Techam to be inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Minnesota Chapter

Steve Techam will receive the Lifetime Service Award and be inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Minnesota Chapter on April 24.

by Trinity Gruenberg

trinity@inhnews

Steve Techam, the man that started the wrestling program in Verndale, will be inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Minnesota Chapter (NWHFMC). Techam is one of nine honorees for the Lifetime Service Award. The banquet will be held on April 24 at the Austin Holiday Inn Conference Center.

Techam wrestled for the Hopkins High School in the 1960s under Paul Bengston, who was inducted into the NWHFMC two years ago. He will also be attending this year’s ceremony.

After high school, Techam attended Bemidji State College where he participated in the Intramural Wrestling Tournaments. He graduated in 1968 with a degree in social studies.

The following year, Techam was hired by the Verndale School to teach junior high social studies. He initiated the wrestling program at the school and was the head coach until 1980 when Verndale paired with Bertha-Hewitt and became the Raiders.

Techam explained they were on a bus and Eric Amundson, an assistant coach, discussed the team name, pointing out that bears and pirates are both raiders in their own sense.

“When Kathy and I started teaching in 1969, she helped to start girls athletics and we talked about wrestling and the students really wanted to try it,” he explained.

That first year they had 25 students, 10 of which were sophomores. . .

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