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EDGERTON — This year marks the 65th anniversary of one of the greatest achievements in Minnesota sports history.
That feat? Edgerton Public School’s one-class boys basketball state championship.
The sports editor thought it would be fitting to remember this event for many reasons, with two of those coming immediately to mind.
First, this year’s Edgerton team earned an upset victory over Russell-Tyler-Ruthton on Saturday, March 1, at Worthington High School’s Trojan Gymnasium in the Section 3A South subdistrict tournament.
The Flying Dutchmen won two postseason games — also handily defeating Heron Lake-Okabena-Fulda in the play-in round — and that gave fans a chance to reminisce about the storied past.
The storied 1959-60 Edgerton Public boys basketball team gathered for this preseason photo. The squad is (from left), Darrell Kreun, Larry Schoolmeester, Norm Muilenburg, Bob Wiarda, Dean Verdoes, Dean Veenhof, Bob Dykstra, Jim Roos, Daryl Stevens, Darwin Fey, LeRoy Graphenteen, Tom Warren and Flying Dutchmen head coach Rich Olson. (Contributed photo from “Edgerton: A Basketball Legend.”)
What’s more, Edgerton was leading Murray County Central by nine points in the 3A South quarterfinals before the Rebels overcame for a 63-53 victory.
The second reason why I wanted to examine this anniversary because of the recent death of Gene Hackman, one of America’s most beloved actors who succinctly portrayed Hickory head coach Norman Dale in the 1986 film, “Hoosiers.”
“Hoosiers” was inspired by Milan, Indiana’s 1954 one-class state championship over Muncie Central High School.
Edgerton’s feat has been gloriously recalled as Minnesota’s version of the same story.
The Pipestone County Museum was helpful in the writing of this historical column. (Star photo by Eric Viccaro)
The sports editor would like to thank the Pipestone County Museum for its assistance in helping me write this column.
Several sources were used for research, including the Edgerton Class of 1960 “Flyer” yearbook and a book in the museum’s “special collections.” The work is titled, “Edgerton: A Basketball Legend,” written by Tom Tomashek and Ken Kielty, who had coached the Flying Dutchmen boys.
Several sources were used for research, including this 1960 Edgerton Public High School yearbook, “The Flyer.” (Star photo by Eric Viccaro)
Several sources were used for research, including “Edgerton: A Basketball Legend,” written by Tom Tomashek and Ken Kielty, the latter who had coached the Flying Dutchmen boys.
(Star photo by Eric Viccaro)
That was until the summer of 1959 when Richard Olson was installed as the new head coach, with John Rath as the assistant.
Olson was a fuzz-faced graduate from Macalester College.
Olson, a standout player himself, scored 395 points as a senior in high school. He eventually played at Virginia Junior College and Macalester. Keep in mind, Florida State University also was hot on Olson’s heels, attempting to recruit him to enticing Tallahassee.
Edgerton featured 12 players: LeRoy Graphenteen, Darrell Kreun, Tommy Warren, Darwin Fey, Norman Muilenburg, Dean Veenhof, Larry Schoolmeester, Robert Dykstra, Bob Wiarda, Jim Roos, Daryl Stevens and Dean Verdoes.
The Flying Dutchmen were absolutely perfect that season (27-0), culminating in a 72-61 victory over Austin in the one-class championship game. There were a whopping 488 high schools competing in a single class.
The 1959-60 regular season opened with a win over Adrian, 82-46. Edgerton’s largest margin of victory was 67 points over Lake Wilson (84-17). The team scored 82 points or more eight times, with a top of 93 versus Magnolia. Only Hills provided a stiff challenge, and the Flying Dutchmen turned them back 59-55.
Edgerton was one of seven schools with a perfect record through the regular-season slate, joining Cloquet, Dodge Center, Duluth Central, Esko, Forest Lake and Renville.
Then the Flying Dutchmen rolled through the District 8 Tournament, with wins over Magnolia (79-53), Hills (72-41), Pipestone (66-52) and Worthington (84-65).
After dispatching Mankato, 73-44, in the Region 2 semifinals, Mountain Lake was the last school standing between Edgerton and the all-class state tournament. The Flying Dutchmen were pushed, but ultimately won 61-55.
Edgerton defeated Chisholm, 65-54, in the opening round and then battled through adversity to top Richfield, 63-60, in what many viewed as a David versus Goliath match-up.
After the event was complete, Edgerton wrote more history. The Flying Dutchmen were the first team ever to place four on the all-tournament team: Kreun, Graphenteen, Veenhof and Verdoes (who also was selected as captain).
Edgerton was successful because the players knew their roles.
Veenhof was a dynamic 6-foot-5 center who scored 634 points his freshman year. Stevens and Wiarda crashed the boards for rebounds. Graphenteen was adored, including by teenage girls, for his demeanor and scrappy defense. Kreun provided a deft shooting touch. And Verdoes ran it all, and was one of the state’s most accurate free-throw shooters — he was a born leader, and served as class president.
Crowds grew bigger as the team rolled through the postseason.
In the win over Richfield, Kreun canned insurance free throws with 14 seconds left — giving Edgerton a 62-58 lead, and a four-point margin went further with the rules of the day (and no 3-point arc). Both Veenhof and Verdoes fouled out, which tested the Flying Dutch’s depth or lack thereof.
The 1960 championship game at Williams Arena was compared to the 1946 clash between Austin and Lynd.
Williams Arena in Minneapolis is shown with a standing-room only crowd for the 1960 all-class state championship game between Austin and Edgerton Public. (Contributed photo from the University of Minnesota archives)
The Packers played a zone defense on Veenhof, but that strategy didn’t work. Edgerton was ahead 17-11 at the end of the first quarter, building the lead to 36-24 at intermission.
In the second half, Verdoes solved Austin’s full-court press defense. And it actually played into the point guard’s hands. Wiarda held prolific Packer scorer Gary Schumacher to 10 points. The Flying Dutchmen shot 55.3 percent from the field.
Veenhof scored 27 points and pulled down 14 rebounds for a double-double. Austin dared Graphenteen to shoot, and he made the Packers pay dearly with 15 points on five field goals and 5-of-6 from the free-throw line.
The Sunday following the championship, Edgerton players remained in the Twin Cities and attended service at Riverside Reformed Church in Bloomington. The team visited a polio patient named John St. Marie, who became a Flying Dutchmen fan listening to the team on KCCO radio, at University Hospital.
“Edgerton’s victory was the most inspiring sports event in my life,” St. Marie said in a Star-Tribune story.
The squad returned to Edgerton that Monday, arriving in town at 3:32 p.m.
A flatbed truck was placed in front of Jolink Pharmacy, and that served as a presentation stage for the welcome home. Bands from high schools across the area joined in the festivities. Thousands attended the event. The team was celebrated with banquets in 14 towns, something you certainly wouldn’t see today.
Edgerton was packed with well-wishers during the Flying Dutchmen’s welcome home ceremony in March 1960. In the foreground is the flatbed truck used as a presentation stage for the players and coaches. (Contributed photo by Paul Siegel/ Minneapolis Star Tribune archives)
The year 1960 was a simpler time, with 25-cent gas, four-cent postage stamps and people earning an average salary of $3,000.
Other highlights at Edgerton that year included an Asian-inspired banquet, the play “Onions In The Stew,” two salutatorians (Eric Vanderbush and Sylvia Gunnink) and Patricia Kooiman gave the valedictory speech at graduation.
Veenhof finished his scholastic career with 1,887 points. Kreun totaled 1,268. This year, Kade Moffitt joined this elite list as a 1,000-point scorer for the Flying Dutchmen.
Edgerton Public head boys basketball coach Rich Olson is carried off by the Flying Dutchmen players after they won the 1959-1960 all-class state championship over Austin at Williams Arena in Minneapolis. Olson was a first-year head coach, piloting Edgerton to a 27-0 record. (Contributed photo from the Historic Twin Cities website)
Olson eventually moved back to Virginia, and finished with a 241-85 coaching record. And during a 10-year stretch from 1959-69, Edgerton’s record in boys basketball was 187-68, including that one-class state championship everyone always remembers.
Later this week on the Pipestone County Star website, www.pipestonestar.com, look for a short biography on what each player did after graduating from Edgerton.
Editor’s Note: This column expresses the views of the author, and not necessarily the Pipestone County Star or Pipestone Publishing, Inc.