Lyle Buddenhagen with the Westmar College Eagles. PHOTO COURTESY OF MIKE DROOGER

Telegraph note: This story was first published by the newspaper Edgerton Enterprise (based in Edgerton, Minn.) in June of 2024 and is being republished here, with permission, as a courtesy to our readers.

Note from the author:  When the Edgerton/Ellsworth Flying Dutchmen football team won the state nine-man title in 2011, I saw a man who I did not know at many games. I learned he was watching lineman Derek “DC” Claar, his grandson. A few years later he moved to Edgerton, Minn. with his wife Marlys to be near their daughters. They began attending First Reformed Church where I am a member. I’ve seen him since at Dutchmen home football games. He follows the ball up and down the field and is often down on a knee paying close attention to the action. Recently, I learned he had been a successful football player and coach in Iowa. I googled him a snowy evening in March and began researching. This is the story of Lyle Buddenhagen, a football enthusiast.

EDGERTON, Minn. – Lyle “Budd” Buddenhagen played right tackle for the Aurelia (Iowa) High School football Bulldogs. Aurelia, a town of a little over 900 in northwest Iowa between Cherokee and Storm Lake in Cherokee County, was in the Sioux Valley Conference with the Alta Cyclones, Hartley Hawks, Paulina Panthers, Sutherland Tigers, Sanborn Bulldogs, Primghar Bulldogs, and Milford Pioneers. Lyle graduated in 1961 when Bowen’s Fine Foods in Aurelia (Your Friendly Clover Farm Store!) advertised in the Aurelia Sentinel a can of Campbell’s tomato soup, one pound of McIntosh apples, and a can of Admiral sardines for 10¢ each.

After a successful football career with the Bulldogs where he played for future Iowa Football Coaches and Iowa Track Coaches Hall of Fame coach Bill Hodam, Lyle traveled 41 miles west to Le Mars and Westmar College where he excelled for the Eagles as a four-year starter. 

“I wasn’t recruited by Westmar. I visited the college three weeks before school started because they had an Industrial Arts program there. My high school coach knew the Westmar coach. I think he put in a good word for me,” Lyle stated from his home in Edgerton’s Northwest First Addition. He earned honorable mention in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) All-American voting in 1963 and 1964 to become the first football player in Westmar history to receive NAIA All-American recognition. Lyle is one of only eight football players in Westmar history to receive All-American recognition more than once.

Marlys and Lyle Buddenhagen with their great-grandchildren. PHOTO COURTESY OF MIKE DROOGER

He also received NAIA All-District 15 honors following the 1963 and 1964 seasons. Lyle collected a career-high 129 tackles, including 39 solo stops, and set a school record with five fumble recoveries in the 1963 campaign for one of the top defensive units in Westmar history.

That season, the Eagles set a school record by allowing their opponents an average of only 156.6 yards of total offense per game. Lyle’s dominant play on the defensive line helped the Eagles limit their opponents to 792 yards rushing and 1,409 yards of total offense for school records that have stood the test of time. (His records will forever stand because Westmar closed in 1997.)

His defensive exploits helped the Eagles post a record of 8-1 and establish several other defensive records during his 1964 senior campaign. That season the Eagles set defensive scoring records by holding their opponents to 59 points, nine touchdowns, and an average of 6.6 points per game. The Eagles posted four shutouts that season, including three in their first four games. Westmar’s opponents managed only 514 yards passing for an average of 57.1 yards per game, both school records. 

Lyle finished his Westmar College career with 211 tackles and seven fumble recoveries. His seven fumble recoveries are a school record, while his 211 tackles ranked second in Eagle history. Lyle, a four-year starter for the Eagles, received honorable mention Tri-State All-Conference as a freshman, then earned First-Team All-Conference laurels following his sophomore, junior, and senior seasons.   

With Buddenhagen leading the way, the Eagles improved their record each season. They went 4-4 his freshmen season then 5-4, 6-1-2, and 8-1 for a four-year record of 23-10-2. Lyle’s defense had 10 shutouts in four years, including four in his senior season. Because Northwestern College in Orange City and Westmar in Le Mars were located just 17 miles apart, they developed a natural rivalry. Westmar had bragging rights during Lyle’s four seasons going 4-0 while outscoring the Red Raiders 121-26.

Marlys and Lyle Buddenhagen, 1965. PHOTO COURTESY OF MIKE DROOGER

(An interesting side note:  A teammate of Lyle’s at Westmar was center John Schoolen, father of Laura Vander Linden who was the music teacher at Edgerton Public School and choir director at First Reformed Church. Laura now lives in Winterset, Iowa.)

The icing on the cake for Lyle’s career at Westmar came on September 27, 1997, when he was inducted into the Westmar University Athletic Hall of Fame as part of the University’s Homecoming festivities. At Westmar, Lyle played for Jack Scott who began his football coaching career at Willow Lake (South Dakota) High School going 18-1-1 in two seasons.  At Westmar, Scott’s record was 60-17-3. He passed away in 2014 in Lubbock, Texas. 

When asked his favorite memories high school and college, Lyle said he remembers fondly begin named all-conference and holding the school record at Aurelia High School and Westmar College in the shot put. He finished fifth at the state meet in the shot put his senior year. Lyle also did well in the football throw and the discus in high school.

At Westmar, the football team practiced from 7 to 10 in the morning and then again from 6:30 to 10:00 at night. Lyle was the first one on the field and the last one off. “A lot of times the coach told me it was time to quit,” Lyle said. Lyle remarked how tough the football program was. “We got in shape by running uphill while carrying someone on our back. Of course we tried to get one of the smaller guys. A freshman on the team my senior year said ‘they’re not players, they’re a machine,’ a few days into preseason practice,” Lyle said. In high school and college his greatest source of conditioning came at home. “We didn’t have a weightlifting program. Our weightlifting came from working on the farm.” Lyle needed to be in great physical condition because in high school and college he was always on the field. “I kicked off and played offense and defense. I was also on the special teams,” Lyle recollected 59 years later. There were also games where Lyle kicked field goals and extra points.

He remembers playing the Tarkio College Owls in Missouri. “They had a bad drought when we went down there to play. The football field was all dirt. There was barely enough water for us to shower after the game. That was the only game in my college days where we stayed overnight,” Lyle stated.

PHOTO COURTESY OF MIKE DROOGER

Playing football kept Lyle plenty busy, but he did find time to date a young lady by the name of Marlys Hess of Pipestone who attended Westmar because of its association with the United Evangelical Church. “She worked in the cafeteria where I saw her often and she was my coach’s secretary. I think he kind of suggested we get together,” Lyle said with a smirk. They were married at Zion Evangelical United Brethren Church in Pipestone on June 5, 1965. Lyle’s first teaching and coaching position was in Lohrville, Iowa, for the Blackhawks. Marlys taught ten miles to the west in Lake City.

The couple moved to Traer, Iowa, in 1967 where Lyle taught Industrial Arts and Marlys taught in the elementary grades at North Tama. Traer is a city of 1,600 located an hour northwest of Cedar Rapids. Lyle’s coaching duties during his time with the Redhawks included head football, head boys’ track, and assistant wrestling. He also coached the junior high boys’ and girls’ basketball teams.

There have been 29 head football coaches at Traer, Traer-Clutier, and North Tama since football record keeping began in 1921.  Only four coaches have a better winning percentage for the Redhawks than Lyle’s 77.5%.  Only three coaches had more wins. In six years at the helm, Lyle’s teams went 38-10-3. They were champions of the tough Mid-Iowa Conference in 1969 with a record of 6-0-1. His hard-nosed, businesslike, defensive-minded approach to football followed him from Le Mars to Traer. During the ’69 season, the Redhawks gave up just 65 points all season – only 19 in the second half. 

They had done even better in ’68. They outscored their opponents 120-27 and gave up zero points in quarters three and four. They had five shutouts. In 1970, the Redhawks scored 168 points and allowed 60. In Lyle’s final season as head coach (1972), North Tama outscored their nine opponents 255-66. They set the tone early in those games winning the first quarter on a combined score of 86-6. They won seven games in four seasons during Lyle’s six years as the head coach when nine games played was the max.   

The coach with the most victories at North Tama is Tom McDermott (105-51). He took over the program from Buddenhagen in 1973 after the Redhawks had gone 7-2 in ’72. When asked about Coach Buddenhagen, McDermott emailed; “Lyle was head football coach for six years and was my assistant coach for one season. In the classroom and on the playing field he was a no-nonsense person who pushed people to reach their full potential. In a social setting, he was a very friendly person and was always willing to help people.”

Lyle Buddenhagen’s Hall of Fame plaque. PHOTO COURTESY OF MIKE DROOGER

Craig Herink, North Tama High School class of 1971, remembers Coach Buddenhagen as a very physical guy. “Coach was big, energetic, strong voiced, very intense…had obviously played college football. I think he was actually the biggest guy on the field during football practices. His intensity was like a bigger (already balding) version of a Vince Lombardi, and he knew how to get, and focus, the attention of us rural, small-town kids.”

Herink admitted he was in awe of his coach. “I admired and was inspired by the force of his leadership, and at the same time a bit scared of disappointing or angering him. And, as I reflect back he was a great model of a particular theme of what it looked like to be a “man” that was incredibly helpful to me in finding my own manhood.”

Herink remembers practices being intense and his coaching style was “in your face” in a good way. “He would often get in and run drills with us “nose-to-nose” full contact as a demonstration of blocking or tackling without any pads or a helmet. There was no “dogging it” in a Coach Buddenhagen practice!”

When Herink looks back to his days as a Redhawk, he now realizes his teams weren’t the most talented, but they were the most fit and physical team during games, which led to winning seasons during Buddenhagen’s tenure.

Herink told of a situation that showed Coach cared for his players on the field and equally as much off the field. During a kickoff of a game late in Herink’s junior year he was clipped by an opposing player, which broke Herink’s femur. He missed the last three games of that season and wore a full cast for four months afterward. “Coach came to our house right after I got home from the hospital and was as kind and caring with me, Dad, and Mom as he was intense on the (football) field. I was really touched and honored and still hold that as treasured memory,” Herink explained via email. 

1978 Iowa Water Fighting champions from Traer, Iowa. PHOTO COURTESY OF MIKE DROOGER

During Herink’s rehabilitation, Coach guided and coached Herink individually to heal and strengthen his leg. “He said, ‘I/we need you next fall on the field.’ I was a starting halfback my senior year. My sterling moment was scoring a touchdown that won the game and a conference championship that season.” Herink summed up his days as a Redhawk football player by saying: “I loved playing football for Coach Buddenhagen.”

Marv Boldt had Lyle as a coach for four seasons. “He (Lyle) came to North Tama when I was a freshman. We were undefeated (in the Mid-Iowa Conference) in ’69. I wish there had been a state tournament that year because I think we could have taken it. He was a good coach. He got every ounce out of every player,” Marv stated during a telephone conversation. When Marv was told Lyle had sang two solos at First Reformed Church’s Maundy Thursday service in Edgerton, he said, “That doesn’t surprise me. He has a lot of talents.” 

Marv and Lyle served as firemen together in Traer. Marv is in his 50th year in the fire department there. He is part of four Boldt generations who were or are firemen – his dad, his son (Mason City), and his grandson (Janesville) have all volunteered their time as firemen.

According to the Iowa Waterfighters Group Facebook page, the Traer firemen hold the record for the most state water fight titles with 17 since the Iowa Firefighter Association’s contest began in 1933. A water fight is a competition between fire departments where teams of firemen attempt to push with water a spinning barrel to the end of a cable on the other team’s side. 

Marv Boldt holds the individual record with nine titles. Lyle’s first championship experience came in 1978 along with team members Don Schellhase, Mike Reuman, and Lee Caslavka.  Lyle’s team also finished first in ’83, ’88, ’89, ’90, and ’93. They had third-place water fight finishes in ’86 and ’87. Lyle served 25 years on the Traer fire department and 22 years as an EMT.

After coaching for six years and teaching for 12, Lyle went to work for Traer Cabinet and Construction, a position he held for 20 years. Marlys taught for a total for 34 years, mostly in the third grade. They moved to Edgerton in 2021 from Bloody Lake near Lake Shetek to be closer to daughters Rochelle Vander Woude (on a farm north of Pipestone) and Lesli Dragstra (Edgerton). They have six grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.