The Springfield Area Sports Hall of Fame announces Class of 2023

Few names from the Ozarks are more synonymous with “football success” than former Webb City/Nebraska/NFL standout Grant Wistrom. From the time Wistrom stepped on the field for Webb City – leading the Cardinals to two state championships (1992-1993) on the front end of what would became three decades of Missouri prep football dominance for the program. The winning ways continued for Wistrom during a career at Nebraska, playing for the legendary coach Tom Osborne, where the defensive end equipped with the non-stop motor helped the Cornhuskers compile a 49-2 record in his four seasons (1994-97) with NCAA national championships in 1994, 1995 and 1997, earning All-America honors three times and the Lombardi Award as the nation’s top lineman (as well as Big 12 Defensive Player Of The Year) after his senior season in ’97. After completion of his legendary career as a Husker, where he finished with 26.5 sacks over four seasons and his No. 98 jersey was retired, Wistrom became the sixth overall pick in the 1998 NFL Draft by St. Louis, starting a spectacular run with the Rams and their “Greatest Show On Turf” that would include achieving All-Pro status and making three Super Bowl appearances, including a dramatic victory in the 2000 championship game over the Tennessee Titans in Atlanta, GA. A College Football Hall of Fame inductee in 2009, Wistrom would finish with three seasons in Seattle, including a Super Bowl appearance with the Seahawks in 2006, and completing his nine-year pro career with 53 sacks. Since retiring, Wistrom has resided in Springfield with his wife, Melissa, and children Wyatt and Charlie.

BJ FLORES

Over the past several decades spanning the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the Flores family from nearby Willard has been among the most dominant athletic contributors to the Ozarks sports scene. Inclusive of a wide variety of endeavors ranging from football, to track and field, to boxing, a Flores family member has played a prominent role. But most noted among them is Springfield Sports Hall of Fame inductee Benjamin Joseph (B.J.) Flores who watched his dad, Frank, train his three older brothers in the art of boxing and then chose to lace on the gloves himself and pursue a career in the ring. His prep years at Willard were filled with fetes of athletic prowess from All Missouri honors in football and track to a national Golden Gloves title as a light heavyweight, B.J. was on the road to eventual national acclaim. His scholarship at Brigham Young University was earmarked for football, but he never lost the desire to step into the boxing ring so, after serving a two-year Mormon missionary assignment in Mexico, the bilingual B.J. boxed as an amateur and won United States championships as a heavyweight. Now the time had come to turn those hours of boxing into a cash reward which B.J. did in May of 2003. And that career is recorded with 39 fights, 7 of which were in Springfield with a pair at Drury University’s O’Reilly Family Events Center, 34 victories, 21 by knockouts, and a major leap into the world of communications as an analyst on NBC’s boxing telecasts inclusive of the Olympic games events. Currently B.J. is training aspiring heavyweight fighter Jake Paul.

CASEY GARRISON-POWELL

Casey Garrison was a four-time all-state selection at nearby Bolivar (Mo.) High School, finishing her career for the Liberators as the 10th best scorer in Missouri prep basketball history. She averaged 23.1 points a game over her career. She led Bolivar to three straight state tournament appearances and took Bolivar to a state third place finish her junior campaign before leading Bolivar to the state title as a senior with averages of 25.6 point and 8.4 rebounds per game. After her Bolivar career, Garrison burst onto the scene for the Missouri State Lady Bears from 2008 to 2012 and wrote her name all across the MSU record books as a four-year starter. She averaged 15.9 points a game as a freshman guard, hiked that figure to 19.9 points as a sophomore, finished with an 18.2 average her junior season, and scored 15.4 a game her final campaign. She had two of the top seven single season point totals in school history. She gained four straight Missouri Valley Conference all-league first team selections and was named the league’s Player of the Year as a sophomore. Her totals for points, field goals, free throws and foul line percentage are etched across the MVC all-time leaderboard, and her Missouri State totals trailed only Basketball Hall of Famer Jackie Stiles in points (2,271), scoring average (17.5), field goals (792), FG attempts (1,748) and free throw (558). Garrison wound up third all-time in MSU career assists (525) and fourth in steals (264). She was voted the MSU Outstanding Female Student Athlete as a senior in 2012 and was inducted into the Missouri State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2020.

JEFF ROGERS

Jeff Rogers has coached the Glendale Falcons boys’ soccer team since 1990 and the Glendale girls’ soccer program since its beginning in 1996. Overall, he is 1020-382-70 and is one of just 4 coaches in Missouri soccer history to reach 1,000 wins. In boys’ soccer, his record is 595-205-33, which is 5th best total in state. His girls record 425-177-37 is 5^th best as well in the Show-Me state’s history.  Along the way, Rogers’ combined success with the girls and boys has resulted in 27 Ozark conference titles, 38 District championships and 13 Final 4 appearances resulting in 6 fourth place finishes, 4 third place and three state runners up trophies.  Under Coach Rogers leadership, Glendale has had 106 All-State selections, including 11 players selected to the United Soccer Coaches All Central team.  Rogers was inducted into the Glendale Coaches Hall of Fame in 2012, the Missouri Soccer Coaches Hall of Fame in 2013 and then into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2017.  Rogers grew up in Pompano Beach Florida and graduated from Highlands Christian Academy where he played for the school’s first state championship soccer team.  He received a degree in education from Liberty University in Virginia where he also played college lacrosse.  However, while he was in college, his parents and two younger brothers relocated to Springfield, Missouri. Rogers decided he would move here, too, after graduation. He is married to Jackie and they have 3 children Justin, daughter in law Brittny, Jacob and Jessie.  He is affectionately referred to by his girl’s soccer players as “Papa.”  He is an official Papa to Connelly and Ruby Rogers his granddaughters.

ROBERT “BEVO” LOONEY

Robert “Bevo” Looney was one of the most exciting sports figures across the southwest Missouri region in the early 1960s as he combined amazing speed and remarkable athleticism to capture the imagination of fans at all levels. From his days at Boyd Elementary, Eastwood Junior High, Central High School, and Southwest Missouri State, Looney was easily outrunning the competition and making headlines while he did it. At Central High, he was a standout halfback for the football Bulldogs, a talented playmaking guard in basketball, and an award-winning sprinter in track. In football, he was a handful to bring down in the open field, eluding tacklers and making them miss as a continuing deep threat for the Bulldogs’ offense. In basketball, his best season came in his senior year as the Central juggernaut was making headlines and bringing large crowds into “The Pit,” the famed old gymnasium on the CHS campus. Bevo and his brother Mike were the playmaking Central guard tandem behind a massive front line of Carl Gardner and Danny Bolden at forwards and Manny Oliver at center. Denny Whayne was a versatile sixth man off the bench. CHS won its first 20 games of the season and carried a 28-1 record into the state’s Class L final four matchups in St. Louis before Central wound up with a state fourth place finish. In track Bevo was a head-turning sprinter in the 100 and 220-yard dashes. His best time came with a clocking of 9.4 seconds in the 100 while at Central. He enrolled at Southwest Missouri State and posted a 9.5 time in a meet at Kirksville as an SMS sophomore.

BARBARA COWHERD

Barb has served Drury University for nearly 40 years as an administrator and coach. She began her stint at Drury as the head volleyball coach in 1980 and guided the program until 1999 compiling a record of 487-354-17. Cowherd was named the NAIA District 16 Coach of the Year in 1988 following their 43-11 season and led the volleyball program from the AIAW to the NAIA and then the NCAA-II level in the mid-1990’s. She also had a four-year stint as Drury’s head women’s tennis coach from 1981-1984 and led the team to 3 NAIA national tournaments. In 1999, she became an Assistant Athletic Director and Senior Women’s Administrator. She was named Associate Athletic Director in 2003. As Drury’s Senior Woman Administrator, Cowherd was instrumental in the start of the Lady Panthers basketball program that launched in 2000-2001 and has seen the program sustain national prominence since its inception. After retiring in 2019, she was brought back to Drury in 2022 when Nyla Milleson took the reigns as Director of Athletics and restored Cowherd as the department’s Associate AD for External Affairs. A graduate of East Newton High School, Cowherd became a multi-sport athlete at Missouri Southern State, playing volleyball, basketball, softball and track & field. She was a four-year letter winner and co-captain in volleyball, was a two-time All-Central States Intercollegiate Conference selection in basketball, and a national qualifier in the javelin as a senior. In 1993, Cowherd was inducted into the Missouri Southern State Athletics Hall of Fame, and she was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2016.

ERA OF EXCELLENCE: MARSHFIELD LADY JAYS BASKETBALL 1986 – 1999

Marshfield girls’ basketball has advanced to 12 Final Fours, which include seven state championships (1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1996, 1997, 1999) – tied for second-most in the state. The Lady Jays were runners-up in 1992 and 1998 and finished third in 2002 and 2014, and fourth in 2001.

Along the way, the Lady Jays have:

• Enjoyed 102-game win streak (the start of the 1988 season and into the 1991 season) that stood as the state record until 2019.
• Won 14 conference championships and 17 district titles, including 16 consecutive (1987 -2002.)
• Advanced to 15 state quarterfinals
• Scott Ballard (1981-1990), Gary Murphy (1991-2012),
• A 825-396 (.676) record from November 1974 through March 2019, including 226-105 (.683) in conference play.

The 1987 team offered a glimpse of the future, becoming Marshfield’s first state quarterfinalist and finishing 25-5 after a four-point loss to McDonald County. The next three teams all finished 32-0. The 1989 team beat Visitation Academy 55-52 in the finals, and the 1990 team scored a 55-39 win vs. Oak Grove. Lady Jays on MBCA or media All-State lists dating back to 1987: Trish Van Diggelen (88), Melody Howard (90), Stacy Nunn (89), Nikki Cooper (90), Julie Howard (91), Melissa Grider (91), Carissa Wilson (92), Michelle Mikkelsen (94), Lauren Ivey (97) Howard starred on Marshfield’s first three state titles teams and was a two-time All-American for the Missouri State Lady Bears in the early 1990s, including on their 1992 Final Four team, plus played for Team USA and three pro seasons. Murphy’s teams earned 485 wins in 22 seasons, reaching eight Final Fours and winning four state titles. This era of Lady Jays teams was such a box office draw with lengthy lines and huge crowds.  Coach Ballard and Coach Murphy are true hall of famers and their leadership during this time was key to all the success the program enjoyed.