisher not associated with the U.S. Ski Team. In 13 Birkebeiners, Kann was often the top Wisconsin finisher. Twice he placed 3 rd in his age group and 7 th overall in 1981. Through the 80 s Dann won 17 ski races throughout Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan and took two firsts in the 1986 Badger State Games. Internationally, Kann finished as the top North American in both the 30-k and 15-k event, placing 3 rd in the world at 30 k and 4 th at 15 k. Also at the World Masters Championships, Kann had the fastest N. American time on the US 10-k relay team. His 3 North American firsts at the world games earned him the US Ski Assn. Masters Championship crown for 1986. John Leary John Leary graduated from RLHS in 1981 as a three-sport athlete in football, hockey and baseball. In football, John was a two-year letter winner as a right guard and middle linebacker. In his junior year, John helped his team to their first and only State Football Championship with an 11-0 record. As a senior he was team MVP, All-Conference guard for the second time and Eau Claire Leader Telegram All-Northwest linebacker as the Warriors were State runners-up with a 10-2 record. John was a three-year letterman for the hockey team as a first line left wing. In his junior year he scored 59 points which advanced Rice Lake to their only WIAA State Hockey Tournament appearance which resulted in a State runner-up and a 20-2 record. In his senior year he was named NHC All-Conference, All-State and Team MVP for the 14-5 Warriors. He is the 5 th leading scorer in Rice Lake hockey history with 126 points. John was a letter winner in baseball his junior year and played American Legion baseball as a shortstop and third baseman. Post high school sports include playing adult hockey for teams in the Chippewa Valley and the Hayward Muskies at the local, State and National levels. Teams he has played on have won 5 gold medals, 7 silver, and 1 bronze in the Badger State Games. John graduated from the University of Notre Dame and the University of Wisconsin Law School.

Fred Lee Fred graduated from Rice Lake High School in 1967 after having earned 8 letters in basketball, football and baseball. In basketball, the 6 3 guard earned 3 varsity letters and played without the benefit of the 3-point shot, nevertheless scoring a career 938 points with 356 points his senior year and 328 as a junior. He earned All Ho N honors in both his junior and senior years and co-captained the Warriors to a 1966-67 record of 14-5. He was also All-Northwest and All-State Honorable Mention as a senior, which gained him a scholarship to Mankato State. In football, Fred was the leading scorer for the undefeated 1966 Ho N champions with 44 points on 5 TD receptions and 14 extra point kicks. As a tight-end, he caught 17 passes for 277 yards and also handled the kick-off duties. He was First Team All Ho N and named to the second team Eau Claire Leader All-Northwest team. In baseball, the 3-year letter winner helped lead the Warriors to 2 Ho N championships in 1965 and 1966. In 1966, the left-handed hitting power-hitter hit 5 homeruns in 6 games, a school record, and ended the season with 6. Fred received All Ho N accolades in both his junior and senior years. In addition, he played four years of Class A American Legion Baseball for Post 87 of Rice Lake. In the field, he played center field and had the ability to quickly get to the ball and possessed a strong arm. As a result of his success in baseball, he was drafted by the Cincinnati Red Legs in 1967. In the fall of 1967, Fred suffered a serious leg injury while trying out for the Mankato State football team that prevented him from playing any further competitive sports. He briefly played amateur league baseball and fastpitch softball in Rice Lake and then chose the U.S. Army as a career. He passed away at the age of 55 in March of 2003. Michael (Mort) Miller Graduating from Rice Lake High School in 1980, Mort was a nine varsity letter winner. He lettered in cross-country, track, baseball and basketball. He captained his senior year, leading the Warrior Basketball team in scoring with a 14.6 average and was 3 rd in the Ho N scoring race. He was an outstanding ball handler and passer, giving out 6.8 assists per game, which was 3 rd in the Conference. Mort shot an outstanding 48% from the floor and even more impressive was his 84% free throw accuracy. Never to be forgotten was his last second shot to beat Hayward, and his downtown bombs, which amazed the crowd and opposing coaches. His coach, Bruce Anderson, always said the 3 Point Shot came too late in time, as Mort would have feasted on it. He played basketball at Southern California College in Newport Beach. Mort is presently a Learning Disability teacher in the Eau Claire school system. Dave Morgan #500 Dave holds the career record at the Rice Lake Speedway with 103 Feature wins. Known as the King, he also holds the record of longest consecutive years of racing at the Speedway at 43 years, from 1961 to 2004. Morgan holds the record for most feature wins for one season at Rice Lake in the Late Model class with 12. He has won 6 Season Championships in Late Models and Modifieds, and has been Season Points Champion 3 years for Late Models and 1 year for Modifieds. Morgan has won 6 mid-season championships including three in a row. He has won 2 Labor Day Invitationals, 4 Aquafest Features and has won the Best Appearing Car award 6 times. In 1968 Morgan competed in the Canadian Dirt Track Championships in Thunder Bay, Ontario and was voted the top driver from the United States. In 1969 he won that Championship. Morgan won the first Punky Manor Memorial race in Menomonie and the first Russ Laursen Memorial race in Eau Claire. He has won the Wisconsin State Dirt Track Championship, raced at the Minnesota State Fair, and at tracks in Northwestern Wisconsin, Minnesota, Florida and Canada. Dave has been a life-long resident of Rice Lake. Terry Olson Terry graduated from RLHS in 1959 and is one of the most decorated letter-winners in Rice Lake High School sports with 11. He was the starting quarterback on the Warrior football team and a power forward on the basketball team at 6 and 185 pounds. In track he was a sprinter helping the Warriors to the Ho N conference championship his senior year. But it was in baseball that Terry excelled, being but one of only a few 4-year lettermen at RLHS. As a pitcher he possessed a blazing fastball and hit with power from the left side of the plate. His 4 years as a Warrior pitcher coincided with the highly touted south-paw from Chetek, Denny Overby. The two teams collided for the regional championship in 1959 at Barron with a dozen major league scouts in attendance and became one of the most dramatic games in Rice Lake baseball history with Overby out-dueling Olson for a 1-0 win and a berth in the sectionals. In addition, Terry played 5 years for the Rice Lake American Legion Team. Including high school and legion games in 1959, Terry won 9 games and lost 5, pitched 100 1/3 innings striking out 186 batters, giving up 39 hits and only 11 earned runs. As a batter, he posted a batting average of.523. At the conclusion of the 1959 season, Terry was selected by the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram to represent them in the Silver Sluggers All Star game at Milwaukee County Stadium sponsored by the Milwaukee Sentinel and the Milwaukee Braves. Striking out 3 in 2 innings with no runs, and hitting a single, he was one of two All Stars to be selected to represent the State of Wisconsin to play in the National Hearst All Star Classic in Yankee Stadium in New York City. Terry then signed a professional baseball contract with the Milwaukee Braves at the age of 18. In 1960 he pitched for Davenport and the Eau Claire Braves, Palatka, Florida in 1961, the Cedar Rapids Braves in 62 and the Billings Mustangs

in 63. In 4 years of minor league baseball he compiled a record of 21 wins and 27 losses with his best year in 1962 at 12 and 10. In 1964, Terry became roommates with Denny Overby at UW-Stout to further their education, both being victims to career-ending arm injuries. He became a fighter pilot in Viet Nam and currently resides in Denver, Colorado. Ron Parker After graduating from Spooner High School in 1957 where he was starting guard on Spooner s 1956 State Basketball Tournament Team, Ron Parker attended UW-La Crosse and was starting guard and two-year basketball letter winner. He taught and coached at St. Croix Central (1963-69) with outstanding win-loss records: Basketball, 102-22; Baseball, 41-18; Football, 29-3. Ron then taught and coached at UW-Barron County from 1969 to 1997. His basketball record (1969-81) was 166-84, with 5 Division Titles and 2 Conference Championships. In 1981 he was voted Wisconsin Collegiate Conference Basketball Coach of the Year. As golf coach, (1991-97), Ron s teams won 3 Conference Championships and were State runners-up twice. All of his varsity teams finished with a win/loss record above 500. Ron is Associate Professor Emeritus, UW-BC, Department of Physical Education/Athletics. He was Athletic Director from 1980 to 1997 and received the Wisconsin Collegiate Conference Meritorious Service Award. Ron was a WIAA Basketball official for 17 years; WIAA Volleyball official for 15 years; Youth Basketball program volunteer official, and was assistant coach for the 1989 State Championship Rice Lake Fastpitch Softball Team for the Boys 18 and Under League. Ron is a member and past president of the R.L. Curling Club. He participated in the 2005 and the 2006 State and National Senior Curling Championships. Julie (Lola) Piepenburg Julie graduated from RLHS in 1976. She was a four-year starter in volleyball, basketball and track. She averaged 17 points per game in basketball her senior year and an overall record of 12 and 4. As a senior in track, she was undefeated in both the shot and discus events through regionals. She led the Warriors to an undefeated Heart of the North Championship and a regional championship. Julie placed 4 th in State in the discus with 124.8, then a school record. Her shot of 41 1 ½ is still a school record. Julie graduated from UW-La Crosse in 1980 and won one conference shot put title at 42 9 ¾. She played slowpitch for many years in Rice Lake and Rochester. Currently, she and her husband run marathons and do long distance walks for charities. She is a surgical nurse in Willmar, MN. Darell The Horse Russeau Darell is a 1958 graduate of RLHS and a three year letter-winner in both football and track. He was a high powered running back for the Warriors who averaged 5.35 yards per carry during his senior year. Russeau s 738 yards and his running mate Ron Skip Scheurer s 734 yards combined for ¾ of the team s total yards. Nicknamed The Horse, Co- Captain Darell led Rice Lake to an undefeated conference record of 6-0 in 1957 and their first undisputed Ho N football championship since 1947. His 12 touchdowns in 1957 and his 25 career touchdowns were Rice Lake s best since 1934. His 166 career points set a Warrior record which held until 1979. In three years as a starter, The Horse led the Warriors to a 14-3-1 conference record. In track, Darell s primary event was the pole vault, where he achieved heights of over 10 when they used the straight metal pole. His grandfather, Indian John Russeau was inducted into the Rice Lake Sports Hall of Fame in 2010. Bob Scheurer A member of the Rice Lake High School class of 1952, Bob participated in football, basketball and track. He scored a touchdown per game as a rangy receiver in football and was noted as a long jumper and high jumper in track. But it was in basketball where he excelled. Bob changed the look of local basketball for all time. While his coach was promoting the two-hand set shot, Bob showed what one hand could do. He personified the jump-shot when it was just coming into the game. He had marvelous jumping ability which allowed him to play center, at just a shade over six feet tall. He could hook with either hand and his outside one-hander was deadly. He scored 656 points as a Warrior a school record at the time. Bob was called up to the A-squad in January of his sophomore year. During that brief stint, he averaged 11 points and had a high of 19 points in one game. Bob scored 43% of his team s points during his senior year. In a game against Ladysmith, Bob had the most brilliant performance ever turned in on the hardwood court of Rice Lake s gym. He scored 39 points on an array of jump shots, hook shots and long bombs, which was a school record. He also had games of 25 points twice and one of 27 points. Mike Strandlund A graduate of Rice Lake High School in 1975, while participating in several school sports, Mike s passions were the outdoors, hunting, nature and writing. He began his journalism career in Barron after graduating from UW-Eau Claire. He was editor of the Barron News-Shield for five years in the early 1980 s. While he was editor, the News-Shield won a first place award in state-wide newspaper competition for a series he wrote on the challenges facing the rural farm

economy. Strandlund left the newspaper in the mid 80 s to accept a position as writer and editor for the National Rifle Association s magazine and books detailing the how-to and outdoor experience of hunting. His love of bowhunting led him to join the editorial staff of Bowhunting World and Archery Business magazines in Minnetonka, MN. He was named editor of both publications in 1993 and was named editorial director of Grandview Outdoors in 2010. His bowhunting assignments and adventures took him across North America, to Canada and to Africa. His writing and expertise in the bowhunting field earned him induction into the prestigious Bowhunters Hall of Fame in 2003. Through the years, Mike continued to hunt and fish in northwestern Wisconsin. Mikal Strandlund s life was cut short as he passed away in the waters off the beach of a remote island in the Philippines on March 31, 2013, at the age of 56. Bruce Tasker Bruce fished the Chippewa Flowage for 70 years, beginning in 1931 with his father. He began his career as a guide on these same famous waters in 1946 and continued showing anglers the muskies, walleyes and panfish of the Big Chip through 1993. He was born in Minneapolis and graduated from Elmwood high school in Wisconsin. He served in the Navy from 1940 to 1946 and received his B.A. from UW-Eau Claire in 1949 and his M.A. from UW-Superior in 1959. Prior to coming to Rice Lake he was a teacher at Gilman and Northwestern-Maple high schools. From 1957 to 1980 Bruce was a guidance counselor at RLHS and that career served as a perfect complement to guiding fisherman all summer long and during weekends in the fall. He also designed and distributed the Bon-Net, a very popular musky lure in the 50 s and 60 s. Bruce became a legendary guide and was recognized as such by his induction into the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame in April of 2002. Gerald Skip Wick Skip graduated from Rice Lake High School in 1948, lettering 3 years in football, basketball and track. During his senior year Skip qualified for the State track meet in the pole vault. He was a 2 way starter on the football team that won 3 consecutive conference championships in 1945, 46, and 47, playing wide receiver and linebacker/defensive back. During his football career, Skip scored on many long pass plays as a receiver but it was as a defensive player that Skip really stood out. He was proficient at turnovers and turning them into scores for the Warriors. He was mentioned in several newspaper articles of the time as an outstanding tackler who was consistently in the opposing teams backfield messing up their plays. Skip was an integral member of the basketball team that also won 3 consecutive conference championships. Playing point guard in his senior year, Skip was the third leading scorer on the team. After graduation, Skip attended UW-Eau Claire, playing football for two years before enlisting in the U.S. Army and serving for 3 years mostly in Korea. He rose to Platoon Sergeant and was decorated for his service in the Korean War. After leaving the service, Skip returned to Wisconsin and enrolled at UW-Stout, playing football as a running back and defensive player. He was selected as Team MVP, elected Captain and was selected for All-Conference both years. After his college career was over, Skip was offered a tryout with the Chicago (Phoenix) Cardinals. He turned down the opportunity and stayed at UW-Stout as an Assistant Football Coach. In 1958, Skip moved to Hurley, Wisconsin as a teacher and football coach, serving many years as a JV and Varsity Coach. In 2011 Skip Wick was inducted into the UW-Stout Athletic Hall of Fame and in 2012 was inducted into the Hurley High School Athletic Hall of Fame. Skip currently resides in Hurley, Wisconsin. Earl Zimmerman Head football, basketball and track coach at RLHS from 1943 to 1951, he was the final coach at Rice Lake to be a head coach in both basketball and football. In 8 seasons, his Laker squads captured four football championships, three basketball titles and three track championships. In conference games his football team was 25-11-3 going undefeated in 1943, 46 and 47. In basketball, he was 83-61 all and 52-38 in the Heart of the North. Zimmerman graduated from Oconto high school and Oshkosh State College in 1932 where he starred in football and basketball. He came to Rice Lake after 6 years in the coaching field at Elcho, WI where his teams won two football titles and one basketball title.