Templeman earns major Inland Northwest honor

SPOKANE — Bart Templeman, throws guru in North Idaho and parts beyond, is one of eight men who will be inducted into the Inland Northwest Sports Hall of Fame Scroll of Honor on Oct. 29.

Templeman operated the Iron Wood Throwers Camp for 23 years that developed Olympians and brought them back to teach. Later he built a state-of-the-art training facility for throwers near Rathdrum and continues his volunteer coaching there, and brings world-class athletes to compete at the annual Iron Wood Throwers Classic.

Former Sandpoint High wrestling star Jake Rosholt will be inducted into the Hall of Fame, along with Ron Cox, Dan Fitzgerald, Jason Hanson, Jack Thompson and Don “Buzzie” Welch.

Rosholt won three NCAA individual titles at 184 and 197 pounds while helping Oklahoma State to four straight national team championships, compiling a 105-20 collegiate record. At Sandpoint High, he was 131-8 and a three-time state champ as the Bulldogs won two team titles.

Cox, a former State B basketball great from Coulee City and still the tournament’s rebounding record-holder, went on to become Eastern Washington’s career scoring and rebounding leader and an NAIA All-American. His distinguished coaching resume at Tekoa-Oakesdale and Lakeside includes a 417-298 record and a State B boys title in 1993.

Fitzgerald, the godfather of Gonzaga University’s rise to basketball prominence, took the Bulldogs to their first NCAA Tournament in 1995 and posted a 252-171 record in 15 years as head coach. He also championed Gonzaga’s move to the West Coast Conference and hired the coaches who launched Gonzaga to its current heights, then lent his expertise to Spokane’s expansive AAU program.

Hanson, one of the greatest placekickers in football history, spent 21 seasons with the Detroit Lions and retired No. 3 on the NFL’s career scoring and field goal lists and the record-holder for 50-yarders. The Mead graduate was also a consensus All-American at Washington State, graduating as the school’s kick-scoring record holder.

Thompson, “The Throwin’ Samoan” at Washington State, rewrote Pacific-8 and NCAA records in passing, starting with the single-season yardage record as a sophomore. With a three-year NCAA record total of 7,818 yards and 53 touchdowns, he was twice All-Pac-8 and the third player picked in the 1978 NFL draft — and only one of two Cougs to have his number retired.

Welch, known as the Pied Piper of Spokane volleyball, won 11 Greater Spokane League titles as a coach at Rogers, Ferris and Lewis and Clark, where he added two state championships to a collection of 10 state trophies. His teams won 504 of 689 matches, but he was also a driving force in the camp and club culture that made Spokane a volleyball powerhouse.

John Tuft, long-time parks and recreation director for Spokane County, will join Templeman in the Scroll of Honor.

The induction ceremony on Oct. 29 is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. A cocktail reception will follow along with the unveiling of each Hall of Fame inductee’s cubicles. The public is welcome. Purchase tickets online at eventbrite.com