The Class of 1926

The 1926 Polaris

Elizabeth Anderson, Robert Andre, John Ascher,

Helen Babcock, Albert Balz, Virginia Bartley, Victor Baumgartner, Carl Becker, Virginia Bear, Nellie Bender, Donald Bennett, John Bentley, Quinter Bere,Roy Blackburn, Donald Blackiston, Marie Bloom, Geneva Bokemeier, Zita Boland, Jane Borgmier, Marvin Boyd, Howard Broughton, Wesley Brubaker, Margaret Bruins,

Bernice Carey, Lawrence Confer, Geneva Coomber, Jesse Cotherman, Edward Credicott, Margaret Cunningham,

Donald Dickinson, Collin Diefenthaler, Robert Dorman,

Mark Eberly, Willard Eder,

Katherine Fishburn, Robert Fishburn, Kathryne Folgate, Ruth Fosha, Isabel Frank, Ruth Fredrichs,

Maryetta Gage, Ruth Garman, Dwight Garnhart, Nellie Goethe, Viola Graff, John Graham, Berniece Green, La Verne Grell,

Elizabeth Hadley, Edwin Hall, Richard Hayner, Gertrude Heiden, Howard Heilman, Theodore Heinen, Norma Henson, George Hepfer, Rodney Hewins, Ozro Hill, Rose Hoffman, Emerson Hofmeister, Rebecca Hoy, Elizabeth Hutchinson,

Kenneth Iler, Magdalene Ilgen,

Garnet Jeffrey, Marcia Johnson, Evelyn Jonas, John Jurgensmeier,

Melvin Keister, Eleanor Kennison, Alice Kinney, Lorraine Knauff, Alfred Koester, Ruth Kortemeier, Helen Kraft, Orlo Krell, Thelma Kuhlemeyer,

Morse Laible, Eugene Lattig,

Ruby Machamer, Kenneth Madden, Mary Maurer, Maurice McClanathan, Francis McLarnon, David McNary, Marvin Meier, Mildred Meinzer, Vades Mellom, Alice Miller, Tom Moers, Inez Molter, Margaret Moren, Robert Moren,

Frances Nee, Harold Neidigh, James Neimen, Leona Nesbit,

Forrest Paul, Isabel Penticoff, John Pera, Lola Ploeger, Gladys Portner, Mary Powers,

David Rackley, Jeanette Reardon, Helen Ridgway, Thelma Ritter, Burton Rohde, Eunice Rummel, Dorothy Ryan,

Viola Sandmeier, Helen Sawhill, Malburn Schlegel, Eleanor Schmertman, Lorene Schramm, Berniece Scott, Ruth Seidel, Mary Shaw, Harold Shippee, Louella Shouer, Fred Sieck, Marian Sikes, Margaret Smith, Mildred Smith, Edrye Smull, Leona Soladay, Lois Spitler, Dorothy Stahl, Cecil Stevens, Herbert Stimpert, Carl Stoffragen, Charles Stone, William Stover, Edward Strahm, Mary Sullivan, John Swartz, Russell Sword,

Irene Taylor, Virginia Taylor, Dorothy Tscherning,

Lorraine Wagner, Dallas Walbaum, Sophie Weber, Elizabeth Weidenhoff, Harold Widmer, Irene Wieneke, Leah Williams, Orlo Williams, Leslie Witte, Freeman Wittenmeyer, Catherine Womer, Glenn Woodward, Lillian Wubbena, Harry Wurtzel,

Charles Young, Raymond Young, Amelia Younglove.

The Freeport High School football team had its second consecutive undefeated season in the fall of 1925, finishing it off with a 13-7 win over Elwood City, Pennsylvania in a game played in Pittsburgh. Elwood City, recognized as the best team in the East, had not lost a game in four years. Freeport travelled to their field and beat them soundly, claiming the second consecutive National Championship! Freeport finished the season with 10 wins and 0 defeats, outscoring their opponents 261-10. The Pretzels whipped their traditional rival, the Rockford Rabs (Red & Blacks), 67-0, scoring 33 points in the 3rd quarter.

The account in the 1926 Polaris reads: "Ellwood High of Pittsburgh—As a reward for their excellent work during the 1925 season, the players were given a trip to Pittsburgh, where they took on the champion Ellwood team of that city. Ellwood had come through three seasons already without feeling the sting of defeat, and, up to this time during 1925, they had been unbeaten. This, however, was a Pretzel year, and Ellwood received her first trimming, 13-7.

"It was just such a day as the Pretzels were used to, dark overhead, and sloppy under foot. Nevertheless, these conditions placed a great handicap on the small Pretzel team. The Ellwood aggregation was, without a doubt, the heaviest which the Freeporters were called upon to meet during the season. Nine of their men were over 6 feet in height, and the regulars had an average weight of between 170 and 175 pounds. Big Tom McMurdo, their captain and fullback, scaled 228 pounds. This fellow, during his long term of football, had never been stopped.

"Bere rang up the first touchdown of the day, when he went 42 yards off left tackle. Grell crossed Ellwood's defense, when he threw a pass to Keith from kick formation, for the extra point. Freeport scored again when Tom MacMurdo's kick from behind the goal was blocked and recovered by Neidigh. The try for point failed.

"During the last quarter, the ankle-deep mud and the tremendous weight carried by Ellwood began to tell on the Freeport fellows. It was then that "Big Tom" MacMurdo made the extra points with a plunge through the line. Two minutes later, the whistle closed the most gruelling game in Freeport's gridiron history.

"Pittsburgh sports writers, because of his extraordinary displays of football genius, pronounced Bunny Paul: 'The greatest high school wingman ever seen around Pittsburgh.' They likened the 42-yard run by Bere to runs made by 'Red Grange' in his initial appearance in the East on the same gridiron at the Pitt stadium."

Letter Men: Carl Becker, John Bentley (Captain), Quinter Bere, Donald Blackiston, Donald Botdorf, La Verne Grell, Theodore Heinen, Lee Jones, Herbert Keith, Harold Neidigh, Forrest Paul, Ralph Ruthe, Herbert Stimpert.

Monogram Men: Carol Becker, James Brew, William Cahill, Frederick Held, Hazen Hunter, Kenneth Madden, William Moseley, Harold Perry, George Price, John Roddewig, Burton Rorde, Harold Smith, H. Jim Taber, John Weishar.

The Lightweight team finished with a 7-1 record, shutting out six of their opponents. Lightweight Lettermen: Forrest Bender, Howard Broughton, Thomas Goetz, Ralph Johnston, Maurice McClanathan (Captain), Roy Roddewig, Robert Rowley, Rodney Smith, Arthur Steffen, Charles Stone, Edward Strahm, John Swartz, Harry Wurtzel.
Monogram Men: Albert Balz, William Brice, Beryl Carlson, Robert Criddle,John Gage, John Graham, Edwin Hall, Francis McClarnon, Thomas McClarnon, John Ogden, Robert Moren, Paul Rohde, Earl Soladay, Charles Young, Jack Thro.

Freeport was also the 1926 State Champions in basketball.

Left to right: Harold Shippee, Quinter Bere, Herbert Keith, Howard Broughton, Captain Harold Neidigh, Ralph Johnston, Maurice McClanathan, Ralph Ruthe, Herbert Stimpert, Charles Stone, Coach Glenn "Pat" Holmes.

Semifinals Scores
Canton 20, Flora 18
Freeport 21, Athens 15

Third Place
Flora 23, Athens 14

Final
Freeport 24, Canton 13

Freeport's final record was 19-2. On February 22, 1926, the Pretzels beat the highly regarded Belvidere squad 23-13, marking the first varsity basketball game played in the new gymnasium.

Herbert Stimpert and Herbert Keith were Freeport's leading scorers with 17 points apiece in the two games at the state final. Herbert Keith, a 5-8 Senior, and Herbert Stimpert, a 6-1 Senior, both made the All-Tournament Team. In the championship game, Canton led at the half, 10-9. Freeport took the lead in the third quarter, leading 14-12 at the end of the stanza. The Pretzels outscored Canton 10-1 in the final frame to ice the victory and win Freeport's second state title.

The total enrollment for the 1925-26 school year was 856.

Amelia Younglove was listed as a sophomore in 1924. Stewart Fish, her son, wrote to me that she graduated from Dana Hall School in Wellesley, Massachusetts and then attended Smith College.