The STMA Hall of Fame Committee has announced the election of five new members to the STMA Hall of Fame. The induction ceremony will take September 11 at 4:30 p.m. at the Riverwood Golf Course in Otsego and the new members will be introduced at halftime of the football game that evening against Elk River.
This year’s inductees include the following: Derek Brant, Eddy Dehmer, Joe Hagerty, Grant Ketel, and Eric Vollbrecht. The public is invited, and tickets are $12 per person.
Brant was a three sport athlete, starring on the football, basketball, and baseball teams, and playing in football and baseball state tournaments his senior year. He went on to play college baseball at Grandview College in Iowa, parlaying that into a brief minor league baseball career after being drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies.
Dehmer played football and wrestled, and despite his diminutive size, he was a career 1,000 yard running back and strong defensive player during his high school years. He excelled in wrestling, making the varsity team as a seventh grader, winning 186 matches and two state championships in his storied career on the Knights’ wrestling team.
Hagerty, the Wright County Sheriff, played center and defensive end on the football team, and wrestled as well. He was an excellent team player, hard-nosed and competitive, and he has taken those skills into his volunteer work with the youth football and baseball programs over the past 15 years. He is a great example of the community involvement that is one of the paths to inclusion in the STMA Hall of Fame.
Ketel was also a three sport athlete in football, basketball, and baseball. His primary sport became baseball, and he anchored the Knights’ rotation in his final two seasons in high school, ranking seventh in state history with 30 career wins. He, too, went to Grandview College, returning home to pitch for the local town team St. Michael Saints baseball team. He won the league ERA title four times, placing second four more, and was MVP of the state tournament in 1997.
Vollbrecht played three sports, including football, basketball, and track. He set a high school league career interception with 37 over his three year career. He went on to Moorhead State University, where he continued to play football and track, leading the football team in scoring as a wide receiver in his senior year and captaining the track team.
Contact Steve Rothweiler for tickets in advance of the dinner. Send your check for dinner to Steve Rothweiler at 11880 37th Street NE, St. Michael, MN 55376, in advance of the dinner. Make your check payable to STMA CA.