Northern State Athletics Hall of Fame
Dale McElhany [Kretchman Coaching Award] graduated from NSC with a Bachelor of Science in education in 1962. He was a football and wrestling student-athlete for the Wolves from 1959 to 1962. McElhany taught high school math and coached football, wrestling, and track and field in South Dakota and Wyoming over the course of his career.
He is the president of the Watertown Education Association and was inducted into the S.D. Hickory Stick organization as an outstanding educator. McElhany is a member of the S.D. Wrestling Coaches Hall of Fame, winning the state championship in 1968. He founded and directed SDAAU wrestling from 1968 to 1972, nurturing the program to over 7,200 participants.
As the head football coach at Watertown, McElhany won five ESD Championships and was twice named the South Dakota Football Coach of the Year and South Dakota Sportswriters Coach of the Year. He also added three conference championships and one state championship as an assistant coach in both wrestling and football.
He resides in Watertown with his wife, Donna, who is a 1960 graduate of NSC, and has three children and nine grandchildren.
