Ed Funk – At Large

Sioux Valley Class of 1981

Academics and Activities – FFA; National Honor Society

College – Brown Institute of Broadcasting ‘81; Linn State Technical College ‘97

Career – Sports director of KWOA Radio doing play-by-play for Football, Basketball, Wrestling, and Baseball; The Ed Funk Award is given by the YMCA.

Ed and his wife, Shelly, have 2 children: William and Olivia. Ed is now living in Lewiston, MN employed as an Applications Developer for Vacava, Inc in Rochester. He was inducted into the Trojan Hall of Fame in 2005.

Posted on Wed, April 22, 2020 by Clasine Lester

Bill Bohning- WHS Class of 1972

Football – 2 year letter winner; All Conference; All Area

Basketball – 2 year letter winner; Most Valuable Player, All Conference; All Area

Track – 2 year letter winner

Academics and Activities – National Honor Society; school plays

College – Worthington Junior College, lettered in Football, Basketball and Track

Bill and his wife, Suzanne, have five children: Cassie, Jaimee, Adam, Sam, and Amanda. Bill now lives in Mankato and his the president of four printing companies. He was inducted into the Trojan Hall of Fame in 2005.

Posted on by Clasine Lester

Michelle (Moret) Zaske – WHS Class of 1990

Gymnastic letter winner – 6 time letter winner; All State; All Conference

Cross Country – 6 timeletter winner

Track – 6 time letter winner

Awards – Most Valuable Female Athlete 1990

Academics and Activities – Homecoming candidate; Orchestra; National Honor Society

College – Worthington Community College 90-92, Volleyball; St. Cloud State, Degree in BioMEdical Science/Athletic Training; North Hemmepin Community College, RN Degree

Bio
Michelle and her husband, Dave, have a daughter, Mikayla. She is living in St. Cloud and working at the St. Cloud Hospital as an RN. She was inducted into the Trojan Hall of Fame in 2004.

Posted on by Clasine Lester

Rueben Svingen – At Large

Benson High School Class of 1938

College – St. Olaf 38-42

WHS Activities – Taught at the Worthington Junior High for 45 years; Helped set up the 1st Trojan Relays (put the lane lies on the track at 4:00 a.m. the day of the meet); For 45 years, was the “voice of the Trojans”, announcing for football, basketball, and track at WHS; also announced for many Worthington Junior College events such as basketball and the National JC Wrestling Tournament; the scorer for many basketball games at the college and high school.

Rueben is currently retired and living in Worthington. He still attends many of the WHS activities. He was inducted into the Trojan Hall of Fame in 2004.

Posted on by Clasine Lester

Leon Schimbeno – Coach

College – Mankato State, Kansas University, and Michigan State University; participated in Golf

Career – Storden High School Teacher/Coach 1951-1954; Fulda High School Teacher/Coach 1954-1956; Worthington High School Teacher Coach 1956-1987, Baseball Assistant Coach, Assistant Coach Football, Assistant Coach Girls and Boys Basketball, Head Golf Coach

Leon and his wife, Chris, have 4 children: Gary, Terry, Shari, and Jeri. Leon retired and lived in Worthington spending time with his family and his hobby building golf clubs. Leon passed away in 2013. He was inducted into the Trojan Hall of Fame in 2004.

Posted on by Clasine Lester

Leon Rupert – WHS Class of 1967

Cross Country – Lettered 3 years in Cross Country. Placed 39th at State as a Junior, Placed 11th at State as a Senior, Most Valuable Player in 1965 & 66

Track – Lettered 3 years; Most Valuable Player in 1966 & 67; State Participant in 220 yd Dash and 440 yd Dash setting school records in both; Conference record in 220 yd Dash and 440 yd Dash

College – Worthington Junior College, Cross Country,Track, Track Most Valuable Player 68

Other – Active in Boy Scouts (Star Scout), coached YMCA Track programs; Served 20 years 3 months in the United States Air Force, serving in Taiwan, Thailand, and England

Leon and his wife, Elizabeth, have 2 children: Mike and Katy, and 6 grandchildren. Leon is currently living in Grain Valley, MO working for Inland Truck Parts as Safety Manager. He was inducted into the Trojan Hall of Fame in 2004.

Posted on by Clasine Lester

Joe Roberts – WHS Class of 1957

Football – 3 time letter winner; Record of 19-5

Baseball – 3 time letter winner; District 8 Championship ’55 & ’57

Basketball – 4 time letter winner

College – St. Johns, Football ‘59; Mankato State University, Baseball ’60-’62 All conference

Coach – Head baseball for 11 years at Luverne, 4 District 8 Championships, 3 Southwest Conference Championships, Region 2 Championship and a trip to the State Tournament in 1972; Offensive Coordinator for football for 13 years, 4 SWC Championships, 3 Section Championships, 3 State Tournaments

Joe and his wife, Cheryl, have 2 children: Victoria and Thomas. Joe is retired and living in Luverne. He was inducted into the Trojan Hall of Fame in 2004.

Posted on by Clasine Lester

Dennis Hitzemann – WHS Class of 1972

Football – three years; Southwest Conference Honorable Mention ‘71

Basketball – three years; Southwest Conference Honorable Mention ‘72

Baseball – three years; All-Southwest Conference ’71, ‘72; MVP ‘72; Southwest Conference Champs ‘72

Academics – National Honor Society

College – Worthington Community College, Baseball All State ’73, ‘74; South Dakota State University ‘74-76, Baseball ’75 & ‘76, All-NCC ‘76; Mankato State University, Masters Degree

Dennis and his wife, Margaret (Brandt) have 2 daughters: Jennifer and Camille. Dennis has been a teacher in Lynd, Barrett and Verndale. He was Head Baseball Coach at Barrett and Verndale, Assistant Basketball Coach at Barrett, Junior High Football Coach at Lynd. He is currently retired after serving as the principal at Onamia High School, Onamia, MN. He was inducted into the Trojan Hall of Fame in 2002.

Posted on by Clasine Lester

Larry Petersen – Coach

High School – Football, Cross Country, Basketball, Track

College – South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Northern State University, Track

Teaching – Beardsley, MN 2 years; Worthington High School, Science 32 years, Worthington Teacher of the Year 1997

Coach – Beardsley – Track, Football, Basketball; Worthington High School – Cross-Country 31 years, helped start Girls Cross Country in 1979, Track 32 years

Coaching Honors – Minnesota Class AA Girls Track Coach of the Year 1999; Section 2AA Track Coach of the Year (1984, 1997, 1999); 14 SW Conference Track Team Champions; Two Section 2AA Track Team Champions

Larry and his wife, Jan, have 3 children: Troy, Amber, and Brittany. Larry is retired. He was inducted into the Trojan Hall of Fame in 2002.

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Lance Rogers – WHS Classs of 1983

Wrestling – 4 years; State Champion ‘83; 103-17-1 career record; Two-time Region Champion; Four-time All-Southwest Conference; Academic All-State; MVP ‘83; Team Captain

Awards – Don Strom Award‘83

Activities – FFA, Star Greenhand, Star Chapter Farmer, State Farmer

College – North Dakota State University (5 years); Wrestling, Four-year starter, 80-37-1 Career Record, Two-time All-American, North Central Conference Champion

Coach – Assistant Coach NDSU’s National Champs; Assistant Coach at WCC, WHS, and WJHS, started Worthington’s Optimist Wrestling program

Lance is currently a farmer in the Reading area. He and his wife, Tammy, have 3 children: Chad Davis, Logan, and Landon. He was inducted into the Trojan Hall of Fame in 2001.

Posted on by Clasine Lester