The following is part of a 10-week series on the history of UW-Stout football. The series, which will run every Wednesday in The Dunn County News, is a collaboration with the The News, the Dunn County Historical Society and UW-Stout Athletics. The Stout football program will mark the centennial with a reunion celebration on Homecoming, Saturday, Oct. 1. For more information about the reunion, call the UW-Stout athletic office at 715-232-2224.
By Layne Pitt
UW-Stout Sports Information Director
It may have been early in the season, but Sept. 22, 1951, put an exclamation point on one of the best seasons ever for the Stout Institute football team when it rolled over Northland College, 64-6, at Nelson Field.
In Hall of Fame coach Tony Storti's final year as head coach at Stout Institute, the Blue Devils finished with an overall record of 7-1, the second best record in Stout football history. Stout's top record came during the 2000 championship season when the Blue Devils posted a 10-1 overall record.
During the 1951 season, Stout recorded three shutouts and allowed only one team to score in double digits, and that came in a 14-7 loss to arch-rival La Crosse that cost Stout the conference title. Stout allowed 39 points over the eight games for a nifty 4.9 per game average, while offensively averaging 32.5 points, second only to the 1998 team of 35.9 points.
The team had six players named to first team all-conference, second only to the 2000 team that had seven first team players. First team players included defensive back Paul Christopherson, who intercepted four passes against Superior on Nov. 6, defensive lineman George Krall, end Herb Markley, defensive back Bob Nessler, offensive guard Karl Turk, and defensive tackle John Widmar. Defensive end John Debrauske and quarterback Gale Woelffer were honorable mention.
Woelffer, a first team all-conference player during the 1950 season, shared quarterback duties throughout the season with Wayne Weiler. Woelffer is currently ranked sixth on the all-time UW-Stout passing list, despite statistics unavailable for eight games over his career. When Woelffer wrapped up his Stout career, he was the all-time leading quarterback with 3,499 passing yards and 42 touchdowns. Woelffer was a member of the original UW-Stout Athletic Hall of Fame in 1978.
September 22, 1951
It would be 53 years before Stout would again score more than 60 points in a game. The Blue Devils scored a 65-7 win over Waldorf College, Oct. 2, 2004, and then blanked Eureka College, 63-0, in 2010.
In that 1951 Northland game, Stout jumped out to a 19-0 first quarter lead with two TDs by Red Walker and another by Dick McNamara. Walker added another score in the second quarter before Northland put the ball in the end zone for its only score of the day. Dick Wagner rushed five yards for a score and Wayne Weiler connected with Ed Fandry for a 30-yard scoring pass to give Stout a 29-6 halftime lead. Weiler and Fandry hooked up again in the third period and George Van Buran added a six-yard run. Weiler took off for a 30-yard fourth quarter score and Van Buran got his second TD of the night to close out the scoring.
Stout set scoring records in that game that still stand. The Blue Devils scored 10 touchdowns, rushing for eight of them. Apparently, extra points for both teams were hard to come by. Stout missed on six extra point attempts, and Northland failed on its only attempt.
As for wins and losses, the Fabulous 50s weren't
The 1951 season proved to be a highlight season for Stout football that decade. Following the 1951 season, Storti moved on to Montana and earned his way into the Montana State Hall of Fame by winning a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) national championship.
Stout posted three one-win seasons, and three two-win seasons, during the 1950s.
But the Blue Devil squad was still filled with colorful characters during the 1950s. Coach Bob Bostwick took over the program during the 1958 season and coached through 1962. While rarely getting above a .500 record, Bostwick, a Hall of Fame member, coached a number of players that to this day still get together on a regular basis, and his 1960 team finished second in the Wisconsin State University Conference (WSUC).
The UW-Stout Hall of Fame included other members from the 1950s, such as Dick Frederickson, who would go on to coach a myriad of state championship track and field squads at Arcadia High School. Dick Frederickson's son, Scott, competed on his father's track teams at Arcadia and would matriculate to Stout where he produced a football career and he preceded his father into the UW-Stout Hall of Fame.
Duane Ramberg was a three-time all-conference defensive back who went on to make a name for himself in the speed skating world. Red Walker and John Widmar joined Storti and Woelffer in the Hall of Fame. Dick Tepp played center and linebacker and was the school's first wrestling coach.
Pat Krall, a three-time all-conference offensive lineman blocked two years for explosive running back and versatile all-around player Glenn Harke, a member of the original Hall of Fame.
Harke wasted little time establishing himself with the Blue Devils. In his first game as a Blue Devil in 1957, Harke scored two second-half touchdowns (45 and 17 yards) to lead Stout to a 20-13 comeback win over Winona State.
In 1959, Harke took the season's opening kickoff and returned it 102 yards against Winona State to set a school and WSUC record that still stands. In a 23-13 win over Stevens Point in 1960, Harke scored three touchdowns, one for each unit. He rushed for a 4-yard score, returned a punt 73 yards and topped off the game on defense by returning an interception 35 yards for a score.
Harke closed out his career as the school's all-time leading rusher with 1,566 yards and all-time leading scorer with 131 points on 21 touchdowns and five extra points.
An all-around athlete, Harke was also a member of the Blue Devil basketball, baseball and track teams. Harke was a two-time first team all-conference recipient in football, and was team captain twice for football, twice for basketball and once for track.
