Thorp High School - Seniorian Yearbook (Thorp, WI)

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DONALD RUBISCH Rubisch Memorial Trophy In the memory of Don Rubisch, Stewart North has dedicated a beautiful trophy to be placed in our trophy case. Mr. North was Grundy's coach all through high school, and through his diligent coach- ing, Grundy developed into an expert center. This trophy will remain in our trophy case and each year the team's Most Improved Player will have his name engraved on it. The player will be selected by a vote of his teammates, his coaches, and two prom- inent business men. This year Harley Nerdrum was chosen to have his name engraved on the memorial. We Wish to thank Mr. North for this trophy. We hope that in years to come it will inspire boys to work harder in basketball. Dedication We, the class of 1953, proudly dedicate the basketball section of this Seniorian to the late Donald Grundy Rubisch. Grundy, as he was known to all his friends and classmates, was probably the greatest basketball player ever to wear the colors of Thorp High School. His individual scoring records for Thorp will probably stand for many years to come. He was a Wonderful Captain and he led the basketball team of '51-52 to an Eastern Division Cloverbelt title and on to the finals of the Spooner Sectional, where Thorp was beaten by a powerful Superior squad. Grundy was a good student and was liked by all who associated with him. It was a cruel fate that took his life in an auto accident in early November of 1952. Had he lived, Grundy would have carried the name of our school to even greater heights, as he was planning to enter college at the time of his death. His jersey number, 25, has been retired and placed in the trophy case, never again to be worn by a Thorp basketball player. Page Fifty

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Football OCTOBER 16 - Cadott, displaying a fine brand of football, came as close as anybody could to the Rampaging Redmen as they bowed 21 to 6. Thorp scored the first time they had the ball, marching from our own 43 to the Cadott 2 where big Gus Haas powered over. Phillips converted to make it 7-0. Taking to the air for the second touchdown, Phillips passed to Turenne from twelve yards out and Rog stepped into the end zone. Passing again, Phillips hit Qualle on a play covering 45 yards and scoring. Phillips converted both times to make it 21. OCTOBER 23 - STANLEY! Thorp journeyed to Stanley in one of the most publicized games in the State. Both teams were unbeaten and both teams boasted speedy backfields and stalwart lines. Stanley received and after an exchange of punts which put the Orioles deep in our territory the stubborn Thorp line began to hold. Then Harley Nerdrum saved the day for the Cards when he recovered a Stanley fumble on our 5 yard line. With Qualle and Phillips throwing, Thorp marched in the second period for a score. Qualle went six yards around end to the 2 and cracked over on the next play making it six to nothing. Near the end of the half Phillips made a beautiful interception of a Stanley pass and re- turned it 39 yards to the Stanley 21, but Stanley held at that point. Both teams were scoreless in the third quarter but in the final period Thorp began to roll. With Phillips sparking a touchdown drive Thorp scored on Gene Zaske's pass to Harley Nerdrum. Zaske scored on a short buck over center and the final counter came on a pass from Qualle to Zaske in the end zone. The Thorp line played the best game of the season against Stanley. To try to name the wonderful plays exhibited by our linemen would iill ten pages. OCTOBER 31 - Homecoming Day 1952! The un- defeated Cards made it a perfect season before a large homecoming crowd by trouncing Neillsville 52 to 0. It was a perfect afternoon for football and Thorp proved it by displaying some of the best foot- ball seen around here as far back as anyone can remember. Homer Vanderhyden blocked a punt early in the game and on the first Thorp play from scrimmage Tom Qualle raced 17 yards and scored. The rout was on! In the course of the game Phillips and Qualle scored and passed for touchdowns almost at will. Tom scored four touchdowns and Jake three and they each passed for two more. The last score came when Qualle, appearing to be trapped, raced back the way he had come and iiipped to Gordie Hansen in the end zone. The rugged Thorp line, with Jack Dallas doing a terrific job at backer-up, held Neillsville without a first down and a minus seven yards rushing. Congratulations to Coach Haldy and the boys on a job well done and a host of records for Thorp teams to shoot at in the future. CLOVERBELT CHAMPIONSHIP FOOTBALL TROPHY Page Forty-nine '

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First Row: Donray Izydorek, Robert Melrtenqs, To-m Qualle, Bill Urban, Jerry Phillips, Harley Nerdrum, Roger Turenne. Second Row: Coach Haldy, Robert Badzlnski, Edward Ciolkosz, Arnold Zaborowski, Gordon Hansen, Richard Alger, Jack Dallas. Basketball '52-53 Turning in their cleats for gym shoes and their pads for trunks and jerseys, the Cards began to pre- pare for their 52-53 basketball season. With Captain Jake Phillips, Tom Qualle, Bob Mertens, and Roger Turenne returning letter winners to form a nucleus, Coach Haldy began to form a winning combination. Big Bill Urban filled in well at center and Harley Nerdrum rapidly improved to fill a forward post. Butch Izydorek and Pee Wee Badzinski proved to be able reserves as the season progressed. After a heart breaking loss to Chetek the Cards began to find themselves and displayed a line brand of basketball throughout the season. Winning all their Eastern Cloverbelt games, the Cardinal Clad Warriors went on to beat Fall Creek and take home their fifth Cloverbelt trophy in the last six years. In their bid for State honors the Thorp Cardin- als reached the Sectional Tournament for the second Basketball Nov. 21 - CHETEK AT THORP - The Cards got a bad start to their 52-53 season when they lost a heart breaker to Chetek 42 to 41. The score was 23 all at half' but a Chetek rally in the third quarter was enough to stop Thorp. Phillips paced the Cards with 13 points. NOV. 25 - THORP AT LOYAL - After losing their first game of the season the Cards came back to beat an out-classed Loyal team. Hitting the nets for a 15 to 4 first quarter lead, the Cards were never threatened, as the reserves played most of the second half and went on to win 62 to 27. Tom Qualle paced the winners with 27 points. straight year - only to lose out to a strong Eau Claire ball club, which went on to take State con- solation honors. The Cards have nothing to be ashamed of, as their season ended with an impressive 19 and 8 record. Leading his teammates to the Cloverbelt and District titles, Captain Jake Phillips scored 428 points for a 15.9 average. He was followed by Tom Qualle with 416 for 15.4 average and Bill Urban with 354 and a 13.1 average. We say congratulations to Coaches Haldy and Amundson for a job well done and congratulations to the boys who worked so hard to give Thorp another great team in a long line of Champions. Many records were set by this team and the boys who played on it. It is our hope that the teams of the future will continue to play the kind of bas- ketball that this team made famous. Schedule DEC. 2 - THORP AT AL'rooNA-Coach Haldy's pray- er for a smooth working center seemed to be answered as Bill Urban, Junior pivotman, hit the nets for 22 points as the Thorp boys came through with a 76 to 51 victory over Altoona. Some fine passing by Captain Jake Phillips and 18 points by Tom Qualle helped win. DEC. 5 - OWEN AT THORP - Opening their Clover- belt Conference Season, the Cardinals kept up their winning way with a 74 to 41 win over Owen. Scoring in the 70's for the second game in a row, the Thorpmen showed that they were a team to watch in the games to come. Urban came through again to lead the scorers with 26 points. Page Fifty-one