60 - A Pre-Season Look At The Gnadenhutten Indians

NEW PHILADELPHIA - A much different brand of ball is expected to be employed by the Gnadenhutten Indians this year.  The loss of but one of the school's highest scorers, Ron Bradley, who tallied 517 points last season, is expected to force the Indians into a more balanced attack.  This loss; however, represents the only major weakening via graduation last spring.

Back are 3 veterans who were in starting roles last year when the Tribe surprised everyone with a fine 14-6 mark despite their overall youth.  Among the returnees are:

6-2 John Hall
6-2 Ray Rank
5-6 Ron Clark

Hall and Rank are 2 of the bigger men in county circles, while Clark grew 2 inches from his 5-4 frame of last season.

Second-Year Head Coach Bob Gaume led his charges to 3rd place in the county loop last year and had been leading the pack for 6 of those weeks.  In addition, they had the distinction of knocking the Midvale Blue Devils  from the unbeaten last year after that team had racked up 21 straight regular season wins.  This year 6-3 lanky lad Dave Struchen is being used this season to give the Warriors one of the tallest underneath trios in the county.  Struchen; however, is only a Sophomore and has only a few Varsity games under his belt.

From this point on, Gnaden will be relying on the smaller type player in the bid for League and County Honors.  Also seeking Varsity berths are:

5-10 Carl Dichler
5-10 Ed Crites
5-9 B. Blickensderfer
5-9 John Weaver
5-10 Bob Ervin
5-11 Brad Kaiser
5-9 Glen Jester
5-6 Dick Shull

Of the squad, only Clark, Hall and Crites are Seniors.

Clark was the team's 2nd best scorer last year with 215 points from his outside position, while Rank potted 182 and Hall had 161.  Beside these 3 lads, none of the other prospects of this season saw much Varsity service last season.

However, experience and the ability to function effectively without the "big gun" appear the key notes in Gnadenhutten's bid for their 6th straight winning campaign.  In other words:  GNADEN IS SEEKING BALANCE!


Wednesday, December 2, 1959
Don Wagner, Sports Editor
The Daily Times
New Philadelphia, Ohio