Stu’s Huntdown: Barry Wohler
Posted on December 28th, 2007 – 2:18 PMBy Michael Rand
Name: Barry Wohler
Claim to Fame, Minnesota: was a high school phenom for Bird Island-Lake Lillian roughly three decades ago. He led them to back-to-back state championships in football and basketball. So, he was Joe Mauer before Joe Mauer was Joe Mauer, only he was better than Joe Mauer. Your Huntdown Correspondent saw him play basketball against a plucky Hector Bulldogs squad way back when on a frigid winter night in a packed gymnasium. It was a beautiful thing.
Wohler ended up getting scholarship offers from the Gopher baseball, basketball and football programs, and was a member of the ’82 Big Ten Basketball and Baseball Conference Champions. I can’t speak for the baseball team, but that basketball team was my favorite non-Purple squad growing up in the pre-Puckett era. In particular, the gut-wrenching, 17-overtime game at Iowa should have its own DVD.
Claim to Fame, Everywhere Else: his professional baseball career ended at the Triple-A level in the Los Angeles Dodgers system. [Proprietor note: He also attempted a comeback with the Twins in 1995, hence that picture from spring training].
Where He Is Now: is a phy ed teacher and head boys’ basketball coach at Orono High School.
Glorious Randomness #1: prior to his current gig, Wohler was the head men’s basketball coach at Hamline, where, per the Gopher Hole link above, his coaching staff included fellow ’82 Gophers Zebedee Howell and Cookie Holmes. Really, I just wanted to type “Zebedee Howell” and “Cookie Holmes.” I could do that all day.
Glorious Randomness #2: the Renville County Fair is held in Bird Island, and the nearby Island Ballroom is a popular place to hold a marriage reception and see terrible cover bands.
8 Responses to "Stu’s Huntdown: Barry Wohler"
He also coached football (maybe more) at Belle Plaine in the 90’s. In fact, I believe he was still coach in 1995, when a plucky squad from LeSueur-Henderson made the drive up 169 to beat them for the conference title in a New England/Indianapolis like battle of the unbeatens.
I believe he was also umpiring a game in Jordan once, when a catcher asked for a new ball due to scratches on the one in play, to which he replied “Ah, that’ll just give it more movement.”
The very next pitch happened to not move that much, as it hit a certain RandBall poster.
Thanks a lot, Barry. And thanks to you too, Stu.
Grievous Error of Omission: the last graf of the story should read “…the nearby Island Ballroom is a popular place to hold a marriage reception, get stupid drunk when you’re underage and see terrible cover bands, probably the Shaw Band.”
The Huntdown Staff regrets the error.
LeSueur-Henderson, 1995, huh. Brings back memories of a particular young… /TMI
Looks like he snubbed his KDUZ/KARP hall of fame honor. Even Herb Carneal showed up for a photo.
I remember the name well, too. I can’t find confimation, and I was youngish at the time, but I’m guessing he had his way with the Glencoe bb squads a time or two. On the court, I mean.
Stu, ever had occasion to see Sons of Shaw? Either I was drunk or this was really a band playing a street dance. Could be both.
I bet Wohler could throw a football over those mountains…
Stu, ever had occasion to see Sons of Shaw?
Yes. At the aforementioned ballroom, a couple of friends and I requested “My Sharona” so loudly and so frequently that they played it the next time we saw them. They butchered it, but it was still a nice respite from the Bon Jovi and Poison covers that were the coin of the outstate cover band realm at the time.
So if this guy was Joe Mauer before Joe Mauer, was Dave Winfield the Barry Wohler before Barry Wohler?
That’s my dad.. =)
