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Mark Toso (2020 Hall of Fame Inductee)

By Tom Hintgen, 07/31/21, 4:00PM CDT

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Mark Toso, a 1975 Fergus Falls High School and 1977 Fergus Falls Community College graduate, was inducted into the Fergus Falls Chamber of Commerce Sports Hall of Fame (Class of 2020) Saturday, July 31, 2021 at Pebble Lake Golf Course in Fergus Falls.

Fans of the 1970s Fergus Falls Otters and community college Spartans remember Mark Toso as one of the outstanding basketball players from that era.

Toso, a 1975 graduate of Fergus Falls High School, played high school basketball for head coach Wally Pearson and Spartan basketball for head coach Dave Retzlaff.

He also recalls some wonderful football memories while playing for Otter head coach Don Stueve. In his younger days there was VFW baseball coached by Steve LeGrand.

It was on the basketball court where he especially excelled.

“Wally (Pearson) and Retz (Retzlaff) got the best out of their players, me included,” said Toso, a guard for both the Otters and Spartans.

His eighth-grade basketball coach was Duane Lowoen and he played for Roger Olson as a ninth grader and tenth grader. Both coaches receive high marks from Toso.

Otter head coach Dennis Anderson also advised Toso and his teammate in their younger days. “Dennis was never my coach but had a huge influence on me as a young gym rat,” he says.

The Otters had good seasons during Toso’s high school junior year in 1973-74 and also his senior year in 1974-75, winning close to 70 percent of their games.

Toso was team captain and MVP his senior year, leading the team in scoring and rebounding. He averaged 17 points per game and scored 20 or more points in seven basketball games.

His scoring totals would have been much higher had he played in the days of three-point shots, which came later.

The Otters lost a very close game with perennial powerhouse Bemidji his junior year. That year, 1974, the Lumberjacks won the state title.

A top player in the state, his senior year, was Frank Wachlarowicz who led Little Falls to the Minnesota Class 2A title in 1975. The Otters also had a very close game before losing to Little Falls.

Toso had two exciting years playing Spartan basketball for Dave Retzlaff, making it to the Minnesota community college state tournament both years. Fergus Falls Community College (today M State) lost in the men’s first-round action in 1976 and made it to state finals a year later, in 1977.

It was a heartbreaking loss in the state finals his college sophomore year but there was satisfaction with the Spartans, led by coach Retzlaff, finishing 22-4 in 1976-77.

“Retz prepared us well for each game during the regular season and also during the post-season,” Toso said.

A highlight his first season with the Spartans, in 1976, was scoring the final two

baskets in a 77-73 win over Itasca Junior College on the Spartan home court. He scored 22 points in the game.

The following year, in the state semi-finals, Toso scored 28 points in leading the

Spartans to a 79-75 upset win over Inver Hills.

Toso, who praises his Otter and Spartan teammates, has given back in many ways to the basketball programs in Fergus Falls.

He coached youths on Saturday mornings for many years with the Fergus Falls Back Court Club and Mighty Mites at the YMCA. Toso served as an assistant high school basketball coach from 1985 to 1990, when the Otter boys advanced to two state tournaments, in 1986 and 1990.

Toso has good memories of coaching with Otter coaches Bob Bjorklund, Steve Atchison, Dave Lehrke and Roger Olson. He also coached with Richard Risbrudt at Hillcrest Academy. He coached during the sports camp at Bethel Church for 15 years.

Even though most fans remember Toso more for his play on the basketball court, many fans do remember some very good performances by Toso as a member of the Otter football teams.

“I was a backup quarterback to Matt Gervais my junior year, and we had a great running back in the person of Steve Bartels,” said Toso who also was a defensive back.

“We also had a solid group of linemen when I played. We finished 8-2 my junior year, in the fall of 1973.”

The following season, he says the Otter football team tried its best and finished 5-4.

Toso, when seen working out at the YMCA, is often asked by various fans his opinion and what to pay attention to during upcoming Otter and Spartan football and basketball games. He has more than earned the right to express his opinions.

 He has worked as a mail carrier in Fergus Falls since 1982.