Luther College - Pioneer Yearbook (Decorah, IA)

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Kicking off . . . The 1946 Norse football squad, under the tutorage of Hamlet Peterson, ended its season with a three win and six loss record for nine games. It took the Norse to the sixth scheduled game before they cracked the winners column. In those first five losses, the N orsemen dropped some close ones, but lacked the necessary punch to come through in the final stages of the games. Coach Peterson awarded 29 letters for the season: co-captains H. Settje and A. Ward, C. Larson, H. Torgerson, H. Haugo, D. Strom, N. Davis, H. Sordel, M. Mathre, E. Pritz, O. Ulvilden, W. Fure, J. Bernatz, O. Storvick, E. Nelson, A. Veglahn, J. Olsen, K. Bey, G. Ol- sen, E. Tikal, P. Hanson, E. Hracek, O. Bergs- rud, C. Hjermstad, V. Knourek, D. Gordon, J. Graven, S. Brenton, W. Fischer. Manager was C. Whiting and trainer, H. H jermstad. The I947 Norsemen football squad was plagued throughout the season by old man in- jury. No fewer than 33 different men were sent to the bench because of injuries during the course of the season, with the majority of the injuries coming in the first half of the season. Not only were the injuries unfortunate for the men sustaining them, but Coach Robert Bungum in his initial year as head man was faced constantly with a change of personnel due to the injuries. At the close of the season an all-freshmen squad with a few exceptions was carrying the brunt of the attack. This is probably the one good thing that came out of the otherwise lean yearg Luther will have a great number of seasoned sophomores next year. .E-J The only Norse victory came on Homecom- ing day with a I3-6 win over Augsburg. Pass- ing by Gordon and Graven and running by Opheim, Grant and Bernatz set up the first Norse score. Bernatz plunged over from the two yard line. The final scoring attack featur- ed the fine rurming of Jim Olsen, who climaxed the drive by going three yards for the touch- down. The tie game of the season came against Simpson College. The experts rated Simpson two to three touchdowns better than Luther. However, when the final gun sounded it was o-0. The Norse dominated play that day and went inside the Redmen's five yard line once and penetrated the I0 yard stripe twice. The highlights of the game were Wally Grant's 47 yard run, and the passing combination of La- Verne Bredeson to Ken Peters. In the final game of the year, Luther drop- ped a 19-7 decision to Central at Pella. The highlight of the game was Grant's 74 yard dash to the only Norsemen score in the first period. Special mention should go to the fine play of such linemen as Jerry Olsen, Vern Knourek and Olin Storvick. Jerry Olsen was selected as a guard on the All-Iowa Conference team. Jerry Bernatz, Grant, Graven, Gordon, Brede- son, Lloyd Hammer, Kenny Bey and Jim Olsen did the heavy work in the backfield. Coach Bungum awarded 31 letters: L. Anderson, C. Aschim, O. Aspenson, R. Benson, B. Bergs- rud, J. Bernatz, K. Bey, L. Bredeson, W. Bur- strom, Capt. N. Davis, G. Dieter, A. Eggle- son, D. Gordon, W. Grant, J. Graven, L. Ham- mer, J. Hanson, C. H jermstad, R. Johnson, O. Jordahl, V. Knourek, G. Olsen, Jerry Olsen, Jim Olsen, Les Olson, L. Opheim, K. Peters, D. Storvick, O. Storvick, D. Swendsen and T. Thompson. Managers were Robert Dieseth and Harris H jermstad. SEASON SCORES Won - 1 Lost - 7 Tied -- 1 Luther - 0 North Dakota U. - 14 Luther - 0 Loras - 27 Luther - 7 St. Olaf -- 26 Luther - 13 Augsburg - 6 Luther -- 0 Upper Iowa - 13 Luther - 0 Dubuque - 13 Luther - 20 Wartburg - 27 Luther - 0 Simpson - 0 Luther - 7 Central - 19 1 INDIVIDUAL SCORING! NINE GAMES A ' , 'rn PAT ro TP Gordon, qb. .... 1 4 0 10 grantt hlinb ....... 3 S erna z, 1 . ..... . I . 'I K Burstrom, e. ...... 1 0 0 6 ll Ult 1 I Bredeson, fb. .... 1 0 0 6 , K W is it ','ilf,lOlsen, Jim, nb. .... 1 o 0 6 1 l al if .fl 4 hl.fshl'e' 1' Swendson, e. ..... 1 0 0 6 yf bjiuglt' jgmjgqj N1 MM. , 5.2 Thompson, hb. .... 0 1 0 1 .1 l A J ' '- '- '- - Aiiil-irmllf.'tafL'lltfil 7 5 o 47

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ni In looking back over the SPORTS year we believe that Luther has had its share of thrills and hard-fought contests. Although the won-loss column of the football team wasn't too impressive in itself, the Norsemen gave a good account of themselves in every appear- ance. Even with 33 different men injured dur- ing the season, the team was a hard-fighting one with plenty of spirit. jerry Olsen, giant guard, made all-conference. Basketball brought Luther its greatest team in the history of the school with the Norsemen winning 20 of their 25 games and remaining undefeated on the home floor. Judge Veglahn set a new school scoring record with 404 points in 25 games. The team itself won more games in one season than any other Luther squad. The Norse cindermen turned in a better than average season. In four meets they fin- ished Hrst in one, took seconds in two and ranked seventh in a I3 team conference meet. Outstanding on the track were Bravick and Taylor in the 440 and Grant in the hurdle events. Baseball proved itself to be average but quite interesting. All in all, it was a better than average season for the Luther sports fans with the promise of an even better year next season.

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Dribble away . . . When Coach Peterson greeted his 1946-47 basketball team in early fall, he was faced with many new prospects and many problems as well. Returning to that squad were such pre-war vet- erans as Norm Everson, Don Estenson, Bill Luther and Don Rufe McDowell. In the first I2 games the Norse lost but two contests. They lost the season opener to St. Thomas, 36-37, and dropped a 49-51 de- cision to Gustavus Adolphus in the sixth out- ing. In the first I2 games the Norse acquired wins over Augsburg Ctwoj, Globe Trotters, LaCrosse State Teachers Qtwoj, Platteville State Teachers, Buena Vista, Upper Iowa U., Wartburg and Simpson. The last seven games of the season proved disastrous for the Norse by dropping four of those seven contests. After topping Wartburg, 59-39, in an earlier game the Luther team dropped a 38-47 game to the Knights at Wav- erly. journeying to Dubuque the Norse drop- ped another to Loras college with its high scoring forward, Mickey Marty, 46-50. Luth- er came back momentarily to whip Upper Iowa, 40-36, only to lose its next encounter, 40-42, to the highly-touted Central five. Luther got back on its feet for two games when it knocked off Loras college, 50-48, with Judge Veglahn getting 22 points, seven of which came in the over-time period. just prior to the Loras game the Norse stopped Simpson, 65-5 1. The Central Dutchmen proved that their win over the Norse at Pella was no accident by bowling over the Luther team, 44-54, on the Norse floor. STATISTICS Luther St. Thomas ...... ..... 3 7 Luther Augsburg ........ ..... 3 5 Luther Globe Trotters ....... ..... 4 9 Luther La Crosse Teachers. . . . . . . .42 Luther ......... Augsburg .......... ..... 4 1 Luther Gustavus Adolphus. . . . . . . .51 Luther Platteville Teachers.. ..... 37 Luther Buena Vista ....... ..... 4 4 Luther Upper Iowa U. .... ..... 5 8 Luther Wartburg ...... . .... ..... 3 9 Luther La Crosse Teachers .. ..... 54 Luther Simpson .......... ..... 5 1 Luther Wartburg ...... ..... Luther Loras .......... ..... Luther Upper Iowa U. .... .... . L th Central .......... u er Luther Luther Luther Simpson ........ Loras ........ Central ........... 47 50 36 . . . . .42 51 48 54 Total Games-193 Won-135 Lost-6. Luther's final place in Iowa Conferenew-ith. Total points for season: Luther-9825 Opponents-866. Leading scorer for Luther-Norm Everson-258 points, second-Arnold Veglahn-243 points. Highest individual score for single game-Everson-24 points in Buena Vista game. The 1947-48 Luther basketball squad set a new high for the cage game on the Norse- men campus. Coach Hamlet Peterson's'basket- eers went through the season with 20 wins and 5 losses. In spite of this impressive record, the Norse could finish no better than second in the Iowa conference, one game back of Dubuque U. which went through the season undefeated. The Norsemen did not meet the Dubuque team in competition. The record-breaking Norse team opened against St. Olaf with a 42-31 victory. This game was the initial game of an undefeated season on the home floor. Platteville Teachers was next up and fell to the Norse, 63-41, with Kenny Bey getting 18 points and followed by Arnold Judge Veglahn with II points. Aug- ustana fell before the Luther team 65-48 at Sioux Falls, S. D. The first loss of the sea- son was handed the Norse by Augsburg at Minneapolis, 47-42. The Norsemen continued their winning ways in the following four games. They top- pled the Globe Trotters, 65-48 5 Macalester was next in line and dropped a 41-37 decision to the Norse with Norman Everson getting II points, Luther evened the series with Augs- burg, 51-47, as Everson gathered IQ points with team-mate Veglahn getting 16 points. At the Muscatine Invitational tournament during the Christmas holidays, the Norse stop- ped Mankato Teachers in the first round, 58- 50. Norm Everson captured 28 points in lead- ing the Norse to victory. In the final round, Luther dropped a 52-38 game to the Iowa State Teachers team. Luther in a chilly first half could gather but 16 points. The second half saw a better battle with the Teachers scoring 23 points to the Norsemen's 22 points. The Norsemen went five more games be- fore meeting its third defeat of the season. In rapid succession the Norse stopped La Crosse Teachers, 51-40, with Veglahn scoring 18, Up- per Iowa fell, 62-40, as Veglahn got I3 points followed by Everson's IO, Wartburg was the next victim, 57-35, as Veglahn ran his I2 game total to 175 points by getting I9 points against the Knightsg the Norsemen scored a 51-37 win over Central at Pella, and then took the second road-trip game by halting Simpson's Redmen, 65-54- The third loss of the season was at the hands of Loras College in Dubuque. There were 2500 fans on hand to see the individual battle between Luther's Veglahn and Loras' Mickey Marty. Marty took the honors that night by scoring