ALHS Honors 1963 Basketball Team During AL/TJ Game

Members of the 1963 Abraham Lincoln Boys Basketball Team honored during game

This season marks the 55th anniversary of the 1963 team which finished 2nd in the state tournament.  To honor this achievement, the game with Thomas Jefferson was dedicated to the team.  The school welcomed team student managers and team members back  to be honored during a halftime ceremony.

The 1963 tournament consisted of one state champion for all schools.  As a state tournament qualifier in 1962, Sac City defeated AL in the first round.  After the loss, the juniors made a commitment to return to the state tournament as seniors.  During the 1962-1963 season, the team was unbeaten in Iowa during the regular season and the early tournament rounds to reach the state finals.  The first opponent at state was Laurens, which was highly regarded having placed second in the 1962, yet the Lynx won in a blowout 78-53.  The semi-final game against Spirit Lake was much closer, but the Lynx were again victorious 66-62.  The state final was against unbeaten and top-rated Newton.  The game was very competitive, however Newton prevailed 66-58.  First team all-tournament honors went to Bill Wasinger and Rich Bragg in recognition of their play.

Members of the 1963 Abraham Lincoln Boys Basketball Team Include:
Junior class student manager John Jensen, Senior class student manager Dennis Smith
Sophomore class: Bob Bragg (deceased), represented by Denise Bragg,Ty Borman, and Mike Evans
Junior class: Paul Merkuris, Ron Anderson, Don Brantz, Jack Sorenson
Senior class: Bill Wasinger, Tom Adamson, Steve Minikus, Kent Shadden, Rich Bragg and Stan Bahnsen

The team was pleased to present to Coach Jason Isaacson and activities director Jeff Novotny a video disc of the first two games of the 1963 tournament, and requested it be played for the current and future Abraham Lincoln teams prior to tournament play as encouragement to take the next step to become champions in Iowa.  In addition, two photographs of the team were presented for the trophy and special display cases.