Services for Shiels -- who was welcomed into the Minnesota Wrestling Coaches Association Dave Bartelma Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1990, and the Minnesota Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2006 -- were held May 31. He died May 21 at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.
Dick Shiels (right) with son Tim (Photo/Jill Schmidt)Shiels launched his teaching career in Iowa before relocating his family to Faribault in 1960, where he spent the rest of his career. He was a wrestling coach at Faribault High School from 1960-1983. In addition, he was a social studies and English teacher, a guidance counselor, and, ultimately, a principal at Faribault Middle School until 1993.
In addition to being inducted into the previously mentioned halls of fame, Shiels was also an honoree of the Faribault Athletic Hall of Fame, Minnesota High School Hall of Fame, and Region One High School Hall of Fame in Rochester.
"He was the main coach that really put Faribault wrestling kind of on the map," former Fairbault High wrestling coach Tim Tousignant told the Faribault Daily News in a tribute published after Shiels' passing. "He made it one of the sports that Faribault is traditionally tough in."
"Obviously he was a very good coach," said longtime assistant coach Dave Kinney. "Very prepared. But also he was quite competitive. He tried to figure out ways that Faribault could end up on top in the final score. He was very well organized. The kids respected him. That was the main thing. For Faribault, wrestling was a good sport."
Dick Shiels' legacy at Faribault lives on in other ways as well.
"He hasn't been in coaching for a number of years, but every year we award scholarships that he and his family donate back to our kids," said current Faribault High head coach Jesse Armbruster. "Kids are able to get scholarships in his name and that's really cool. All sports have a history. But you walk in our room, our tournament is in his name; those kinds of things are pretty cool."
"I think his greatest strength was that he didn't see himself as special," said Dick Shiels' son Tim, is now the National Coordinator for Officials for the NCAA. "Other people did. He was a great listener. He had the ability to connect with people. It didn't matter your age. It didn't matter if you were male or female. It didn't matter your race. Dad's strength was that if you worked hard and took pride in what you did, he respected you."
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now