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.

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