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Gordon Teigen
Bowling team coach left legacy of success
By Danielle Teigen

When Gordon Teigen came to NDSU (at the time NDAC) to manage the Student Union Bowling lanes, bowling in North Dakota would never be the same. He quickly formed a bowling team and recruited the best bowlers he could find to fill the roster. While coaching the bowling team, Teigen helped establish the Tri-State Intercollegiate Bowling Conference of which NDSU was a member and served as a member of the advisory board of the National Intercollegiate Bowling Association, according to a May 27, 1964 press release.
During his 11-year stint at NDSU, Teigen compiled a coaching record of 118 wins and 50 losses, including a title at the 15-team University of New Mexico Invitational Tournament and saw one of his players, Jim Anderson, capture a national intercollegiate singles title, in addition to the national record set in 1961. “Gordy Teigen had a lot to do with it; he was well known throughout North Dakota for bowling expertise,” Baranyk said.
Teigen resigned his post at NDSU as assistant director of the Union in 1964 and eventually ended up at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse where he took over as the school’s bowling coach. The UW-La Crosse bowling team claimed NAIA titles in 1968 and 1969 and finished as runner-up in 1970, according to The Buzz, College Bowling USA Web site. He left his coaching post for a few years before returning to lead the team to additional titles in 1975 and 1985. The NAIA Hall of Fame inducted Teigen in 1977, while the UW-L Athletics Hall of Fame honored him in 1993. The National Collegiate Bowling Coaches Association currently awards an individual for outstanding service to collegiate bowling in Teigen’s honor; Teigen was the first recipient of the award. A Gordon Teigen Fund is also set up at UW-La Crosse, and in 1985, the bowling lanes in the student union were renamed Teigen Lanes in his honor, according to UW-La Crosse Sports Information Director David Johnson. Teigen retired in 1987.
Teigen currently resides in a nursing home in Wisconsin. “He was the secret to the success of (the NDSU) team,” Lingen said. “When he left for La Crosse, Wisc., the bowling program was not the same.”
Teigen also boasts the following accolades:
-inducted into the Fargo-Moorhead Bowling Association Hall of Fame in 1976
-inducted into the North Dakota Bowling Hall of Fame in 1981
-inducted into the North Dakota Sports Hall of Honor in 1992
-invited to roll the first ball at the 1991 National Intercollegiate Match Game Championship and the 1992 National Intercollegiate Bowling Championship
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