Two championship football teams to hold reunion Saturday
A reunion of the Red Hawks’ 1996 and 2001 Midwest Conference Championship teams will be held Saturday, Sept. 18. Both teams will be honored at halftime of the football game which begins at 1 p.m. against Cornell College of Mount Vernon, Iowa.
Ripon’s 1996 team finished with a 9-1 record, en route to capturing head coach Ron Ernst’s first-ever MWC Championship. That team’s only blemish was a loss to Cornell in the third game of the season, but the Red Hawks got revenge on the Rams with a 26-8 victory in the MWC Championship game to end the season on a seven-game winning streak.
That season, Ripon finished with 4,217 total yards of offense, the fourth-highest total in program history, while also sacking the opposing quarterback 28 times, which also ranks fourth. Four members of that team are currently in Ripon’s Athletics Hall of Fame.
The 2001 Ripon football team finished with an 8-2 overall record, finishing in a first-place tie with a 7-1 record in the MWC. That squad finished with 368 points, the third-highest total in a single season in program history, while also ranking second all-time in passing yards (2,551) and third in total offense (4,246). Four members of that team that are currently in Ripon’s Athletics Hall of Fame.
Returning for the reunion from the 1996 championship team are: Chad Cleveland ’00, Petosi, Wisconsin; Marc Curcurio ’84, then an assistant coach, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin; Charles Sebastian Foreman ’99, Tacoma, Washington; Jason Kawczynski ’99, Franklin, Wisconsin; Andy Kohn ’98, Dalton, Wisconsin; Matt Kok ’95, Woodstock, Illinois; Josh Satzer ’98, Sun Prairie, Wisconsin; Bill Schultz ’97, Ripon, Wisconsin; and Matt Strelow ’98, Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Returning from the 2001 championship team are: Andy Capes ’02, Brookfield, Wisconsin; Marc Curcurio ’84, then an assistant coach, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin; Jimmy Dahm ’02, Chicago, Illinois; Chris Dumke ’04, Richfield, Wisconsin; Nick George ’04, Charlotte, North Carolina; Jack Kinsey ’02, Gilbert, Arizona; Daniel Lutter ’04, Richfield, Wisconsin; and James Stirewalt ’04, Cheyenne, Wyoming.
(Photo: The 2001 football team celebrates its championship win.)
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