Hall of Fame

An Olympian, a politician and a wrestling announcer walk into a room. And the punchlines were many at Saturday's induction into the Minnesota chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame at the Austin Holiday Inn.

His voice is synonymous with Owatonna wrestling specifically, and all wrestling in general. His exclamation, "Takedown! Owatonna!" is a legendary call. Dale Benjamin will enter the Minnesota Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame as a lifetime service honoree at a banquet on Saturday, April 21 at the Holiday in of Austin. It is a well-deserved recognition.

The 1960 Edgerton boys' basketball team, which is the smallest school to win the Minnesota state championship during the single-class era, is among the honorees into the first Minnesota Basketball Hall of Fame class. Players from that team were among those recognized at Monday's Minnesota Timberwolves' game and just a couple of days after four schools won state high school championships at Target Center.

Jeff Becker, a former longtime assistant wrestling coach at Owatonna, will be inducted into the Region One-Mayo Civic Center Wrestling Hall of Fame Monday, March 5. The banquet will be held at Charlie's Eatery on Highway 52 North in Rochester in the Hillcrest Mall. Call for tickets at 507-358-7075. Tickets will also be at the door.

The inaugural class of the Medford High School Hall of Fame will be honored Friday at the homecoming football game and during a banquet Saturday night at the Owatonna VFW.

2004 Owatonna High School graduate Nicole McCann was an eighth grader when her grandfather Ev Berg was inducted into the OHS Athletic Hall of Fame in 1999. Berg started the cross country program at OHS and was its longtime coach.

The Owatonna High School Athletic Hall of Fame will grow by five this Friday.

The 2017 class of the OHS athletic hall of fame includes a longtime coach, former activities director and three athletes. Their induction will take place September 8.

Triton football coach Don Henderson, Owatonna cross country coach Dave Chatelaine and former NRHEG wrestling coach Paul Cyr all became hall of fame members in 2016.

The fifth annual Triton Athletic Hall of Fame ceremony will be 6PM Saturday, September 17. Two teams and seven individuals will be honored.