Kasson-Mantorville 2024 HOF class inducted

On Saturday Sept. 21  the 2024 Hall of Fame Class was inducted into the K-M Athletic Hall of Fame.  This is the 24th group to be honored for their athletic achievements at K-M.  This year the committee selected a former coach, two female and two male athletes.  4
Phil “PJ” Johnson
   Phil “PJ” Johnson coached at K-M for 33 years.  He served as assistant boys’ basketball coach under four separate coaches until he took over as head girls basketball coach in 1987.  He held that position for 12 seasons.  During the 1996-97 season he guided his team to a 4th place finish in the State Basketball Tournament.  He returned to assistant coaching and continued until 2005. 
From 1974 to 1994 PJ was the head baseball coach for the KoMets.  His 1978 and 1980 teams won conference championships and district titles.  During his coaching tenure, he was proud to have coached 21 different players that ended up in the K-M Hall of Fame. 
Johnson served on the Minnesota Miss Basketball Selection Committee for 8 years and 4 years on the Minnesota Girls Basketball Association where he served as President during the 96-97 season. 
He  taught industrial arts at K-M for 28 years.  He helped start the Construction Tech home building program.  He served as Junior Class advisor for many years where he and his wife, Hazel, chaperoned 25 proms.  For 12 seasons, PJ was also the announcer for K-M football games. 
Tony Paulson
KMHS 1991 graduate, Tony Paulson, had an excellent football and wrestling career at K-M.  He was a three-year starter in both football and wrestling.  He was awarded all-conference honors in both sports during both his junior and senior year.  During his senior year, Tony was captain of both of his football and wrestling teams. 
His 1990 football team outscored their opponents 302-20 in 8 regular season games. He was a defensive force on that team.  As a nose tackle, Tony was often found in the backfield of opposing teams.  He was named the 1990 Southeastern MN Area Defensive Player of the Year.  In addition, he rushed for 700 yards and scored 11 touchdowns as a running back. 
 Paulson was also a talented wrestler.  He was a starter on the District Four Championship team as a sophomore.  In his junior year he wrestled at 184 pounds and advanced to the region tournament before being injured versus the eventual state champion.  During his senior year his season ended again with an injury against another eventual state champion.  His tenacity as a wrestler earned him the Tim O’Brien Memorial Award for hardest worker.
Kellen Rendler
Kellen Rendler was a 2006 graduate of K-M.  He had both a distinguished football and baseball career.  In football he was a two-way starter as a running back and defensive end as well as being the team’s kicker.  His 2,345 yards rushing ranks 6th all-time at K-M despite playing only two games his senior season because of an injury.  In 2005 he rushed for 1,370 yards to help lead his team to an undefeated regular season.  They lost in the Section Championship but not for his lack of effort.  Kellen rushed for 280 yards and scored three touchdowns.  He was selected all-conference two years and was all-state in football his junior year. 
In baseball, Rendler started every game from his freshman to his senior year.  In his freshman year he batted .456 and was a star center fielder.  His average increased to .513 his sophomore year.  He continued his success at the plate as a junior when he batted .444.  As a senior, he returned to baseball after his football injury earlier in the year and still led the team in batting average.  He was all-conference his sophomore, junior, and senior year.  As a junior he was selected to the all-state team and helped his team to its first ever state tournament appearance.  Their 24-4 season ended with 4th place at state. 
Katie Robinson
A 2016 graduate of K-M, Katie Robinson was a six-year varsity player on the Dodge County Wildcat hockey team.  She was a six-year letter winner and three-year captain.  During her junior year she was the top scoring defenseman in Minnesota with 40 points on 12 goals and 28 assists. As a senior she was a top five finalists for Minnesota’s Ms. Hockey.  She finished her high school career with 150 points on 41 goals and 109 assists.  While at K-M, she was a member of the National Honor Society, a senior class officer, and a high honor roll student.
Robinson continued her hockey career at the University of Minnesota for four years.  As a sophomore she was named an Academic All-Big Ten honoree.  During her junior and senior years, she was named WCHA All-Academic and Academic All-Big Ten honoree. As a senior the hockey team was beginning the NCAA quarterfinals but the season ended because of COVID-19 restrictions.  She continued her hockey career by playing the 2020-21 season professionally as part of a team in Turku Finland. 
Kristin Scott
All time leading basketball scorer for K-M girls’ basketball was 2017 graduate Kristin Scott.   She was a 4-year letter winner and the MVP for the team in 2015, 2016, & 2017.  Her dominance on the court was recognized with the MGBCA All-State honors in 2015, 2016, and 2017.  She was also an AP All-State selection in 2016.   KTTC selected her as the Player of the Week in both of the 2016 and 2017 seasons.  During her senior year she was a Miss Basketball finalist and a McDonald’s All-American Nominee. 
Her 2,253 points is most in K-M girls basketball history.  She also holds the school record for most rebounds with 1,158 and is the all-time leader in blocked shots with 433.  In the HVL Conference, Scott  ranks 2nd in all-time points and 3rd in rebounds.  Over her four years, she helped her team achieve a 103-20 record.  She helped her team to go undefeated in HVL play in both 2015 and 2016.  The teams were HVL Champions in 2015, 2016, and 2017. They made it to the state tournaments in both 2014 and 2015.  She was named to the State All-Tournament team in 2015 when the K-M team finished 4th. 
After high school  Scott was a 4-year player for the Iowa State Cyclones, starting 71 games of the 118 games she played.  She averaged 10.8 per game and totaled 1279 points in her college career.  During her 2018-19 season she shot 11 for 11 and a career high 31 points and 12 rebounds in ISU’s win against Oklahoma State.  She earned Big 12 Player of the Week for her efforts.  Scott was voted Second-Team All-Big 12 in 2019 and Honorable Mention All-Big 12 in 2020.