Bagger’s players learned skills

By Tom Hintgen (Contact) | The Daily Journal

Published Monday, February 4, 2008

This is a special year for former Fergus Falls High School teacher and coach Duane Baglien. Bagger, as he was known here in the 1950s, later moved to Edina. He led his Edina High School basketball team to the state title 40 years ago, the third successive state championship for the Hornets.

Even as impressive as that was, Bagger, now 82, also is proud of what his former players in Fergus Falls and Edina accomplished during their adult lives.

In 1968 Minnesota still had a one-class system of high school basketball. When Edina won its first of three state titles in 1966, it needed to get past Henning in overtime in the semi-final game at Williams Arena.

“Duane was an outstanding basketball coach and a fine person,” said Jay Kiedrowski, a member of the Edina 1967 state title team and a junior when his team narrowly defeated Henning. “He taught us what it took to be a winner: superb conditioning, a focus on defense and rebounding, smart play and never looking too far ahead.”

Baglien also encouraged his players to work hard in the classroom. Kiedrowski and others didn’t disappoint him, saying later that Baglien gave them livelong skills.

Prime examples are members of the 1957 Fergus Otter team, coached by Baglien, that took third at state. Center Jon Rosengren became a renowned attorney in the Twin Cities, guard Curt Reinan became a pilot in the U.S. Air Force and forward Roger Sinner worked as an executive with Eli Lily Company. Other former Otters excelled, as well.

“I’m pleased to say that I’m a good friend of Bagger, and over the year he’s been a tough golf competitor,” Kiedrowski said.

Today Kiedrowski is a senior fellow with the Public and Nonprofit Leadership Center at the University of Minnesota's Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs. He teaches courses in public management, leadership and financial management.

The kid from Edina, a leader on Bagger’s second of three state title teams in 1967, holds a bachelor's degree in mechanical/industrial engineering and a master's degree in public affairs, both from the University of Minnesota.

Kiedrowski also completed Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management executive development program and Columbia University's financial strategies program. He earned a Doctor of Education in Leadership from St. Mary's University of Minnesota in June 2005.

Baglien is proud of Kiedrowski’s long list of accomplishments and also his long list of giving back to the community. Bagger’s former player has been active in the Twin Cities United Way campaign, is a director of Project for Pride in Living, Inc., a member of the Greater Metropolitan Housing Corporation and is treasurer of the Guthrie Theater Board.

He joined Norwest in 1987 and a decade later assumed his final position as executive vice President and manager of the Institutional Investments Group in the merged Norwest/Wells Fargo organization. He retired from Wells Fargo in 2004 before coming to the University of Minnesota.

Doug Johnson, a member of the 1957 Fergus Falls Otter state tourney team who later became a vice president for Land O’ Lakes in the Twin Cities, said it best about Baglien.

“He was a technically skilled, set an example of integrity, was a disciplinarian and yet possessed a warm th and sense of humor with his players.”

Tom Hintgen is a reporter with The Daily Journal. His column appears Mondays.