Hinsdale Central packs 50 years
of memories into one unforgettable night
By Dave Owen
For one night, Hinsdale soccer past and present was all together in one place.
Hinsdale Central’s “50 Years of Red Devils Soccer” Alumni Night in late September featured not only the current Red Devils facing Naperville Central, but nearly 50 ex-players and coaches in the program from over the years sharing stories, old and new friendships, and memories.
And what memories.
Craig Felde was one of the reunion attendees from the early days of Red Devils soccer, a goalkeeper on the 1975 state championship team who experienced a bit of foreshadowing for the magical postseason to come that fall.
“The conference championship game against York we were playing at the polo fields in Oak Brook in a driving rainstorm,” Felde recalled. “We were down 1-0 at halftime, I was on the bench and coach (Richard Ohl) looked at me and asked 'Can you do it Felde?' and I said 'I can do it.'
“I went out there (in the second half), and I unleashed a punt with the wind that went 75 or 80 yards, skipped and went into the upper corner (of the net). I scored a goal (as a goalie), one of the only times that's ever happened. That still makes me laugh when I think about that. The wind was blowing 40 mph and the field was glass, and the ball took off and their goalie was like 'Whaaaaat?!'”
The whole state likely had the same shocked reaction come state finals weekend.
“We were down in Normal (for state), and we weren't rated very highly,” Felde said. “We went into the tournament totally as underdogs. Teams said, ‘They had the easiest road down here, they'll implode.’
“The biggest game we played was against Granite City, a double overtime game (won by the Red Devils 2-1 in the quarterfinals). They were easily the best team down there.”
A semifinal win over New Trier West followed.
“Then the best part of it was,” Felde added, “the first game of the year we had lost to Maine East. And we came back and beat them (2-0 in the finals) for the state championship. That was fun.”
Tom Casady and Tom Scholz were the co-MVPs on that 1976 team.
“I remember standing on the field watching the time tick to zero (in the title game) down at Illinois State,” Felde said. “And I remember the good part and the bad part (of the title game). A couple of girls came up to give me a kiss, but then a bunch of the football players came down, and they clubbed me like a baby seal. But it was fantastic.”
While the Red Devils would finish over .500 just once in the six seasons after the 1976 championship, coach Dick Flesher guided the squad to a 17-4-0 record in 1982.
And over a decade later into his 15-year run as Red Devils coach, Flesher would help put the program on the map in a much bigger way.
“‘Flesh’ was well respected as a social studies teacher and coach, and brought the German World Cup team here (in 1994),” former Red Devils coach Skip Begley said.
Playing early round World Cup games at Soldier Field that summer, the defending 1990 World Cup champion German team was seeking an area campus for its training and practices. Flesher and the school made their pitch, and a new door for Hinsdale Central soccer lore was open.
“Dick got Germany here,” Begley said, “then later we hosted the Mexican National Team for an exhibition game, then the (U.S.) women came in 1999. He coordinated all of that.”
When Flesher retired in 1996, Begley came east from Moline after winning two regional titles in four years there. At Hinsdale Central, he produced winning teams each of his six years at the helm (82-38-13 record) and the first 20-win season in program history (2001).
“When I came here two years after the World Cup, it was an immaculate, perfect training surface,” Begley said, “and you had a tactical area national teams practiced on. It was a great opportunity I couldn't pass up.
“’Flesh’ had some quality years, and when I came in I was very fortunate to have some great kids.”
Great kids and coaching stability and quality have been staples of the program.
“In boys soccer here, there’s only been four head coaches (in 50 years),” Begley said. “And Mike (current coach Mike Wiggins) was once ‘Flesh’s’ assistant.”
Speaking of assistant coaches, few can match the longevity or impact of Harrison Bull. A coach in the soccer program all the way from the 1973 inaugural season to beyond the 2014 Class 3A state champions, Bull also recently had grandchildren starring for Downers Grove North’s boys and soccer teams. He was in attendance for the 50th anniversary gala.
“Harry Bull was my freshman gymnastics coach, and my freshman world history teacher,” Felde said. “So seeing him ... this is just a great night.”
While praising longtime lower-level coaches Alex Hipskind and Ed Lynch, Begley relied heavily on Bull’s status as a longtime pillar of the program.
“Harrison saved me,” Begley said. “I was maybe on the edge a little bit, with people thinking ‘Here comes this hayseed from Moline. Let's bounce him off the hay rack.’ I knew I had to step up my game.”
For Bull, the 50 years of teams and memories all come back to one thing.
“The people,” Bull said. “There have been so many good friends here (in this program) and great kids. Like Imad Haque.”
The MVP of both the Red Devils’ 1988 and 1989 soccer teams and a star gymnast at Hinsdale Central, Haque attended West Point and later medical school. He went on to serve in Iraq and Afghanistan, and remains a U.S. Army surgeon.
“He’s been places he can’t even tell you he’s been,” Bull said of Haque.
Haque joins Jim Tomei, Carlos Duarte, Andre Ilbawi, Daniel Grasso and Jack Smithson on a list of two-time MVPs in program history.
The final three of those dual MVPs came after Wiggins took over as head coach in 2002. And accomplishments such as a fourth place finish in 2007 and the state title in 2014 are just part of a waterfall of memories.
“The 2004 team was the only one in the history of our program to be ranked number 1 in the country for a week,” Wiggins said. “We had seven players from that team play Division I (college soccer).
“Jack Smithson the all-time goal scorer in the program was part of that, Pat Sperry, Lawrence (DeGeest, a two-time all-sectional player), Matt Tutich who went on to play at no. 1-ranked Akron and the national team a few years later ... the list goes on and on.”
That list includes Smithson, Grasso and David Tiemstra as two-time all-state players.
“We’ve had a lot of success,” Wiggins said. “In 2007 we took fourth. Jason Loebig ... we were in overtime vs. New Trier, we earn a corner kick, and I'm screaming at the top of my lungs to use a play we had worked on.
“Mark Knight told Jason or Jason told Mark to put the ball in, and we better score. They did (score), and we won. And we were in the state semifinal.
“The year after the state championship we had Louis St. John and Rigoberto Rojas, two All-Americans on the same team the same year,” Wiggins said. “That happened one other time, when Batavia in the 1990s had two.”
Goalkeeper Wes Bergevin of the 2014 state champs also appeared in the All-American game, and another ex-keeper John Shakon earned Gatorade Player of the Year honors nationally.
“These are things we've shared with our players now,” Wiggins said. “The stories, and these guys (alumni) are all part of the stories. Every one of them.”
There were even links to history in the game that night, a 3-1 Naperville Central win.
“I don't know if guys from the 2014 team recognized the long throw-ins tonight,” Wiggins said, “but that's an exact replica of the play we won the state championship on.
“It’s the ties to the past that we share with our players. And they know that's special and that those guys are special. And that's something we share with them all the time.”
The Red Devils also have their share of experienced coaches still on staff, including Begley at the freshman level.
“We have James (Van DenBurgh) a former head coach (at Hinsdale South),” Begley said, “Ed (Lynch) is a former head basketball coach who's been in soccer since I came in 1996, Alex (Hipskind) has been here since 1996, (assistant) Tony (Medonia) is the girls head coach too, and then Jack (Ferraro) was here and won two state championships (at Sandburg).”
Add together 50 years of players, coaches, and success on and off the field, and a Friday night, Sept. 23, 2022, became very special.
“Michael (Wiggins) is collaborative, fun to work with and so good with the kids,” Begley said. “This was really neat.”
of memories into one unforgettable night
By Dave Owen
For one night, Hinsdale soccer past and present was all together in one place.
Hinsdale Central’s “50 Years of Red Devils Soccer” Alumni Night in late September featured not only the current Red Devils facing Naperville Central, but nearly 50 ex-players and coaches in the program from over the years sharing stories, old and new friendships, and memories.
And what memories.
Craig Felde was one of the reunion attendees from the early days of Red Devils soccer, a goalkeeper on the 1975 state championship team who experienced a bit of foreshadowing for the magical postseason to come that fall.
“The conference championship game against York we were playing at the polo fields in Oak Brook in a driving rainstorm,” Felde recalled. “We were down 1-0 at halftime, I was on the bench and coach (Richard Ohl) looked at me and asked 'Can you do it Felde?' and I said 'I can do it.'
“I went out there (in the second half), and I unleashed a punt with the wind that went 75 or 80 yards, skipped and went into the upper corner (of the net). I scored a goal (as a goalie), one of the only times that's ever happened. That still makes me laugh when I think about that. The wind was blowing 40 mph and the field was glass, and the ball took off and their goalie was like 'Whaaaaat?!'”
The whole state likely had the same shocked reaction come state finals weekend.
“We were down in Normal (for state), and we weren't rated very highly,” Felde said. “We went into the tournament totally as underdogs. Teams said, ‘They had the easiest road down here, they'll implode.’
“The biggest game we played was against Granite City, a double overtime game (won by the Red Devils 2-1 in the quarterfinals). They were easily the best team down there.”
A semifinal win over New Trier West followed.
“Then the best part of it was,” Felde added, “the first game of the year we had lost to Maine East. And we came back and beat them (2-0 in the finals) for the state championship. That was fun.”
Tom Casady and Tom Scholz were the co-MVPs on that 1976 team.
“I remember standing on the field watching the time tick to zero (in the title game) down at Illinois State,” Felde said. “And I remember the good part and the bad part (of the title game). A couple of girls came up to give me a kiss, but then a bunch of the football players came down, and they clubbed me like a baby seal. But it was fantastic.”
While the Red Devils would finish over .500 just once in the six seasons after the 1976 championship, coach Dick Flesher guided the squad to a 17-4-0 record in 1982.
And over a decade later into his 15-year run as Red Devils coach, Flesher would help put the program on the map in a much bigger way.
“‘Flesh’ was well respected as a social studies teacher and coach, and brought the German World Cup team here (in 1994),” former Red Devils coach Skip Begley said.
Playing early round World Cup games at Soldier Field that summer, the defending 1990 World Cup champion German team was seeking an area campus for its training and practices. Flesher and the school made their pitch, and a new door for Hinsdale Central soccer lore was open.
“Dick got Germany here,” Begley said, “then later we hosted the Mexican National Team for an exhibition game, then the (U.S.) women came in 1999. He coordinated all of that.”
When Flesher retired in 1996, Begley came east from Moline after winning two regional titles in four years there. At Hinsdale Central, he produced winning teams each of his six years at the helm (82-38-13 record) and the first 20-win season in program history (2001).
“When I came here two years after the World Cup, it was an immaculate, perfect training surface,” Begley said, “and you had a tactical area national teams practiced on. It was a great opportunity I couldn't pass up.
“’Flesh’ had some quality years, and when I came in I was very fortunate to have some great kids.”
Great kids and coaching stability and quality have been staples of the program.
“In boys soccer here, there’s only been four head coaches (in 50 years),” Begley said. “And Mike (current coach Mike Wiggins) was once ‘Flesh’s’ assistant.”
Speaking of assistant coaches, few can match the longevity or impact of Harrison Bull. A coach in the soccer program all the way from the 1973 inaugural season to beyond the 2014 Class 3A state champions, Bull also recently had grandchildren starring for Downers Grove North’s boys and soccer teams. He was in attendance for the 50th anniversary gala.
“Harry Bull was my freshman gymnastics coach, and my freshman world history teacher,” Felde said. “So seeing him ... this is just a great night.”
While praising longtime lower-level coaches Alex Hipskind and Ed Lynch, Begley relied heavily on Bull’s status as a longtime pillar of the program.
“Harrison saved me,” Begley said. “I was maybe on the edge a little bit, with people thinking ‘Here comes this hayseed from Moline. Let's bounce him off the hay rack.’ I knew I had to step up my game.”
For Bull, the 50 years of teams and memories all come back to one thing.
“The people,” Bull said. “There have been so many good friends here (in this program) and great kids. Like Imad Haque.”
The MVP of both the Red Devils’ 1988 and 1989 soccer teams and a star gymnast at Hinsdale Central, Haque attended West Point and later medical school. He went on to serve in Iraq and Afghanistan, and remains a U.S. Army surgeon.
“He’s been places he can’t even tell you he’s been,” Bull said of Haque.
Haque joins Jim Tomei, Carlos Duarte, Andre Ilbawi, Daniel Grasso and Jack Smithson on a list of two-time MVPs in program history.
The final three of those dual MVPs came after Wiggins took over as head coach in 2002. And accomplishments such as a fourth place finish in 2007 and the state title in 2014 are just part of a waterfall of memories.
“The 2004 team was the only one in the history of our program to be ranked number 1 in the country for a week,” Wiggins said. “We had seven players from that team play Division I (college soccer).
“Jack Smithson the all-time goal scorer in the program was part of that, Pat Sperry, Lawrence (DeGeest, a two-time all-sectional player), Matt Tutich who went on to play at no. 1-ranked Akron and the national team a few years later ... the list goes on and on.”
That list includes Smithson, Grasso and David Tiemstra as two-time all-state players.
“We’ve had a lot of success,” Wiggins said. “In 2007 we took fourth. Jason Loebig ... we were in overtime vs. New Trier, we earn a corner kick, and I'm screaming at the top of my lungs to use a play we had worked on.
“Mark Knight told Jason or Jason told Mark to put the ball in, and we better score. They did (score), and we won. And we were in the state semifinal.
“The year after the state championship we had Louis St. John and Rigoberto Rojas, two All-Americans on the same team the same year,” Wiggins said. “That happened one other time, when Batavia in the 1990s had two.”
Goalkeeper Wes Bergevin of the 2014 state champs also appeared in the All-American game, and another ex-keeper John Shakon earned Gatorade Player of the Year honors nationally.
“These are things we've shared with our players now,” Wiggins said. “The stories, and these guys (alumni) are all part of the stories. Every one of them.”
There were even links to history in the game that night, a 3-1 Naperville Central win.
“I don't know if guys from the 2014 team recognized the long throw-ins tonight,” Wiggins said, “but that's an exact replica of the play we won the state championship on.
“It’s the ties to the past that we share with our players. And they know that's special and that those guys are special. And that's something we share with them all the time.”
The Red Devils also have their share of experienced coaches still on staff, including Begley at the freshman level.
“We have James (Van DenBurgh) a former head coach (at Hinsdale South),” Begley said, “Ed (Lynch) is a former head basketball coach who's been in soccer since I came in 1996, Alex (Hipskind) has been here since 1996, (assistant) Tony (Medonia) is the girls head coach too, and then Jack (Ferraro) was here and won two state championships (at Sandburg).”
Add together 50 years of players, coaches, and success on and off the field, and a Friday night, Sept. 23, 2022, became very special.
“Michael (Wiggins) is collaborative, fun to work with and so good with the kids,” Begley said. “This was really neat.”