Teske’s death evokes memories of Algoma and Kewaunee basketball dominance

KEWAUNEE COUNTY – The recent death of Kewaunee’s Glenn Teske evoked memories of how the Algoma and Kewaunee High School basketball teams dominated the old Northeastern Wisconsin Conference from 1961 through 1967. Kewaunee won back-to-back championships in the 1961-62 and 1962-63 seasons, with Teske serving as a reserve on the former team and a starter on the latter squad.

Algoma then replicated Kewaunee’s performance, winning titles in both the 1963-64 and 1964-65 campaigns. The Wolves then won the 1966-67 conference title, making it five titles in six years for Algoma and Kewaunee.

Kewaunee won the 1961-62 title with a perfect 14-0 conference mark. The starting lineup consisted of four juniors — twins Ron and Don Von, Bob Wits and Peter Rohr — and Allan Slack, the lone senior. Kewaunee was upset in the first game of the state tournament by Algoma in the memorable, never-to-be-forgotten triple overtime game.

Teske replaced Slack in the starting lineup for the 1962-63 season. After losing its first conference game, Kewaunee won their remaining 13 contests to finish at 13-1, for a two-season mark of 27-1. Teske scored 11 points in Kewaunee’s first win over Algoma, but he didn’t play in the return engagement due to an injury from a tobogganing accident.

In recalling the accident, Wits, who was at less than full strength for the Algoma game, cited a lecture by Coach George Bahrke.

“One day at practice, Coach went through a list of wintertime activities that we should avoid, such as ice skating, sledding, snowshoeing and skiing. Since he didn’t mention tobogganing, we decided to give it a try, sliding from the top of the hill on Highway 42 to downtown Kewaunee. The results weren’t what we had hoped for,” Wits said.

Kewaunee won its first three tournament games and led a powerful Manitowoc team most of the way in the sectional. Ahead by one point with a minute left, a series of Kewaunee turnovers resulted in a disappointing defeat. Manitowoc would go on to win the state championship, at that time a single class affair.

Algoma’s back-to-back titles were eerily similar to Kewaunee, such as an undefeated 14-0 conference season in 1963-64 and an overall two-season record of 27-1. Like Kewaunee, Algoma’s starting lineup in its undefeated season consisted of four juniors — Mark Wautlet, John Fett, Larry VanLanen and Ron Graf — and senior Jim Pavlick. Like Kewaunee, Algoma lost to Manitowoc in the sectional tournament during the 1964-65 campaign.

Algoma won the 1966-67 championship, winning its final 12 conference games to finish at 12-2 with a starting lineup consisting of Mike DeMeuse, Bruce Romdenne, Dean Eggert, Jeff Corroy and Dick Poehls. At the time, Algoma had the smallest enrollment in the conference with just under 400 students, while Kewaunee had the third smallest at 498. Preble had the highest enrollment with 967 students.

In a noteworthy connection to the present, Teske’s grandson is Tanor Bortolini, who was an all-around athlete at Kewaunee High School and is currently the starting center for the Indianapolis Colts’ professional football team. Tanor is engaged to Sydney Zimmerman, daughter of former Algoma athlete and basketball coach Corie Zimmerman.