Arenzville High School "Raiders"
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Arenzville High School
arenzvillehs.jpg
Courtesy of http://www.burgoo.org/schools/schools.html

The History of Arenzville High School
 
Arenzville (population 419) is located in western Illinois about 12 miles northwest of Jacksonville.  The town was platted in 1839 by its founder, Francis Arenz.  Arenzville sits quietly on Arenzville Road at Virginia Road in the southwestern area of Cass County. The At & St Railroad travels through town.  A branch of the Indian Creek flows through Arenzville as well.  The village was organized as an official town in 1853.  Some EXCELLENT reading regarding Arenzville and its storied history can be found at the following web address:  http://www.burgoo.org/schools/schools.html. Great work by site creator Molly Daniel!!
 
The school system was initiated shortly after the towns' establishment.  A nice history of the school system in Arenzville is available at the web address of http://www.burgoo.org/people/zusckha.html . The grounds on which the Arenzville schools have stood was originally donated to the town for this purpose by a man named John Zuschka who passed away in 1843.

The first substantial brick school building was constructed on this property and opened for classes in 1892. It was referred to as the "Zuschka School." This school operated as a 1 - 8 grade school with a 2-year high school. Unfortunately this building was burnt to the ground in a fire in 1908.

Arenzville Zuschka School Building 1892-1908
arenzvillezuschkaschool1892dav.jpg
http://www.burgoo.org/people/zusckha.html

The townspeople of Arenzville did not hesitate after the fire demolished the first building. Construction on a new building was begun almost immediately. The new building opened for class in 1909. This building served the town well for six decades, holding high school classes from 1909-1959 and continuing to hold grade school classes from 1959 - 1969.

Arenzville Zuschka School 1909 - 1969
arenzvillezuschkaschool1909dav.jpg
http://www.burgoo.org/people/zusckha.html

It was in the late 1950s that consolidation talks arose between the school districts of Arenzville and the nearby towns of Concord and Chapin.  The effort became a reality after the 1959 school year with the creation of the Triopia School District. 
 
For more information on the Arenzville High School history and Mr. Zuschka please check out the following web links provided by Jacob Surratt.
                              
                
The following brief history of the merger of Arenzville, Concord, and Chapin school districts was located on Facebook, written by Mark Phillips, and submitted by Joe Dewees.

 

History of Arenziville HS Merger to Triopia
arenzvillehshistorydav.jpg
Written by Mark Phillips, submitted by Joe Dewees.

History of Arenzville HS Merger to Triopia
arenzvillehshistory2dav.jpg
Written by Mark Phillips, and submitted by Joe Dewees.

The high school for the new district is located in the tiny hamlet of Concord. The Arenzville High School building was phased out 1969 and no longer used as a school.  This school building has since been demolished..
 
Arenzville High School Quick Facts
 
Year opened:                                1892 - 2-year high school begun
Year closed:                                 1959
Consolidated to:                            Triopia School District (Concord)
Arenzville HS team nickname:        the "Raiders"
Arensville HS team colors:             Purple & White
AHS School Fight Song:                unavailable
Athletics
 
Arenzville High School's Raiders competed in boys basketball for sure.  As with most of the smaller schools on this site we believe that AHS offered baseball and track as well.  School team colors, fight song, team records, and coach's names are all being sought at this time.
 
One interesting piece of Arenzeville HS trivia is that:
After the 1959 consolidation of Arenzeville with the districts in Concord and Chapin to form Concord Triopia,  the sports teams competed under the Triopia banner that first year.  However the students attended school in their old buildings until the new Triopia building was ready in 1960.  Coach Don Kemp became the head football coach at Triopia and went on to a long and distinguished career coaching football at that school.  He got his start at Arenzeville. 
 
Boys Basketball
 
Boys basketball at Arenzville High School is the only sport covered on the IHSA website (www.ihsa.org).  The Raiders had some real nice seasons including four District Championships and one UNDEFEATED regular season!! A great article on the first two District Championship seasons can be viewed at http://www.burgoo.org/stories/basketball.html.
 
The best of the Raider seasons as listed on the IHSA website are in turn listed below.  As you can see, Coach Don Kemp did a real nice job guiding the program through its later years. Scores invoving Arenzville High School boys basketball teams playing in the IHSA state tournament are located on a website title "Illinois Postseason High School Basketball Scores."
       
 
*All IHSA Postseason scores, season records, and coaches' names for seasons prior to 1940-41 are needed.
   
1940-41                    Meredosia District Tourney                 Coach's name & record needed
                                 1st Rd Beat Woodson 33-16
                                 Semi-Final lost to Chambersburg 31-25
                                 Chambersburg beat Murrayville in title game
                                   
1941-42  Postseason scores, record, and coach's name needed.
      
1942-43                    Meredosia District Tourney                 Coach's name & record needed
                                 1st Rd Beat Versailes 70-20
                                 Semi-Final lost to Chambersburg 43-33
                                 Jacksonville Routt beat Chambersburg Murrayville in title game
                                           
1943-44  Postseason scores, record, and coach's name needed.
                                         
1944-45                    Meredosia District Tourney                 Coach's name & record needed
                                 1st Rd Beat Versailles 71-13
                                 Semi-Final lost to Meredosia 30-27
                                 Bluffs beat Meredosia in title game
                                                   
1945-46                    Chapin District Runner-Up               Coach's name & record needed
                                 Semi-Final Beat Murrayville 35-30
                                 Title Game lost to Meredosia 46-32
                                                  
1946-47     32 - 2      Meredosia District Champions        Coach Jack Escorcia
                                 1st Rd Bear Ashland 55-40
                                 Semi-final Beat Chambersburg 48-42
                                 Title Game Beat Murrayville 59-34
                                 Jacksonville Regional Runner-Up
                                 1st Rd Beat New Berlin 60-58 (O/T)
                                 Semi-Final Beat Jacksonville 41-40
                                 Title Game lost to Jacksonville Routt 54-37
ROUTT (54): Hanley 18, Bonjean 15, McGrath 9, Gruber 6, Lonergan 3, O’Connell 2, Spreen 1.
ARENZVILLE (37): Lovekamp 12, Wessler 11, Jones 6, Roegge 6, Beets 2.
       
1947-48     29 - 1      Chapin District Champions            Coach Jack Escorcia
                                  Undefeated Regular Season!!
                                  Ranked #18 in Illinois (one-class)
                                  http://www.burgoo.org/stories/basketball.html
                                  Chapin Districtr Tourney Champs
                                  Semi-final Beat Meredosia 69-33
                                  Title Game Beat Chambersburg 46-39
                                  Virginia Regional Tournament
                                  1st Rd Beat Jacksonville School for the Deaf 56-24
                                  Semi-final lost to 39-38
                                  Waverly lost to Jacksonville in title game 52-46
                                       
1948-49                     Arenzeville District Runner-Up     Coach's name & record needed
                                  1st Rd Beat Chapin 50-46
                                  Semi-Final Beat Perry 49-48
                                  Title Game lost to Chambersburg 53-50
                                           
1949-50                     Beardstown Regional Tourney         Coach's name & record needed
                                  (not assigned to a District this season)
                                  1st Rd Beat Industry 43-37
                                  Semi-Final lost to Mt. Sterling 58-49
                                  Rushville beat Mt. Sterling in title game
                                                
1950-51                     Rushville Regional Tourney              Coach's name & record needed
                                  (not assigned to a District this season)
                                  1st Rd Beat Industry-Adair 67-37
                                  Semi-Final lost to Astoria 52-48
                                  Rushville beat Astoria in title game
                                                  
1951-52                     Mt. Sterling Reg. Runner-Up           Coach's name & record needed
                                  (not assigned to a District this season)
                                  1st Rd Beat Augusta Southeastern 65-18
                                  Semi-Final Beat Beardstown 52-48
                                  Title Game lost to Rushville 70-47
RUSHVILLE (70): Wherley 23, Stevens 18, DeMoss 16, Little 9, Milby 3, Gillenwater 1.
ARENZVILLE (47): Janssen 10, West 9, Schnitker 8, McCloud 7, Allen 4, Crawford 3, Zulauf 2, Caris 2, Hobrock 2.
                                                         
1952-53     18 - 9       Beardstown Reg. Runner-Up          Coach's name & record needed
                                  (not assigned to a District this season)
                                  1st Rd Beat Table Grove VIT 69=67
                                  Semi-Final Beat Mt. Sterling 62-48
                                  Title Game lost to Beardstown 82-64
                                            
1953-54                     Rushville Regional Tourney                Coach Don Kemp
                                  (not assigned to a District this season)
                                  1st Rd Beat Augusta Southeastern 66-40
                                  Semi-Final lost to Rushville 57-52
                                  Astoria beat Rushville in title game
                                  
1954-55                     Mt. Sterling Regional Tourney            Coach Don Kemp
                                   (not assigned to a District this season)
                                  1st Rd lost to Rushville 68-58
                                  Astoria beat Beardstown in title game
                                 
1955-56                     Mt. Sterling Regional Tourney            Coach Don Kemp
                                   (not assigned to a District this season)
                                  1st Rd lost to Rushville 78-61
                                  Rushville beat Beardwtown in title game
                                                                               
1956-57                    Chapin District Champions              Coach Don Kemp
                                 Season Record Needed
                                 Semi-final Beat Chapin 61-52
                                 Title Game Beat Jacksonville Routt 68-52
                                 Franklin Regional Tournament
                                 1st Rd lost to New Berlin 86-82
                                 Jacksonville beat Winchester in title game
   
1957-58     19 - 5      Jacksonville District Runner-Up      Coach Don Kemp
                                 Semi_Final Beat Bluffs 74-53
                                 Title Game lost to Jacksonville Routt 66-48
     
1958-59     19 - 11    Chapin District Champions               Coach Don Kemp
                                 Semi-final Beat Perry 62-57
                                 Title Game Beat Bluffs 43-37
                                 Pittsfield Regional Tournament
                                 *1st Rd lost to Pleasant Hill 61-48
                                 Brown County beat Pleasant Hill in title game
   
*Last boys basketball game for Arenzville High School.

NICE JOB ARENZVILLE HS RAIDERS!!

Boys Football

The Raiders competed in football and set the groundwork for some great years ahead after the merger to Triopia.  Some of the better grid iron seasons are listed below courtesy of Tom Sikorski:

1952  4-3     3rd place 3C's conference                 Coach Verdie Altizer
1953  4-3     4th place 3C's conference                 Coach Don Kemp
1954  3-3     4th place PMBC Conference             Coach Don Kemp
1955  4-2     2nd place (tie) PMBC Conference      Coach Don Kemp
1956  6-0-1  PMBC Conference Champs            Coach Don Kemp
1957  7-0     PMBC Conference Champs            Coach Don Kemp
1958  3-2-1  2nd place (tie) PMBC Conf.               Coach Don Kemp
 
To read an excellent story on the life and coaching success of Don Kemp please click here:  http://www.burgoo.org/stories/coach.html
 
Need More Information
 
If you have ANY further information to offer regarding the many accomplishments and achievements made by the students and townspeople of Arenzville and its original High School, please share it with us. School team colors, fight song, as well as other non-athletic related items are being sought.   These items can be e-mailed to us at ihsgdwebsite@comcast.net or real-mailed to us at:
 
Illinois HS Glory Days
6439 N. Neva St.
Chicago,  Il.  60631