Members of this year’s wrestling squad, along with activities director Travis Armstrong and coaches Dan Eckhardt and Jake Lee, joined Buccaneer alumnus Steve Erdahl, pictured in the center of the team, during a dedication ceremony recognizing the gift of a new wrestling mat to the school. Erdahl donated the mat in honor of the late Dick Maher, who was Erdahl’s wrestling coach when he competed for the Bucs. The dedication was held on Dec. 2, during the Maher Invitational Wrestling Tournament.

In 2022, Buc wrestling celebrated its 75th anniversary with a banquet. Many former wrestlers attended the event to celebrate the history and success of the Bucs’ wrestling program.

One of those wrestlers who attended the event was Steve Erdahl. He was a 1970 Blue Earth graduate who wrestled under coach Dick Maher.

The Blue Earth Area wrestling program soon received some good news regarding their program.

After attending the gathering, Erdahl decided he wanted to ‘give back’ to the wrestling program.

“Next to my parents, coach Maher was one of those people who had a very big influence in my life,” Erdahl said. “It was more than his coaching. He taught me to be a man.”

Erdahl says he had thought of doing something to honor coach Maher for many years.

“I met with (BEA) coach (Dan) Eckhardt and Shawn Ehrich of the booster club,” Erdahl comments. “It took some doing but we finally came up with a plan.”

What Erdahl did was donate a new wrestling mat to the Blue Earth Area wrestling program.

The three-piece mat includes words dedicating the new mat in honor of his former coach, Maher. The mat also is the first BEA mat to have the new Buccaneer logo on it.

On Saturday, Dec. 2, Erdahl, along with his wife Elizabeth, traveled to Blue Earth from their home in Excelsior for the dedication of the mat during the wrestling tournament which carries the name of Erdahl’s former coach, the Maher Invitational Wrestling Tournament.

“Dick Maher was such an inspiration for me and many others,” Erdahl added.

It was not the only gift Erdahl brought to the Buc wrestling program.

Erdahl, who had an undefeated regular season during his senior year of wrestling, was the winner of the Richard Krumm Award during his final year on the team.

Given in memory of Richard H. Krumm, a former Blue Earth wrestler who lost his life while on patrol in Vietnam during the Vietnam War, the Krumm Award is known as one of the most prestigious awards in ‘Buc’ athletics.

First given in 1968, the Krumm award was given to a wrestler who has done the most for the team in their career in terms of leadership, scholarship and sportsmanship.

Erdahl had been visiting his daughter in Washington, D.C. and took time to visit the Vietnam Memorial. While there, he did a pencil rubbing of Krumm’s name on the memorial.

“I decided to donate my Richard Krumm Award back to the school,” Erdahl explains.

Erdahl’s medal, along with the pencil rubbing of Richard H. Krumm’s name and a picture of the Vietnam Memorial will now hang in a frame outside of the Blue Earth Area wrestling room next to a plaque that lists all of the wrestlers who won the Richard Krumm Award, which was given out for about 50 years but has now been replaced with a different award.

After graduating from Blue Earth, Erdahl went on to wrestle for a short time at the University of Minnesota. When he left the U of M he eventually got a job with Valspar.

“I worked for Valspar for 42 years,” he explains. “The last 20 years I was located in the Twin Cities. I have always been thankful for being a part of the Buc wrestling program and that I was able to wrestle for coach Maher. I am happy to be able to contribute to the current program and its wrestlers.”