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THE ATHLETES  continued
 

 
Inductees 2013

Garry Dorchester

Garry Dorchester was the eldest son of the legendary Tom Dorchester and grew up traveling the professional chuckwagon circuit with his parents and siblings.  During his relatively short 13 year career as a chuckwagon driver from 1966 to 1979, Garry won 14 races, a Central Alberta Chuckwagon Championship, a World Chuckwagon Championship and placed inside the top 10 in the world standings nine times. Throughout his chuckwagon career, Garry competed with a sense of skill, energy, emotion, courage and ...

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Don Duncalfe

Don Duncalfe is being inducted into the Wetaskiwin and County Sports Hall of Fame for being the first graduate of the Wetaskiwin High School Sabre Football program to have a professional football career.   In 1958 Don played  for the London Lords of the Ontario Rugby Football Union and  for five seasons from 1959 - 1963, Don was a member of the Edmonton Eskimos Football Team of the CFL.   Don played high school football for the undefeated 1954, 1955, 1956 Wetaskiwin Composite High School Sabres, teams that won three league championships and went 23 games without a loss.  In his grade 12 year Don was invited to attend the Edmonton Eskimo Rookie Tryout Camp and subsequently...

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Inductees 2012

Murray Grapentine

When Murray was in grade ten (1993) he was chosen to play for the Alberta Juvenile Volleyball Team and competed in the Western Canadian Championships.  This set the stage for what was to become an outstanding volleyball career.  he competed Internationally for Canada for eleven years, and was captain for four of those. He played volleyball professionally in Spain, France and Italy and was assistant volleyball coach for the University of Regina Cougars in his induction year.

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In Mark’s amazing career, he represented Alberta at twenty-one different National Championships. Mark has bowled more than 25 games of 400 and over and bowled one perfect game of 450.  Besides competing in the Open and Master’s bowling competitions, Mark represented Alberta in ten National TV Championships and was named one of the Century of Excellence Top 100 Male Bowlers by the Canadian 5 Pin Bowlers’ Association.

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August ’Gus’  Solberg Marker

During his ten year NHL career he played 336 games, scored 64 goals and accumulated 69 assists. He was the first, and at the time of his induction, the only Wetaskiwin Native to win the Stanley Cup.  He distinguished himself as a legend in hockey an key member and active volunteer in the community where he lived and was active in both sports and politics.  Each year the outstanding Amateur athlete in Kingston, Ontario is awarded the “Gus Marker Award”. 

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Inductees 2011

Jimmy Rattlesnake

Jimmy, the ‘Smilin’ Rattler’ is a legend.  He was one of Canada’s greatest aboriginal athletes and baseball was his game.  He was the first Aboriginal baseball player from Canada to play professionally in the US. He was an outstanding pitcher who was scouted by a New York team in the 1930’s and invited to Spring Training.   The team was high on him. A “southpaw”, he was great at picking off players trying to steal bases, it was like he had eyes all over and he was fast... but he didn’t like the big city of New York.

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Sheila Friesen (nee Gangopadhyay)

At age seven Sheila began private lessons when it became apparent that she had the ability, focus and determination to excel in her chosen sport and that she did.  She qualified for Provincials at the age of nine and competed at the Juvenile Ladies level.  Sheila’s dedication and countless hours of practice enabled her to reach figure skatings’ elite level where she represented her city, province and country by competing at national and international level competitions. In 1997 Sheila was chosen to represent Canada at the World Winter Universiade Games in South Korea where she placed fifth.  She had the honour of being chosen by the Canadian Team to carry the Canadian flag in the Closing Ceremonies.

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Rod Buskas

Rod, an WHL All-Star, received the Best Defenseman Award for the Tigers, also setting a record of seven points in one game with that team, scoring two goals with five assists.  After his solid junior career, Rod was drafted (1981) in the sixth round by the Pittsburg Penguins.  A “hard nosed physical defender” in 1990-91 he was Pittsburgh’s all-time leader in penalty minutes, a record at that time.  He played with Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, Vancouver, and Chicago. In 2010 he was invited by Mario Lemieux and the Pittsburgh Penguin organization to play in the elite Winter Classic Alumni game, where he scored a goal in a 5-5 tie.

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Dallas Dorchester

His first racing year set the stage for what was to become one of the most celebrated “Hall of Fame” careers in the sport of chuckwagon.  Dallas was the 1984 World Champion Chuckwagon Driver and won more than 40 show championships in his illustrious career.  His record of five North American Chuckwagon Championships stand to this day. Dallas was a founding member of the World Professional Chuckwagon Association. Dallas Dorchester won all the big races.  His last major win came in 1996 when he captured the Richard Cosgrave Memorial Award symbolic of the Calgary Stampede Aggregate Champion.

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