Induction ceremony to be held March 29 at NYM School

By Chad Koenen

Publisher

The New York Mills community will come together on Saturday, March 29 to honor its past and celebrate the contributions of past athletes and community members during the annual NY Mills Hall of Fame/Wall of Fame induction ceremony. 

The ceremony will be held at the NY Mills School auditorium and is open to the public. The induction ceremony will get underway at 6 p.m.

A total of five people/teams will be inducted into the NY Mills Hall of Fame/Wall of Fame, including Howard Legried, Richard Ericksrud, Terry Weller,  Joel Kumpula and the 1973 girls basketball team. 

Howard Legried

NY Mills Wall of Fame inductee Howard Legried arrived in NY Mills in 1958 and started Dairyland Veterinary Services. The business eventually grew to three veterinarians, which served the greater NY Mills area. He was also an East Otter Tail County 4-H member who was a club agent from 1955-56, one of four state 4-H alumni award winners in 1976 and was on the East Otter Tail County Fair Board. 

Legried was also named a King Agassiz Leader at the 1971 Northwest Winter Show, nominated for East Otter Tail County by peers for rural individuals who symbolize the future of farming and agriculture business.

In more recent years, he has been a five-time president of the NY Mills Lions Club and was also the charter president. He was inducted into the District 5M9 Lions Hall of Fame in Winnipeg, Manitoba and started the annual bazaar in 1972, which is now the Lion’s Auction. He also served for nine years as a member of the NY Mills Library Board and also served as president of the board. 

Legried was also involved in a number of local capacities, including chair of Lund Park Committee and community swimming pool (which is named after him), founding member of the NY Mills Elder’s Home and lifetime member of NYM Civic and Commerce. He was a school board member, designed and bought the first girls basketball banners and was master of ceremonies for the three state championship celebrations.

He is also known for his golf course that is free to the public, helps people learn the game of golf and is used to raise money for a number of local fundraisers. He also started a canoe camping program (UCC Church Camp), where he was a counselor for three years. 

Richard Ericksrud

Longtime wrestling head coach Richard Ericksrud will be inducted into the NY Mills Hall of Fame. He was an educator at NY Mills School from 1968-99, while also being selected as the Minnesota School Counselors’ Association “Secondary Counselor of the Year” in 1993. 

He was the NY Mills High School head wrestling coach from 1968-86 where he compiled a record of 163-60-5. He won 12 Park Region Conference dual meet championships, 10 Park Region Conference tournament championships, multiple conference, district and region coach of the year honors, while also coaching 48 individual conference champions, 23 district champs, 10 state place winners and two state champions.

Ericksrud initiated and organized the NYM Youth Wrestling Program (1973) and Youth Wrestling Club (1974), as well as the annual NYM Wrestling Family and Friends Shoot Fundraiser (2023).

The NY Mills School wrestling room was named “Ericksrud Family Wrestling Room” his family’s honor to commemorate their contributions and accomplishments. He was also inducted into the Dave Bartelma Wrestling Hall of Fame by the MN Wrestling Coaches Association.

In addition to his time as head wrestling coach, Ericksrud served as the head coach for track and field for four years and assistant football coach for 17 years.

Over the years, Ericksrud has been involved in many community endeavors: founding member of Footprints Foundation, created and helped fund the NY Mills Civic Excellence Award/Scholarship, served 52 years as a Lion’s Club member (president for two terms).

1973 girls basketball team 

The 1973 NY Mills girls basketball team won Minnesota’s first-ever Region/Section girls basketball title. This was accomplished when Minnesota had only one class of basketball state wide.

The team ended their season and started the district tournament with a 9-3 record. They went on to defeat Hawley (59-42), Fergus Falls (51-42), Frazee (34-32 OT), and Dilworth (40-28) to win the District 23 tournament.

The Eagles advanced to the region tournament where they first defeated Breckenridge 44-36 in the semi-finals before topping the Wadena Indians in the championship game by a score of 42-40. 

Dorothy McIntyre, Assistant Director of MSHSL, presented the championship trophy to the team in front of over 2,000 fans that packed the Alexandria gym.

The team and tournament united the NY Mills community and planted the seed of girls’ basketball power for the years to come.

Terry Weller

Terry Weller wrestled for NY Mills High School from 1978-82 where he lettered five times and posted a career record of 74-35. In his senior season he went 30-1 with 24 pins, six tournament championships (Starbuck Invite, Perham Tournament, Park Region Conference, Districts, Regions and State).

He was an integral member of the 1982 NY Mills wrestling team that posted a record of 11-1 and was rated as high as fourth in the state. The Eagles’ only loss was to Staples who went on to win the state championship.

In addition to his time at NY Mills High School, Weller was an assistant wrestling coach at Perham High School for 20 years, as well as a volunteer assistant for the Menahga/Sebeka United North Central wrestling team.

He has been an umpire for baseball and softball games since 2016 and has volunteers as a boat captain for the NY Mills High School fishing team since the program’s inception. 

Joel Kumpula

Joel Kumpula wrestled for NY Mills High School from 1970-75, letting six years and finishing with a career record of 131-29-6. At the time of graduation, his 131 wins was the third most all time and during a time of a one-class system. 

He was a six-time District 23 place finisher taking third place twice, second place twice and first place twice. He was also a four-time Region 6 place winner taking fourth place, second place and first place on two occasions, while being a state place finisher three times after taking sixth place twice and second place one.

Kumpula was a three-time NY Mills wrestling captain and two-time NY Mills School MVP. He was a six year Park Region Conference place winner after finishing as the runner up three times and capturing three conference titles. 

He was the winner of a number of invitation tournaments including Brainerd and Perham (two-time Perham Invite Outstanding Wrestler).

Following high school, Kumpula wrestled for Bismarck Junior College during the 1976 and 1977 seasons compiling a 28-5 record with 16 pins, while winning the North Dakota Conference. 

In addition to wrestling, Kumpula lettered in high school football and track.

He was also a volunteer coach for eight years with the NY Mills wrestling high school and youth programs after graduation.