Concordia Sports - The First 100 Years by Finn Grinaker

"Concordia Men's Sports - The First One Hundred Years"
by Vernon Finn Grinaker
| Return to Index | Chapter 1 | 1903-1921 | 20's | 30's | 40's | 50's | 60' | 70's | 80's | 90's |

Chapter 9-- The 80's

| 1980-1981 | 1981-1982 | 1982-1983 | 1983-1984 | 1984-1985 | 1985-1986 | 1986-1987 | 1987-1988 | 1988-1989 | 1989-1990 |

1988 Football

The 1988 Cobber football team were not expected to have an outstanding season, but with a conference record of 9 - 1, they were co-champions of the MIAC. In the first round of the NCAA playoffs, the Cobbers were defeated by Central College of Pella Iowa by a score of 7 - 0.

Named to the all-conference team were Brian Bruns, Terry Storm, Tom Diekman, Jon Florence, Terry Horan, and Doug Toivonen. Steve Grove and Terry Storm were team captains.

During the season, Coach Jim Christopherson became Concordia’s “winningest” football coach with a career record of 146 -55 - 4, surpassing Jake Christiansen’s record.

Scores for the season were:
Concordia 50 Moorhead State 10
Concordia 49 Augsburg 10
Concordia 28 St. John’s 7
Concordia 36 St. Thomas 20
Concordia 17 Macalester 0
Concordia 31 Carleton 18
Concordia 10 St. Olaf 0
Concordia 41 Hamline 38
Concordia 20 Gustavus 47
Concordia 48 Bethel 12
Concordia 0 Central College, IA 7

Conference standings were:
Concordia 8 - 1
Hamline 7 - 1
St. John’s 7 - 1
Carleton 5 - 3
Gustavus 5 - 4
St. Thomas 3 - 6
Macalester 3 - 5
St. Olaf 3 - 6
Augsburg 1 - 8
Bethel 1 - 8

A typical starting lineup for the Cobbers would be:
Offense:     Defense:
Nate Schmitt LT   Brian Bruns DE
Tom Diekman LG   Mike Gindorff DT
Kevin Knudsen C   Shane Lindsay NG
Kirk Leinwand RG   Rob McCarthy DT
John Campion RT   Pete Byorth DE
Terry Horan WR   Paul Lundstrom CB
Doug Toivonen QB   Terry Storm CB
Ty Goshen SB   Troy Teigen LB
Ty Malek FB   Todd Johnson LB
Jon Florence TB   Jay Perry
Jamie Hagness P   Mike Leach FS
Dave Ertl PK

1988 Men's Cross Country

On the men’s cross country team in 1988 were Mark Engebretson, Jon Zielske, Todd Johnson, Matt Knudsvig, Keith Connett, Mark Olson, Greg Defor, Eric Johnson, Bart Mueller, and Steve Strand. Tom Dahlen was the team coach and was very enthusiastic about the team’s future.
Results for the season were:

U of North Dakota Invitational: 6th place out of 7 teams
Jamestown Invitational: 4th place out of 8 teams
St. Olaf Invitational: 15th place out of 19 teams
Moorhead State Invitational: 5th place out of 7 teams
MIAC Conference Meet: 7th place out of 10 teams
Regional Meet: 14th place out of 21 teams

1988-89 Men's Golf

The 1988 men’s golf team finished in third place in the conference for the second year in a row and placed in the top half of all the major tournaments they were in. Two players averaged fewer than 80 strokes per round — Tim Carlin (medalist in one tournament) and Wayne Severud (medalist in two tournaments. Others on the team, coached by John Eidsness, were Troy Butner, Kim Larson, and Frank Mertz.
Their season results were:
Bemidji Invitational: 823 for 3rd place out of 9 teams
Erv Kaiser Invitational: 787 for 6th place out of 10 teams
St. John’s Invitational: 650 for 6th place out of 16 teams
Carleton Invitational: 640 for 1st place out of 6 teams
Gustavus Invitational: 619 for 3rd place out of 15 teams
MIAC Conference Meet: 665 for 3rd place out of 11 teams

1988 Men's Soccer

In their second season in the MIAC, the 1988 men’s soccer team finished the year 4 - 5 - 1 in the conference and 5 - 8 - 1 overall. Coach Tom Kennedy was pleased with his team’s progress and predicted that they would be conference contenders the following season. Ron Fee, Cekial Danielson, and Eric Nelson were captains of the young Cobber squad. Receiving alll-conference honorable mention honors were Eric Nelson, Lance Bjorlin, and Mark Schlieman.

Soccer players were Cappy Pottorff, Eric Dull, Steve Morris, Kurt Guthmueller, Brian Mancini, Joe Fisher, Ron Fee, Brian Peterson, Brian Stone, Eric Nelson, Lance Bjorlin, Craig Malvey, Dave Kittelson, Jeff Christensen, Chris Lehmann, Cekiel Danielson, Greg Swenson, Lois Millan, Mark Schliemann, Craig MacBean, Jon Benson, and Cullin Lynch.

Scores were:
Concordia 0 U of Minnesota 1
Concordia 0 St. Scholastica 1
Concordia 0 NDSU   1
Concordia 1 St. Olaf 2
Concordia 0 Gustavus 1
Concordia 3 Bethel   1
Concordia 3 UND   1
Concordia 4 Carleton 1
Concordia 6 Hamline 2
Concordia 0 St. Thomas 1
Concordia 1 Macalester 1
Concordia 0 Augsburg 1
Concordia 1 St. John’s 4
Concordia 4 St. Mary’s 0

1988-89 Men's Basketball

A young Cobber basketball team finished their 1988 -1989 season in eighth place in the MIAC with an 8 - 12 record, 11 - 14 overall. Coach John Eidsness, in his 11th year at the helm, won his 200th career game this season. Senior Wade Hanson led the MIAC in assists and sophomore Brian Flam earned all-conference honors as one of the nation’s best long-range shooters.

On the basketball roster were Wade Hanson, Rick Eidsness, Troy Olson, Mark Thimjon, Keith Pearson, Bryan Boen, Brian Flam, Greg Mastrud, John Klinkosh, Steve Molstre, Pat Sonju, Tim Housholder, Barry Fritz, Michael Bjelland, and Tim Gullingsrud.
Season scores were:
Concordia 61 NDSU   78
Concordia 88 Moorhead State 86
Concordia 47 Hamline 73
Concordia 81 Bethel   103
Concordia 69 Carleton 73
Concordia 83 Moorhead State 110
Concordia 66 St. Scholastica 63
Concordia 74 SFC   73
Concordia 64 St. Olaf 82
Concordia 73 St. Mary’s 61
Concordia 84 St. John’s 72
Concordia 55 St. Thomas 75
Concordia 93 Macalester 84
Concordia 75 Gustavus 94
Concordia 74 Hamline 45
Concordia 77 Bethel   108
Concordia 74 St. John’s 93
Concordia 83 Augsburg 84
Concordia 67 St. Olaf 64
Concordia 81 St. Mary’s 75
Concordia 64 Carleton 61
Concordia 50 St. Thomas 74
Concordia 77 Augsburg 91
Concordia 74 Gustavus 79
Concordia 92 Macalester 80

End of the season conference standings were:
St. Olaf 16 - 4
St. Thomaas 16 - 4
St. John’s 13 - 7
Bethel 11 - 9
Gustavus 11 - 9
Hamline 11 - 9
Concordia 8 - 12
Macalester 7 - 13
Augsburg 5 - 15

1988-89 Men's Hockey

The 1988 - 1989 hockey team finished the season in seventh place in the MIAC, just a few points away from the fourth-place spot. Coach Steve Baumgartner was pleased with his squad’s performance in a tough conference as they split with almost every team they played. Earning all-conference recognition were Mike Hassman and Steve Thompson, with John Gillie and Ross Richards qualifying for academic all-conference status.

The roster included Ron Fee, Mark Jenson, Mark Stilwell, Garnet Wahlund, John Bowkus, David Nelson, Rob Deics, Steve Mossing, Steve Glassbrenner, Troy Johnson, John Gillie, John Grafstrom, Corey Hansen, John Kozicki, Steve Thompson, Ross Richards, Ted Hasse, Richard Churko, Mike Hassman, Peter Zwakman, Kelly Kazakoff, John Town, Greg Bird Shawn McGurran, Chip Oie, Scott Sanderson, Brett Erdmann, John Schnickels, Dave Prokop, Brad Wiseman, Todd Berntsen, and Chad Pajari.

Results for the season with an 11 - 12 record were:
Concordia 8 St. John’s 3
Concordia 3 Bethel   2
Concordia 3 St. Mary’s 4
Concordia 3 St. Mary’s 6
Concordia 4 St. Mary’s 3
Concordia 4 St. Thomas 3
Concordia 3 St. Thomas 5
Concordia 5 St. Olaf 3
Concordia 5 Gustavus 4
Concordia 0 Bethel   3
Concordia 5 Bethel   6
Concordia 9 St. John’s 2
Concordia 1 St. John’s 9
Concordia 7 Hamline 2
Concordia 3 Hamline 6
Concordia 3 Augsburg 4
Concordia 6 Augsburg 0
Concordia 2 NDSU   9
Concordia 6 NDSU   4
Concordia 4 St. Olaf 5
Concordia 3 St. Olaf 4
Concordia 7 Gustavus 5
Concordia 5 Gustavus 6

At the close of the season, the conference standings were:
St. Thomas 13 - 3
St. Mary’s 11 - 5
Gustavus 10 - 6
Augsburg 8 - 7 - 1
St. Olaf 7 - 8 - 1
Bethel 6 - 8 - 2
Concordia 6 - 10
St. John’s 6 - 10
Hamline 3 - 13

1988-89 Wrestling

Coach Ron Nellermoe’s 1988 - 1989 wrestling team finished the season with a 9 - 6 dual meet record and had three wrestlers competing in the NCAA Division III tournament. Mike Northcutt won two matches at the national meet, just one victory short of all-American honors, and was named to the academic all-American team. Also at the national meet were Chip Halvorson and Steve Larsen, who both lost their first matches.

Wrestlers on the team were Andy Raedeke, Todd Larson, Mike Northcutt, Kirk Crews, Jason Daniels, John Bergeland, Jeff Theel, Dan Schultz, Chip Halverson, :Peter Severson, Brian Mancini, Rob Lowry, Steve Larsen, Scott Lewis, Michael Ryhn, Rob Hensch, Kevin Pavelko, Steve Schultz, Clint Moser, Brandon Hiatt, Ernie Bear Don’t Walk, and Kirk Leinwand.

The following results were reported:
Warrior Open: 2 placed
River Falls Invitational: 1 placed
St. Cloud Open: 2 placed
Concordia 35 Minot State 14
Duluth Open: 6th place
Concordia 32 Valley City 18
Concordia 19 Moorhead State 29
Concordia 24 St. John’s 14
Concordia 12 St. Thomas 24
Concordia 33 Mayville State 12
Concordia 18 U of Mary 24
Concordia 36 Hamline 3
Concordia 40 Gustavus 12
Concordia 3 Augsburg 39
Concordia 19 St. Olaf 27
Concordia 39 Jamestown College 15
Concordia 47 Carleton 12
Concordia 27 Fergus Falls CC 15
Concordia 14 U of M - Morris 31
Luther Tourney: 6th place
MIAC Conference Meet: 4th place
Midwest Regionals: 3 placed
NCAA Nationals: 3 wrestled

1989 Baseball

The 1989 Cobber baseball team got off to a slow start for their season, but as their hitting and pitching improved, they won 10 of their last 11 games for an overall record of 16 - 17. Their conference record was 10 - 8, good enough for sixth place, but just one game out of a four-way tie for third place. Don “Bucky” Burgau was the team coach. Terry Horan and Doug Toivonen, after being named all-conference in football, repeated as all-conference players in baseball. Wade Hanson received academic all-conference honors in both the winter and spring seasons.

On the baseball roster were John Hoien, Wade Hanson, Mike Leach, Doug Toivonen, Terry Horan, Chad Campbell, Rick Westra, Ty Goschen, Mike Klindt, David Daniels, Jan Sannes, Scott Bjerke, Jack Gehrke, Darin Millar, Wade Beavers, Tim Pederson, Brad Baker, Jeff Morken, Shane Tahran, and Jay Peterson.

The season’s scores were:
Concordia 4 S. Arkansas 6
Concordia 0 S. Arkansas 5
Concordia 6 S. Arkansas 9
Concordia 3 S. Arkansas 13
Concordia 11 U of Central Ark. 5
Concordia 4 Arkansas Tech 6
Concordia 7 Arkansas Tech 13
Concordia 7 U of Central Ark. 8
Concordia 8 U of Central Ark 11
Concordia 7 Valley City State 1
Concordia 4 Mayville State 5
Concordia 5 Mayville State 4
Concordia 6 NDSU   3
Concordia 2 St. John’s 7
Concordia 5 St. John’s 9
Concordia 3 St. Olaf 10
Concordia 4 St. Olaf 8
Concordia 9 Bethel   3
Concordia 14 Bethel   15
Concordia 11 Augsburg 1
Concordia 2 Augsburg 6
Concordia 6 St. Mary’s 11
Concordia 5 St. Mary’s 4
Concordia 13 Hamline 1
Concordia 5 Hamline 3
Concordia 2 UND   1
Concordia 12 UND   5
Concordia 10 Macalester 0
Concordia 6 Macalester 4
Concordia 6 Carleton 9
Concordia 6 Carleton 4
Concordia 2 St. Thomas 0
Concordia 4 St. Thomas 3

1988 Men's Tennis

The 1989 men’s tennis team, under Coach Bob Nick, ended their season with a fifth place finish in the conference meet after posting a 10 - 8 regular season record. Playing for the Cobbers were Brad Harris, Scott Jeffers, Mike Leffel, Kyle Knutson, Todd Spicer, Matt Jensen, Jeff Peterson, Rolf Anderson, Erik Arntsen, Barry Maring, Paul Mastel, Chad Pajari, and Peter Vandersteen.
Tennis results were:
Concordia 6 Bethel   3
Concordia 5 Moorhead State 4
Concordia 0 UM - Duluth 9
Concordia 5 NDSU   4
Concordia 5 Bemidji State 4
Concordia 1 UND   8
Concordia 4 USD   5
Concordia 7 Mary College 2
Concordia 0 St. Thomas 9
Concordia 0 St. John’s 9
Concordia 9 Augsburg 0
Concordia 8 St. Mary’s 1
Concordia 9 Hamline 0
Concordia 7 Moorhead State 2
Concordia 4 St. Olaf 5
Concordia 2 Carleton 7
Concordia 1 Gustavus 8
Concordia 7 Macalester 2

1989 Men's Track

It was an up and down year for the 1989 men’s track team, coached by Doug Perry, with some excellent individual performances. The team finished in sixth place in the MIAC indoor meet and 7th in the outdoor meet. Mark Olson broke a school record in shot put and went on to qualify for the national meet, along with runner Greg Defor. Six men earned all-conference honors at the indoor meet: Bart Mueller in the 800-meter dash, Olson in the shot put, Eric Johnson in the 600-meter dash, Don Worcester in the 55-meter hurdles, Kent Fritze in the 400-meter run and Defor in the 1,500 meter run. In the outdoor season, Worcester went on to qualify for the national meet in the 110-meter hurdles.
On the track team were Bart Mueller, Greg Defor, Roger Aune, Tony Urdahl, Kent Fritze, Mark Kellner, Todd Johnson, Ross Anderson, Eric Jacobson, Greg Bangs, Eric Johnson, Dave Schwietz, Steve Senger, Tim Howard, Dustin Hoffman, Rich Jorgenson, Brent Reber, Paul LaBelle, Matt Knutsvig, Mark Egebretson, Matt Taylor, Chuck Banks, Todd Marolt, Scott McKenzie, Joe Potoczny, Jon Ault, and Clint Faust.

Track results for the season were:
Bison Open: 3 placed
St. Cloud Open: 5 placed
Stout Invitational: 8th place
Bethel Invitational: 4th palce
MIAC Indoor: 6th place
NCAA Indoor: 2 qualified
Hamline Trials: 5 placed
Concordia Meet: 13 placed
Irv Christenson Invitation (Concordia): 21 placed
UND Invitational: 7 placed
LaCrosse Invitational: 7 placed
Ron Masanz Invitational (MSU): 7 placed
MIAC Outdoor: 7th place
NCAA Divison III: 1 qualified

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These pages are maintained by Jerry Pyle - pyle@cord.edu and Finn Grinaker - cgrinaker@juno.com. These pages are copyrighted © and may not be published or reproduced without the express permission of Finn Grinaker.