By Charlie Warner
Argus News Editor
Warrior wrestling and success have been synonymous during the 44-year
history of the high school sport in Caledonia. In fact, all but seven
of the 44 seasons of Warrior wrestling have been winning years.
From 1963 through 2007, Warrior wrestling teams have compiled a
484-212-15 record. They went six straight seasons from 1967 until 1973
without losing a dual match, and compiled 83 straight dual meet
victories.
Warrior teams won 18 district championships, four region championships,
placed fifth in the state in 1976, runners-up in 1984, and won the
state championship in 1970 when all the schools in the state wrestled
in the same class.
Four persons who were heavily involved in the Warrior wrestling program
will be honored this spring. Three will be inducted in the Mayo Civic
Center Region I Hall of Fame, and the fourth will be inducted in the
National Wrestling Hall of Fame in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
The three inductees of the Region I Hall of Fame include Warrior head
coaches Ed Ferkingstad and Leo Simon, and two-time state champion Mark
Lange.
The inductee in the National Wrestling Hall of Fame is CHS graduate and current junior high coach Spencer Yohe.
Ed Ferkingstad
In 1963 Ed, along with Larry Thompson, started the Warrior wrestling
program. The inaugural year, the Warriors went 0-12-1. The following
season, they posted a 3-7-1 record. By the third year Warrior wrestling
had become a force to be reckoned with, as they went 10-3-1.
In just their fifth season (1968) the Warriors went 13-0-1 and won the
District 1 team championship, which was the first of 17 straight
District titles. The Warriors went undefeated the next two years under
Ferkingstad’s guidance, winning district titles, and the Region 1 and
Minnesota State Championship in 1970. The Warriors also sent six
wrestlers to the individual state tournament, and Mark Lange won the
first individual state wrestling title for Caledonia in 1970.
Ferkingstad retired after the 1970 season, where he complied a 58-24-4 career coaching record.
Leo Simon
Simon started his coaching career at Goodhue and came to Caledonia in
time for the 1970 State Championship season. He took over the head
coaching position during the 1970-71 season and guided the Warriors to
83-straight dual victories, 14 straight District 1 titles, three Region
1 titles, and fifth and second place finishes at the state meet.
Simon coached two wrestlers, Mark Lange and Bob Link, to individual state titles.
Simon compiled a 175-73-2 record during his tenure at Caledonia, and a
career record of 205-49-2, which currently ranks him 99th in total wins
all time for Minnesota coaches.
Mark Lange
Lange is a four-time state tournament entrant, and a two-time state
champ. As a sophomore, he led the Warriors to the Minnesota State Team
Championship and won a state individual title. His junior year he
placed second, and then returned to the championship stand his senior
year.
Lange holds a 149-11-1 career record, was inducted into the Minnesota
Hall of Fame and named to the Minnesota State High School 60-year Dream
Team.
Spencer Yohe
Yohe has received numerous state and national awards for his
participation and promotion of high school and college wrestling during
the past 37 years.
Yohe is a 1968 graduate of Caledonia Area High School, where he was a
member of the District 1 championship team. He participated in
wrestling at Winona State University, graduating in 1972.
Yohe’s first head coaching job was at Hancock, Minn., where his Owls
won five District 21 titles and had a 120-32-2 record in 12 years.
Yohe went on to coach at the collegiate level, first at the University
of Minnesota-Morris and then for 10 years at Moorhead State University.
As an assistant coach at MSU, the Dragons won nine out of 11 NSIC
Conference titles and produced 25 All Americans.
While at Moorhead, Yohe served as an NAIA National Team Cultural
Exchange coach on three different trips to the USSR, Guatemala, and
Poland. In all, he coached eight international teams that toured 19
different countries.
Yohe is responsible for establishing and awarding over 50 scholarships
at the Greg Schwartze Memorial Wrestling Camp during the past 17 years.
He serves on five hall of fame committees, and serves as President of
the Minnesota chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.
Yohe currently serves as a substitute teacher and junior high coach for the Caledonia-Houston wrestling team.
Ferkingstad, Simon, and Lange will be inducted in
the Region 1 Hall of Fame Monday, March 3 at the La Quinta, 1620 North
Broadway (across from the Holiday Inn South in Rochester).
Yohe will be inducted in the National Wrestling Hall of Fame at the
Minnesota Chapter Banquet at the Holiday Inn and Suites in Owatonna on
Saturday, April 12.
You can contact Charlie Warner at
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