The 12 men pictured above have at least one thing in common. They all won an individual State Championship as a member of the Buc wrestling team. They are, front row, left to right, Ty Eustice, Luke Eustice, Jeff Pfaffinger, Todd Kriewall, Dave Pfaffinger, Ron Malcom, Dave Frank, Aaron Gudahl. Back row, left to right, A.B. Russ, Shawn Ehrich, Chuck Quaday, Ron Ankeny, Travis Krinkie.

Blue Earth’s wrestling program began in 1947 and on Saturday, Aug. 6, the Buc Wrestling Boosters held a banquet to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Buccaneer wrestling.

In addition to a golf tournament, a social hour and banquet were held at Riverside Town and Country Club.

Guest speakers at the event, which was emceed by Steve Frederickson, included two past Buc State champs. Ron Malcom, who won a title in 1951 and A.B. (Albert) Russ, who was a two-time champion in 1956 and 1957, shared stories from the early years of the program.

“When the program first started we practiced in a boxing ring at the Fire Hall,” Malcolm recalled.

Malcolm was the second wrestler from Blue Earth to win a State title. The first was Dave LaTourelle, who won a title in 1950.

Dr. H.H. Russ, the late father of A.B., played a large part in bringing the sport of wrestling to Blue Earth.

In an interview published in the Nov. 30, 1978 edition of the Blue Earth Post, Dr. Russ said, “I pushed, I pulled, I chewed on superintendent Pemberton until he gave in and we got the program started.”

Blue Earth had their program in place before many other schools in the area.

“We got the jump on the other schools until they finally caught up to us. We were pretty good,” Dr. Russ said.

The annual tournament held at the beginning of the wrestling season was named the Dr. H.H. Russ Invitational in 1978.

“I don’t like it. I am opposed to it. That tourney belongs to the kids, to the boys, not some has-been,” Russ commented reflecting on the honor. “I get my enjoyment from watching it.”

The drive to start the wrestling program in Blue Earth came from the experience Russ had wrestling in college.

Russ, in his capacity as a doctor, looked out for the health of all of the boys – whether from Blue Earth or from the opposing team.

Another paragraph in the 1978 article shared the doctor’s thoughts on wrestlers and dieting.

“Diet, weight control and weight loss have been constant bug-a-boos. It bothers the mothers more than anyone else,” he said. “The big question is what is the correct weight level so that a boy may wrestle to his advantage, yet not take off too much. We have not had too rigid a program of weight loss here. Most boys adjust easily.”

After being the unofficial State Tournament doctor for many years, he was named the official State Tournament doctor in 1954 in recognition of his years of service to wrestlers.

Other speakers at the banquet were former coaches Jack Eustice, Randy Wirtjes and Dave Pfaffinger. Current Blue Earth Area coach Dan Eckhardt also had a chance to speak.

Credit was given to two coaches who originated from Iowa, Keith Young and Gene Lybert, for really getting the program off the ground.

Young came to Blue Earth in 1951 and the Bucs won their first championship in 1953 with Young at the helm.

Under Lybert’s direction, the Maroon and Gold won three consecutive State titles in 1956, 1957 and 1958.

The Bucs have won a total of six State Team Titles. They have also finished in second place once, have placed third three times, took fourth place two times, finished in fifth place once and sixth place once.

Individually, the program has produced 48 State champions including two four-time winners in Ty Eustice and Jeff Pfaffinger.

Three different Buc wrestlers won three State championships. They are Al Deleon, Ron Ankeny and Luke Eustice.

In all, 85 Buc wrestlers have returned home with a medal out of a total of 261 State entrants.

As former coach Dave Pfaffinger said, “It’s not just the champions who have made this program successful. It’s all of the guys who came out and worked hard to make the team better.”