Retica excelled in two sports for Bluejackets

xMINNETONKA—John Retica wasn’t a one-dimensional high school athlete.

The former Hibbing High School graduate was a solid player on the Bluejacket boys basketball team, plus, he was solid on the golf team as well.

Retica played both basketball and golf for four years, and he excelled in both sports.

For that reason, Retica will be inducted into the Hibbing High School Hall of Fame in a ceremony Saturday at the Hibbing Memorial Arena.

It’s not surprising that Retica was so successful because his brother, Mike, and father, Mario, were instrumental in his athletic prowess.

“My dad, we’d go to his AD’s office on weekends, and he would open up the gym to shoot baskets while he worked,” Retica said. “I liked playing a lot of different sports. We didn’t play year round. You played the sport that was golng on at that time.

“We had access to all of those sports. It was a great time growing up in Hibbing. You would ride your bike all over town. You would go to the ball fields, the Muni, the Country Club. We did a lot of stuff like exploring the mine dumps.”

As for his golfing career, his brother had a lot to do with that.

“I have to give him a lot of credit,” Retica said. “He was the golf pro at the Mesaba in the late 60’s and early 70’s. He facilitated my golf game. I was on the team with Jay Northey, Tom Sachs and Mark Pokorney.

“We’d pick everybody up and spend the whole day on the golf course, chipping, putting and on the practice tee. All four of us worked out there. We always had clubs. That was never an issue. I credit him for all of my success in golf.”

In basketball, Retica was always playing with the older kids on the team.

“I was a young punk with Rick Tintor, Jim Sandelin and Rollie Thornton,” Retica said. “I kept my mouth shut and did a lot of listening. I tried to experience it and enjoy it. I loved the competition.”

Retica was on two teams that advanced to the state tournament in 1975 and 1976.

“My junior year, we were pretty good,” Retica said. “We were mostly juniors, but Monte Mitchell was the only senior that played.”

In 1975, the Bluejackets beat Duluth East to hand the Greyhounds their only loss that season until the section finals, when they beat them again.

“In many of our games, we could do a lot of stuff and make mistakes because they got erased by Kevin (McHale),” Retica said. “He was a presence on the inside. He made everybody else’s job easier. If we made mistakes, Kevin would pick up the slack. That was a good match to Duluth in that respect.”

As seniors in 1976, the Bluejackets picked up Dave Cicmil and Cliff Bronniche, and they repeated as champions.

Only that season, Retica was hurt in a game against Cloquet, which set his season back quite a bit.

“In a tournament in January, I got run over by a guy that sent me backward,” Retica said. “I put my palms down to break my fall, but I broke my wrist. I was out until March.”

Retica tried everything he could to get back sooner.

“It was hard, but we tried to see how to put something on my hand so I could play,” Retica said. “They were coming out with a plaster cast, but that didn’t work. At the U of M, they were coming out with new technology, using a honeycomb plastic, a foam wrap around the ski.

“They did that to see if I could get into a game and play. The first few referees took a look at it and said it was too hard. Being on the sideline through that was like the end of the world.”

Fortunately for Retica, he had a cousin who was a physical therapist. He wasn’t supposed to get that cast off for another week, but he snuck him in on a Sunday, cut the cast off and took an X-ray of the wrist to see if Retica could play in Hibbing’s final regular-season game.

“They didn’t see the fracture line, so it was good,” Retica said. “I was elated to get back in and play. That was the end of the despair. It was fun.”

Now, Retica will be honored for his accomplishments.

His sister got the proceedings going.

“She nominated me, and I got notified this summer,” Retica said. “This means a lot to our family, especially with my father in there. I appreciate it, and I’m happy to accept it. I appreciate the accolades, but a lot of people made this possible.

“I couldn’t have done this on my own.”