2017 Hall of Fame Inductees

Ted Anderson: From St. James High School Wrestling 50th Anniversary Book - 2000: "Two years after St. James had its first individual state champion, it gained another when Ted Anderson came home with the title as a 138 pounder. Anderson went through the dual meet season, the conference, the district and the region, racking up 16 wins and his finished with a 20-2 record. In the state meet at Mankato State, he handled Dick Ovsak of Frazee 8-2 with an early takedown, a second period reversal and nearfall to hold a 7-0 lead in the third period. He had a close bout with Buzz Matson of Harmony in the quarterfinals, winning 3-1. It was 0-0 but Anderson fashioned an escape with three seconds remaining in the second period to gain a lead; and he took charge with a take-down with 55 seconds left in the bout. John Nelson of Grand Rapids fell victim 5-0 in the semifinals, and Anderson took the championship with a 3-0 win over John Grecula of Spring Lake Park. There was a standing room only crowd of 4,500 in Highland Arena at the Mankato campus for the finals that night. Anderson went on to wrestle at the University of Minnesota and, in 1969, won the Fort Buckner military championship at 177 pounds."

Clemens Belcher: Clemens graduated from St. James High School in 1953. He excelled and lettered in football, basketball and baseball as a Saint. As a football player, he was named All-South Central Conference in 1950 and 1951 as a half-back and linebacker in 1952, a back injury in the early part of the season limited his playing time but contributed to the first Saint team to go undefeated since 1914. "From Fairmont Sentinel (1950)": Clem Belcher, 150, sophomore, a good blocker and hard runner, Clem was a back particularly adept at knifing through the line on quick opening plays. Like Berdell, he was even better on defense. Belcher was a linebacker on defense and no team was able to gain consistently through his side. "From Fairmont Sentinel (1951):" Fullback Clem Belcher and tackle John Morgan of the Saints won berths on the league All-Star football team, selected by South Central conference grid coaches at their annual meeting at Mankato Friday. A repeater from last year's dream team, Belcher was co-captain of the 1951 Saints and the workhorse of the Apostle backfield. A junior, the stocky 150-pounder will be back to plague opposition lines for another season. His baseball career showed his true toughness as the team's catcher for four years. In fact, Clem caught every game from his sophomore through his senior season.

Diane Bergquist Kaufman: Diane graduated from St. James High School in 1979. As one of the first great Saint female athletes in our history, Diane lettered eight times in track, volleyball and basketball. Diane will be best remembered for her talents in track and field. She was a state champion in 1976 and 1977 in the 220 yard dash setting a state record and unbeaten through the 1976 campaign along with a third place finish in 1978. She also went on to place in the 100 yard dash in 1976, 1977 and 1978. She scored the most points (186.75) in 1978. Diane was also a member of the 1976 440-Relay state runner-up, the 1978 state champion 880 relay team and the 1979 state runner-up in the 880 relay.

Dale Eckstrom: Dale graduated from St. James High School in 1950 and excelled in football, track, basketball and baseball. Dale has also been a long time fan and contributor to Saints athletic programs. In football, Dale was a three year player at half-back and was captain his senior year. He did the punting, kicking and punt returning and played cornerback on defense. He had a lot of long touchdown runs and was recruited to play football at St. Olaf College. In track, Daled was the South Central Conference 100 yard dash and long-jump champion setting conference records that would hold for the next twenty years. In basketball, before moving to St. James as a ninth grader, he played hockey so basketball was a new and different sport for him. He was still able to start on his freshman team. His senior year he suffered a bad shoulder injury in the last football game so had to play much of the year left-handed. In baseball, Dale's junior year he played pitcher and third base but as a senior was unable to pitch due to the shoulder injury so played centerfield in every game and never made an error all season. As a contributor, Dale was the timer for the track back in the 1960s and has kept the girls tennis records individual and team for over twenty years. In the winter, he was the girls basketball scorekeeper at the away games and has been able to work through all of the career statistics for the program from the start.

Amy Hintgen Kilian: Amy graduated from St. James High School in 1995. As a Saint athlete, Amy lettered and excelled in volleyball, basketball and track. She was awarded All-South Central Conference honors in volleyball, basketball and track. But what Amy is best known for from her days as a Saint is basketball. She ended her career with 1,478 points scored including a single-game record of 40 points. She was named to the All-State Tournament team when the Saints placed runner-up in 1995. She was also a finalist for Miss Basketball Minnesota and played on the Minnesota All-Star team.

Kenny Klutz: From St. James Plaindealer - early 1980s: "It's hard to determine whether Kenny is better known for his work as a carry-out boy, as a hustling batboy or for his raucous remards as a fan in the stands at high school athletic contests...About sports, "I like 'em all," he says, " I bowl quite a bit and I like football, basketball, wrestling," in addition to his baseball and softball dedication. He goes to home games and out-of-town games, cheers for the Saints and commiserates when they lose. When asked about a special thrill in sports, he said, "there've been so many it's pretty hard to tell," through he rates being the all-star batboy in the South Central Minny Baseball League they last two years pretty high. State high school championships by the 1972 wrestling and basketball teams were "real swell, real good", he said pointing out "I was up there that night when they won." One year he received an honorary membership plaque from the high school letterman's club." From St. James Head Football Coach Dave Dose (1978-1983) - "Congrats! This is your day for being the best manager and fan a coach and team could ever have. The Black Hat: Kenny, you wore it like John Wayne - proud and TALL - ALL - 5 foot 8 inches of you! It was vintage - James Gang - the team and fans loved it. The Smile: Whether it was Collier's Red Owl, Game field, or the Dyke Road, Kenny's smile and love for the Saints was unsurpassed. Loyal: 365 days a year - you are the #1 FAN of the Saints. Cheer: You would clap, yell and that voice clearly bellowed GO SAINTS! No one did it better! You are very deserving of this award. St. James Saints community, alumni, friends, family are all PROUD of YOU!

Troy Meyer: Troy graduated from St. James High School in 1995. While participating in football during his high school career, his passion was on the wrestling mat. He lettered eight time with five of those times being in wrestling. Some highlights of Troy's career include offensive back player of the year for football in 1994. He was the KEYC prep athlete of the week in wrestling as as the 1995 KNUJ wrestling of the year. He was voted wrestler of the year three running by his teammates. Troy held the school record for wrestling wins at 153 until Ethan Hildebrandt broke his record in 2010. However, Troy still holds the school record for most pins at 73 pins total. He was a four time conference champ, two time section champ and a participant in the state wrestling tournament three times. He placed sixth in 1993, fourth in 1994 and took fifth in 1995. Troy was a member of the St. James wrestling team when they attended the state tournament in 1992, 1994 and 1995. They took seventh, third and sixth respectively. He also participated in the 1993 football state tournament with the St. James football team.

Bill Mohr: Coach Bill Mohr walked the sidelines for the Saints gridders and coached from the edge of the mat for the Saints grapplers for thirty-five years. Bill, physical education teacher by trade, held the head football coaching position for the Saints from 1975-1978 going 10-17 over those years. But what Coach Mohr is best known for is being the coach behind the scenes. This honor shows how important he was to the dominant wrestling program for thirty years. Over the years of his expertise, the Saints wrestling program earned one state title in 1972 and many South Central Conference championships. His years as an assistant football coach brought a conference championship along with state appearances from the Saints on the gridiron.

Todd H. Schmidtke Sr.: Todd graduated from St. James High School in 1979. As a Saint, Todd excelled earning seven letter from football, basketball and baseball. Todd is best known for his talent on the diamond with his pitching numbers to prove it. Leading the Saints pitching staff to a state championship in 1979, Todd went 10-0 with a microscopic earned run average of 0.34. Those are both Saints baseball records that may never be touched. He also earned the 1979 Class A State Tournament Most Valuable Player and was named All-State. He also had the great opportunity to play in the Lion's All-Star series representing the Saints.