Packer History

Thanks to Austin alumnus Chris Harder for providing much of the information below from his collection of state tournament programs. If you can help fill in any of the gaps, or have corrections or other information you think would be interesting to feature, contact us by email.

Big 9 Titles by School

(No info from 2001-2003) – includes ties

• 19 Austin
• 16 Red Wing
• 11 Rochester Mayo
• 9 Mankato
• 9 Rochester JM
• 8 Faribault
• 6 Mankato West
• 6 Owatonna
• 5 Albert Lea
• 3 Rochester
• 3 Mankato East
• 2 Northfield

Austin Big 9 Champions

1930, 1937, 1943 (tied), 1944 (tied), 1950, 1951, 1954, 1955, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1971 (tied), 1974, 1975, 1981, 1988 (tied), 1999 (tied), 2012, 2013

Big 9 Teams with Undefeated Regular Seasons Since 1951

• 1951 Austin (17-0)
• 1953 Red Wing (22-0)
• 1955 Austin (17-0)
• 1981 Austin (22-0)
• 2013 Austin (25-0)

Other Notables:

• 1969 Rochester JM (23-1 State Champion) – only loss to Austin
• 1989 Owatonna (24-1 State Champion) – only loss to Austin

Austin State Tournament Appearances

• Champions (3): 1935, 1946, 1958
• Runner-up (5):  1923, 1955, 1960, 1972, 1981
• Appearances (27):  1913, 1916, 1922, 1923, 1925, 1926, 1928, 1935, 1939, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1946, 1947, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1963, 1972, 1981, 1982, 2012

All-Time Leading Austin Scorers

• 1,339 Joe Aase
• 1,106 Zach Wessels*
• 1,059 Brian Elwer
• 1,050 Connor Gunderson
• 1,032 Jim Riles
• 953 Tom Aase

* = Active Player

Big 9 Scoring Leaders (Conference games only) from Austin

1950-1975

• 1950-51 Burdette Haldorson 10 games, 254 points, 25.4 avg (1960 Olympic Gold Medalist)
• 1951-52 Bob Hastings 10, 238, 23.8
• 1953-54 Jerry Olson 10, 208, 20.8
• 1954-55 Jerry Olson 10, 260, 26.0
• 1956-57 Ron Carothers 10, 273, 27.3
• 1957-58 Roger Voss 10, 208, 20.8
• 1958-59 Tom Kezar 10, 199, 19.9
• 1959-60 Gary Schumacher 10, 187, 18.7
• 1960-61 Bill Booher 10, 179, 17.9
• 1964-65 Wayne Lerud 10, 312, 31.2
• 1969-70 Rick Knutson 12, 212, 17.7
• 1971-72 Jim Riles 12, 266, 22.2
• 1972-73 Kal Kallenberger 12, 235, 19.6
• 1974-75 Steve Clingman 14, 279, 19.9

See posts in the Packer History category.