Look us over, look us over, Come right down that line.
We can stand first class inspection, ‘Cause we’re right up to perfection We’re from Henry, we’re from Henry That’s the reason why.
Rah, rah, rah, rah, rah, rah,
For Henry High
Does everyone remember the Henry School Song? The year was 1941 and Patrick Henry was a fairly new school. Sports teams were forming. First was the debut of the Henry Gridders, which was their football team, coached by George Conklin and Bill Lundell. Then came the basketball guys, the Patrick Henry Cagers coached by Karl Hoerschgen and their able captain, Johnny Irving. They were soon ushered into the city league, playing 16 games, including league and non-league. Winning four games, two from Southwest, one from Mound and the other from St. Paul Monroe, the Patriots won acclaim for being a fighting team. After losing to Washburn, Central, Vocational and West, they roared back, nearly upsetting the Teddies of Roosevelt, but lost 26-29. The names of the men on that first team were Wigdahl, Malat, Claesgens, Boerner, Boehlke, Molgren, Engelbretson, Amlie, Irving and Eggan.
Another fine team was the wrestlers. As a senior high, Henry entered the city-wide wrestling contests for the first time in ‘41. City champ, Gus Lindgren, who also placed 4th in the state, Finnemore placing 2nd in the city and state, and Zelinsky, one of their top wrestlers–were vitally important to the Henry team, who placed 3rd in the city and 7th in the state. The boys, coached by Bill Lundell, received medals for their outstanding work! The names of the team members were Finnemore, Lane, Fotia, Murphy, Lindgren, Cautcher, Peterson, Zelinsky and Burnheart.
We mustn’t forget the baseball players, composed mostly of veterans from the team of 1940, who entered the city league in great style. With the outstanding pitching of Norman Eck, they won their first game over the favored Edison, 8-5. A beginning such as this raised high hopes for the team to win the title of their division, North-Northeast. The Henry team was a team to be proud of. Their coaches were Messrs. Mullery, Johnson and Anderson, and the players were Nelson, Agness, Schwartz, Lindgren, Lindeman, Malat, Boehlke, Warner, Eck, Webster, Irving, Hansen, Schoemaker, Cogswell, Risberg and Engelbretson.
Last, but not least, was the pride of Henry, the ski team organized just this year, 1941. Coming through with flying colors, they won not only the city championship, but also became the Twin City champs, placing first above St. Paul Monroe. Henry tied with North for 2nd place in the state meet. Among the honors received by Henry members were a 2nd place in the slalom race for Bill Wigdahl in the city and state meets, and a first in the Twin City meet. Marvin Zeeb captured a 3rd place in the cross country run. The trophy case holds the gold trophy for placing in the state contest. The skiers that year were Newstrom, Wigdahl, Olson, Plant, Zeeb, Hanson and Vader.
All in all, the Henry athletes had a very good first year and were looking forward to bigger and better teams in 1942!