Steve Ricard – Benson, 2023 Lifetime Service Honoree

Steve Ricard, son of Larry and Elaine Ricard, was born and raised in Fertile, Minnesota, graduating from Fertile-Beltrami High School in 1986. Steve was active in Football, Wrestling, and Student Council serving as a Captain in both Football and Wrestling. Ricard was a two-time All-Conference selection in wrestling for Bartelma Hall of Fame Coaches Bob Thorson and Buck Lindberg. Steve was a member of two Region Championship Teams and an Individual State Qualifier as a Senior with an overall varsity record of 61-7.

Steve’s sister Nancy served as a wrestling manager, brothers Curt, and Eric were members of the wrestling team, and Steve’s dad drove the team bus for many years. Fertile-Beltrami Wrestling was a Ricard family affair for many years.

After graduation, Steve attended Moorhead State University and wrestled for his first two years under Head Coach Jim Aguiar and his last two years for John Sterner. Ricard was a four-time NAIA National Qualifier, a two-time Academic All-American, and an NIC Conference Champion as a Senior.

After graduating from Moorhead with a degree in Social Studies, Steve served as an assistant to Paul Marquart at Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton for a year and then was hired as a teacher and coach at Benson High School. Steve assisted Gary Williams in his first year in Benson. Steve states, “Gary Williams was an incredible mentor for me. He was tough but fair.” Ricard took over the Head Wrestling duties the following year and for the next eleven years served as Head Coach, Youth Coach, and Freestyle Coach. Some of Steve’s best memories happened in the off-season, collecting a car full of wrestlers and heading for a tournament.

Steve remembers the old Region 3 being flat-out tough with the likes of Canby, BOLD, Adrian, Minnesota, KMS, Wabasso, and Dawson-Boyd. There was a lot of enjoyment for Steve, watching Scott Thompson, now Benson’s Head Wrestling Coach, develop into a State Wrestling Champion. Steve was proud of all of the wrestlers who came through the ranks and finished strong in such a demanding sport. He was appreciative of all the parents who bought in at all levels to help their own kid as well as their teammates achieve their wrestling goals and grateful for all the coaches who worked with Benson’s wrestlers from the Youth on up. A special thank-you goes out to assistants Bill Kehoe, Brian Verhelt, and Dave Berens for all their effort and support over the years.

When Steve’s oldest daughter reached 7th grade, Steve stepped down from the head position but continued to work with the youth program and help out with the varsity program by organizing and running tournaments. For several years, Ricard helped organize and run the Varsity Classic, the Benson JV Tournament, and various kid’s tournaments, including the NYWA District Qualifier. This past year, the NYWA Qualifier was over 400 strong. Steve also spent four enjoyable years as an assistant wrestling coach with good friend Wes Haglund at Kerkoven-Murdock-Sunberg.

Ricard has also served as a Section Rep. for the past 22 years, a position that he has enjoyed but is willing to pass on to an up-and-coming coach who would like to continue to help make the sport of wrestling better for everyone.

After coaching wrestling for 30 years, Steve dusted off his whistle and got into officiating as COVID put a real strain on wrestling officials and their numbers. Steve is currently a member of the Southern Minnesota Wrestling Officials Association as well as the St. Cloud Officials Association. Steve is indebted to many mentors in the wrestling referee profession, including Jim Williams, Buck Lindberg, Rick Rud, Roger Wilson, Paul Fischbauer, and Tom Kuisle.

In addition to officiating Folkstyle, Steve also started officiating Freestyle and Greco-Roman in 2000 and cites Tim Lewis and Mark Shanky as being great influences and mentors to him. Ricard has continued to give back to the Sport of Wrestling officiating at the local, regional, and national levels.

Steve attended his first Bartelma Hall of Fame banquet in 2000 when he went to help honor Charlie Bishop. Steve and Greg Bishop, Charlie’s son, had wrestled many times from youth through College and Steve decided he wanted to be part of this thing. The following year, Steve joined the Hall of Fame Committee, and in 2003, Steve coordinated his first David Bartelma Hall of Fame Banquet with the help of Bill and Jill Schmidt. This year marks Steve’s 21st banquet.

Steve states, “The lifelong friends that I have made through wrestling, coaching, and now serving as Hall of Fame Chair, are incredible. I am truly blessed to be involved in this great sport.” Steve continues, “When I walk into the Xcel Energy Center each year, a wave of nostalgia passes over me – it feels like a reunion of sorts – I am sure I am not alone. It is truly one of the greatest weeks of the year.”

In addition to his devotion to the sport of Wrestling, Steve is very active in his church and often brings his guitar along to help lead the worship service with gospel hymns.

Ricard has also served as Benson’s Student Council Advisor for the past 26 years and has taken students to the State Student Council Convention every year.

Ricard also has a painting business that employs about a dozen young men and women and often goes well into September or later to finish up the summer’s painting projects.

The one constant in every one of these areas of service is passion. In the words of longtime KMS Wrestling Coach Wes Haglund, “Steve Ricard puts his heart and soul into everything he does – from his faith to his family and everything in between. Steve is an example of total dedication. He is ALL IN when it comes to helping people reach their full potential. You will never find a more caring or loyal friend.

Steve is thankful that his dad, Larry, and his mom, Elaine, allowed him to join Saturday Sports back in Fertile in 1975. He is also very thankful for his wife, Maureen, and his four wonderful children – Holland, Hannah, Grace, and Claire.