Four Great Worth County Athletes

Dear Editor,

I read with much interest your article on 100 years of Tiger football. As you might guess, Tiger football has been of great importance to me during my time in and out of school. My first memories of wanting to play the game came from watching high school practice as an elementary school student. Some of my classmates and I were fortunate enough to be transported to away games in the back of Jack and Geneva Andrews’ camper shell covered Ford F-150. Also, every day in the lunch room, I studied and memorized the names of the 1967 Conference Championship team which had a team photo on the wall as you entered the cafeteria.

So while you are in the mood for a bit of Worth County sports history, I thought I would write you and ask for article(s) on the following athletes: (1) Bob Prather, (2) Scott Wilkinson, (3) Donnie Waldeier, and (4) Kent Thompson. I played with three of the four names with the exception being Bob Prather. I have heard stories of Prather’s exceptional athleticism, work ethic, and character, but I am wondering if you might be able to find out more about him. Scott Wilkinson was the very best natural athlete I was around or watched play sports. He could do it all! I believe his 440 yard dash time is the best small school time in the state of Missouri by over 1/2 second. So I think he would be a wonderful athlete to discuss in an article. Finally, Donnie Waldeier and Kent Thompson were predominately known for their basketball skills. Donnie, in my opinion, was Worth County’s version of Larry Bird — he got more out of his physical skills than anyone else. He was not a great jumper or super-fast, but he could control his body extremely well and understood how to take advantage of a defense better than most. He really understood how to play the game. Finally, Kent Thompson, my boyhood neighbor, was one of the purest shooters I have seen in high school basketball. He was fast and could pull up and shoot a jumper on a dime and from just about any spot on the floor. His scoring records preceded the 3-point shot and this was where most of his shots came from during his senior year.

All these athletes were exceptional, and I think it might be nice for some folks who didn’t get to see them play or don’t remember how good they were to read something which touches on their past performance. All four of them left us far too soon!

Thank you for your undying interest in Worth County sports and your willingness to put your thoughts in the paper!



Craig McNeese

Grant City, MO



PS — A few months ago, I learned that former King City Wildkat star Brad Hall passed away. I have it in my head that he, and Stanberry Bulldog star Terry Donovan both had 50 point games during the old Worth County basketball tournament, and perhaps it was the same game against each other. If you could find out anything about this, I would appreciate it!