Thorp High School - Seniorian Yearbook (Thorp, WI)

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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

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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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Basketball Schedule DEC. 9 - CADOTT AT THORP - Hitting 24 points in a big second period, Thorp stopped a determined Cadott team 69-57. Phillips hit 21 and Mertens came through with 16 to give the Cards their fourth straight win. DEC. 16 - STANLEY AT THOEP - In the first game against their traditional rivals from Stanley, the Cardinals nudged the Orioles 66 to 49. Phillips with 22 and Qualle with 21 led Thorp into an Eastern Clover- belt lead. DEC. 30 - STRATFORD AT THoRP - An unbeaten Stratford quintet, rated No. 1 in the t'Little Sixteen gave the Cardinals their second setback of the season. Tom Qualle's 24 points was not enough as Stratford pulled out a 65-63 victory. JAN. 6 - NEILLSVILLE AT THORP - A 23 point first half by Jake Phillips was more than enough as Thorp got back on the winning road, whipping Neillsville 69- 37. Phillips led the scorers with 24 points. JAN. 9 - THORP AT COLFAX - Holding a highly rated Colfax team in check for three quarters, the Cardinals fell apart in the fourth period and lost 64 to 49. Leo Pecore couldn't be stopped and Tho1'p lost their third game in nine starts. JAN. 13 - WITHEE AT THORP - Thorp proved too much for a small Withee team, as they sent them home smarting under a 68-36 defeat. Phillips' 20 and Ner- drum's 12 led the scorers. JAN. 15'- THORP AT STANLEY - The Thorp jinx worked again, as Thorp had little trouble downing Stanley on the latters court 70 to 58. Nerdrum paced the scorers with 17 points while Urban and Phillips added 15 apiece. This made about the seventh straight year that Thorp has won over Stanley without a defeat. JAN. 20 - ALTOONA AT THORP - Thorp's two for- wards paced the Cardinals in a non-conference win over Altoona. Harley Nerdrum and Tom Qualle hit 18 and 16 points respectively as Thorp toppled Altoona 58-42. JAN. 22 - THORP AT NEILLSVILLE - Running up 81 points in a wild scoring game, the Cards walloped a listless Neillsville quintet. Qualle led the Cardinals to an 81-49 victory by dropping in 30 points. JAN. 27 - THORP AT OWEN - The Cards wrapped up their seventh straight Eastern Division Champion- ship by rolling over Owen 61 to 30. Owen was unable to penetrate the Thorp defense and Thorp's offense was supplied by Jake Phillips as he hit a cool 24 points. JAN. 30 - THCRP AT WITIIEE - Jake Phillips fired in 33 points as Thorp ended their Eastern Cloverbelt season unbeaten. Withee was no match for the high scoring Cards as Thorp hit 82 to Withee's 59. FEB. 2 - THORP AT BLOOMER - Giving a tough Bloomer outfit a battle all the way, the Cards bowed to the Blackhawks 54-46. With the whole team shooting an unbelievably low percentage, the Cardinals failed in an attempt to rally late in the ball game. High scorers for Thorp were Urban, Phillips, and Qualle, with 11, 10, and 9 respectively.