Conrad Garner inducted into hall of fame
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March 24, 2013 |
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Photos by Brenda Liermann
A big crowd from Bonners Ferry traveled to Coeur
d'Alene Saturday evening to be on hand as
wrestling coach Conrad Garner, who has not only
coached the Bonners Ferry Badgers for 27 years,
but has worked with and mentored local wrestlers of all ages, be
awarded the Idaho Chapter of the National
Wrestling Hall of Fame "Lifetime Service to
Wrestling Award" and inducted into the Hall of
Fame.
He was one of five so honored, though sadly one
of the inductees, Wallace wrestling coach Bob
Schrieber, passed away in February before his
recognition.
Also honored were coaches Ron Wood, Kellogg, and
Greg Cossette, Post Falls.
Another inductee familiar to local wrestlers was
Merrill Owens, who has officiated both high
school and college wresting for more than
30-years before retiring this year.
Garner, the lead science teacher at Bonners
Ferry High School, served as assistant wrestling
coach at Lakeland for two years before moving to
Bonners Ferry in 1986. He has served as head
wrestling coach ever since, amassing a 165-145
win loss record and coaching 19 Idaho State
Champions, two collegiate All-Americans and four
USA All-Americans, most of whom he'd coached
long before they reached high school.
Two of his state champions, Adam Hall and Blaine
Invernon, won state titles three times.
He was named Idaho's Wrestling Coach of the year
three times, in 2004, 2006 and again this year.
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Merrill Owens |
Owen Merrill, Coeur d'Alene, officiated matches
in North Idaho Schools for 34 years, to include
officiating at the Tri-State Tournament for 26
consecutive years. He was named the 1991
Official of the Year by the National Federation
of High School Officials and as 2001's Official
of the Year by the National Officials
Association.
Robert Schreiber, who taught physical education
and health at Wallace High School and coached
both wrestling and baseball since graduating
from the University of Idaho in 1971, passed
away February 12 at the age of 66.
He was remembered Saturday for keeping the
school's wrestling program alive, often spending
his own money to do so, so as to give students
the opportunity to compete and improve.
Even though he often didn't have enough students
to field a team, if a student wanted to compete,
Rob would coach and mentor, often taking them to
meets on his own. His dedication to the sport
was felt far beyond Wallace; he served 20 years,
from 1985 to 2005, as president of the North
Idaho Wrestling League, where his focus was
always the personal improvement of wrestlers. |
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