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Connie Kunzmann

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Connie Kunzmann
Personal information
Born(1956-07-03)July 3, 1956
Spencer, Iowa, U.S.
DiedFebruary 7, 1981(1981-02-07) (aged 24)
Omaha, Nebraska, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Career information
High schoolEverly (Everly, Iowa)
CollegeWayne State (Nebraska) (1974–1978)
Playing career1978–1981
PositionForward / center
Number44
Career history
1978–1980Iowa Cornets
1980–1981Nebraska Wranglers
Career highlights and awards
  • First-team All-NCC (1977)

Connie Renea Kunzmann (July 3, 1956 – February 7, 1981) was a professional basketball player who was a member of the Iowa Cornets and the Nebraska Wranglers in the Women's Professional Basketball League (WBL) from 1978 to 1981. Kunzmann made the transition from halfcourt six-on-six basketball in high school to the traditional five-on-five full court game in college and the pros. She attended Wayne State College in Wayne, Nebraska, where she played on the school's basketball and softball teams. In 1978, she signed with the Iowa Cornets of the newly-formed WBL, which was the first women's professional basketball league in the United States.

Kunzmann was killed on February 7, 1981, by Lance Tibke, who later pleaded guilty to second degree murder. He was sentenced to 10 to 40 years in prison, but was paroled after serving less than nine years. Kunzmann's team, the Nebraska Wranglers, canceled their game on February 10 when investigators disclosed that she had been killed. They returned to the court a day later donning black bands on their uniforms in memory of Kunzmann. The Wranglers went on to win the WBL Championship. Kunzmann's death was a national news story – with reports being filed regularly during the search for her body, which was hindered for nearly a week by poor weather conditions. Her remains were located in the Missouri River on March 28, halfway between Dodge Park and the Mormon Bridge. An autopsy concluded the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head by an object, likely a tire iron. Kunzmann was interred at Lone Tree Cemetery in Everly.

Early life

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Kunzmann was born on July 3, 1956, in Spencer, Iowa, to Ray and Elanor Kunzmann.[1] The family later moved to Moneta, Iowa.[2] Kunzamnn's father died during her childhood, which according to her mother, caused Connie to consume herself in basketball.[1]

Kunzmann attended Everly High School in Everly, Iowa. She played on the school's six-on-six basketball team from 1971 to 1974. During her sophomore season, Kunzmann led the all state six-on-six players in steals.[1] She was named The Des Moines Register All-Iowa Second Team following her junior season.[3] After playing her first three seasons at guard, Everly's principal Larry Johnson suggested she switch to forward. She led her team in scoring that season with 34 points per game. She was named to the Sioux City Journal All-Northwest Iowa First Team, the Iowa Daily Press Association All-Iowa Third Team and The Des Moines Register All-Iowa Sixth Team.[4][1][3]

After graduating high school, Kunzmann enrolled at Wayne State College in Wayne, Nebraska. She played for the Wildcats women's basketball and softball teams. On February 3, 1975, she scored 33 points in a basketball game against the Midland University Warriors. Her points total set a team record for most scored in a single game.[5] She set the record again, with 40 points, during a game on December 6, 1975.[6] She also had 15 rebounds in that game.[1] Norma Boetel, the South Dakota State Jackrabbits women's basketball head coach, said of Kuzmann in 1976, "Wayne [State] is led by Connie Kunzmann, a tall, mobile gal who shoots well, rebounds well and plays fine defense."[7] Kunzmann finished the 1975–76 season with an average of a 20.1 points and 14.4 rebounds per game.[6]

Kunzmann broke her ankle sliding into third base during a Wildcats softball game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers on April 2, 1976.[8] She recovered from her injury in time for the basketball season. On December 30, 1976, she scored 37 points, leading the Wildcats to of 79–69 victory over the Northern Colorado Bears in the championship game of the Chadron State College Holiday Tournament.[9] Her junior year, Kunzmann was named Wayne State College Athlete of the Year and was named First Team All-Nebraska College Conference in basketball.[10] She averaged 20.4 points and 13.3 rebounds per game during the 1976–77 season. Kunzmann is the career leader for Wayne State in rebounds, with 1,271.[6]

Professional career

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Kunzmann signed with the Iowa Cornets of the fledgling Women's Professional Basketball League (WBL) in 1978. Her professional debut came on December 1 in a preseason game against the Chicago Hustle. She went 6-for-6 from the field and 2-for-2 from the free throw line, finishing the game with 14 points in the Cornets 114–105 victory.[1] She made the Cornets' starting lineup during their regular season opener on December 15, against the Minnesota Fillies.[11] Along with other members of the Cornets, Kunzman appeared in the 1979 film Scoring, which starred Pete Maravich.[12]

Kunzmann and other Cornets staff and players reported that payroll checks issued to them on March 1, 1980 bounced. The team eventually made good on their payments.[13] The Cornets made it to the WBL Championship Series in 1980, but lost to the New York Stars. In the deciding fourth game of the series, Kunzmann scored 20 points and grabbed 12 rebounds.[14] At the end of the season, the Cornets held a banquet at Falbo's Restaurant in Des Moines. Kunzmann was awarded the team's "hustle award".[15] During the off-season, Kunzmann coached a girl's six-on-six basketball camp in Cedar Rapids along with teammates Molly Bolin, Tanya Crevier and Nancy Wellen.[16]

The Cornets went through a tumultuous off-season as players and staff publicly aired their grievances against the team's general manager, Rod Lein. The Cornets head coach, Steve Kirk, and two other staff members resigned because they did not want to work under Lien. He eventually resigned as general manager, but not before Kunzmann announced her intention to follow Kirk to his new team, the Nebraska Wranglers.[17] She started the 1980–81 season coming off the bench for the Wranglers.[18]

Following her death in 1981, the WBL named an award after Kunzmann. Sybil Blalock of the New Orleans Pride won the inaugural Connie Kunzmann Hustle and Harmony Award.[19]

Death and subsequent events

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Kunzmann was reported missing by a coach for her team, the Nebraska Wranglers, on February 7, 1981. She was last seen the night before at Tiger Tom's Bar in Omaha.[20] Police were soon investigating her disappearance as a homicide. An arrest warrant was issued for Lance Edward Tibke, who was with Kunzmann at the bar the night she disappeared. Absent a body, police asserted that Tibke took Kunzmann to Dodge Park, where the two got into an argument that led to her murder. Police believed her body was dumped in the Missouri River. Tibke turned himself in to police and confessed that he killed Kunzmann, but claimed it was in self-defense.[21] He was charged with second degree murder.[22] At his arraignment, Tibke waived his right to a preliminary hearing and his bond was set at $15,000, which was posted.[23][24] The Associated Press article on Kunzmann's death was published in a number of newspapers across the United States.[25][26][27][28]

The Nebraska Wranglers postponed a game they were scheduled to play on February 10 against the Chicago Hustle.[25] The team released the following statement:

Connie was more than our teammate. She was a friend to each of us, just as every member of this team is. We play together as a team, as a family. Connie was a member of our family. Her loss is felt more deeply than one we work with. It is felt as one we love and live with.

We feel that Connie was the type player that is a most valuable part of any team. She was talented, yet maybe not the most outstanding we have. However, Connie provided that intangible that is so important. In any situation, in any game, in any relationship she gave more than she had to get a positive benefit from it. Each of us knows that anything Connie was assigned to handle, she could more than measure up to.

Never did you hear her complain about her position on the team or in life. She did not accept it, she attempted in every way to make it better. She did it for herself, she did it for those she knew. The word 'impossible' was not known to her. It was because of Connie, and the attitude she possessed and passed on to us, that this team has found the success it has.

She can't be replaced on our roster. She can't be replaced in our hearts. Athletes and people like Connie do not come along every day. We are deeply hurt that this happened. We are frightened that such incidents even occur in our world. We live in an age when life is threatened even at conception. We hate that Connie was taken from us and her family at this point in her life. Her memory will remain with us forever. Her life will become ours. We will live and play as Connie would have, as Connie would want us to do.

— Nebraska Wranglers press release[29]

The Wranglers returned to the court on February 12, donning black arm bands on their jerseys in memory of Kunzmann.[30] The team went on to win the WBL Championship that season.[31] In 2010, Holly Warlick was asked about Kunzmann's death. The two played for the Wranglers and shared a room in Omaha. Warling said:

Well, Connie was my roommate in Nebraska and she left and didn't come home and so didn't think anything of it because she had done that before. And then the next day, actually that Friday – The day that she was missing I went to the All-Star Game and called and said she hadn't come back.

[...]

When she didn't come home it was kind of like, 'Well she'll be back in the morning,' and kind of one of those things where you don't worry. But then when they don't show up next day, next day you obviously get worried.

[...]

Well, I think [members of the Wranglers] were a little devastated at first. But we knew Connie, her personality, and just knew that she would want us to continue to play and win the championship so that's kind of what we did. We kind of made it our mission to win not only for us but for her as well.

— Holly Warlick, 2010[32]
Police believed that Kuzmann was killed at Dodge Park (pictured) and her body was disposed of in the Missouri River. Lance Tibke pleaded guilty to the second degree murder of Kunzmann.

Nebraska State Patrol utilized a helicopter and diving unit in the search for Kunzmann's body.[25] The search was called off on February 11 due to freezing temperatures and floating ice chunks in the river.[33] They resumed the search of February 17, but the Douglas County Sheriffs Department announced that if her body was not found by the end of the day the search would be permanently suspended.[34] Police announced the following day they had discovered a blood stained jacket, believed to be Kunzmann's, at the Springwell Cemetery.[35]

Kunzmann's funeral service was held on March 6 at Hope Lutheran Church in Everly, Iowa.[36] On March 28, her body was found snagged on a fallen branch in the Missouri River.[37] The body was located midway between the Mormon Bridge and Dodge Park.[38] An autopsy determined the cause of death was blunt force trauma, likely caused by a tire iron. The body also had numerous stab wounds, which Jones concluded did not lead to Kunzmann's death.[39] On April 2, a grave-side service for Kunzmann was held at Lone Tree Cemetery in Everly.[2]

Tibke's defense attorney filed a unsuccessful motion to make his confession inadmissible. Evidence emerged that three police officers responded to Tibke's house the night after the murder at the request of his father, Edward Tibke, who was a member of the Omaha Police Department.[40][41] On June 16, Tibke entered a guilty plea to the second degree murder charge and was taken back into police custody.[24] He was sentenced to 10 to 40 years in prison on July 10 by Douglas County District Judge Paul Hickman.[42] During an interview with sports columnist Ira Berkow in 1982, Tibke was asked about Kunzmann's murder, stating, "I began to pound her and pound her. She said, 'Stop it, stop it, stop it. Please don't.' But I couldn't stop. I don't know why. She was a nice girl. I didn't have anything against her."[21] Tibke was paroled from the Nebraska State Penitentiary on June 25, 1990, after serving only nine years of his sentence.[43]

In 1986, Kunzmann was posthumously inducted into the Wayne State College Athletic Hall of Fame.[44] Every WBL player, including Kunzmann, was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame "Trailblazers of the Game" wing in 2018.[45][46]

Notes

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  1. ^ a b c d e f Hersom, Terry (8 December 1978). "Ex-guard to start for Cornets". Sioux City Journal. Sioux City Journal. p. 23. Retrieved 20 June 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Connie Kunzmann". Sioux City Journal. Sioux City, Iowa. 1 April 1981. p. 32. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  3. ^ a b Burdick, Chuck (24 March 1974). "Elder, 2 others from Adel land all-state berths". The Des Moines Register. Des Moines, Iowa. p. 41. Retrieved 20 June 2021.
  4. ^ Champ, Dick (21 March 1974). "Sue Jones on 2nd Unit; MV Dominates NW Girls Team". Sioux City Journal. Sioux City, Iowa. p. 19. Retrieved 20 June 2021.
  5. ^ "Wayne gals beat Midland". Fremont Tribune. Fremont, Nebraska. 4 February 1975. p. 5. Retrieved 20 June 2021.
  6. ^ a b c "Wildcat Record Book" (PDF). 2015-16 Wayne State College Wildcat Basketball. Wayne, Nebraska: Wayne State College: 29. 2015. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  7. ^ "Wayne, Vikings Jack Foes". Argus-Leader. Sioux City, Iowa. 8 January 1976. p. 16. Retrieved 20 June 2021.
  8. ^ Sittler, Dave (2 April 1976). "NU's Boomin' Betsy Power's Softball Win". Lincoln Journal Star. Lincoln, Nebraska. p. 25. Retrieved 20 June 2021.
  9. ^ "Wayne Claims Chadron Title". Sioux City Journal. Sioux City, Iowa. 31 December 1976. p. 14. Retrieved 20 June 2021.
  10. ^ "Meet the Cornets; Connie Kunzmann; Forward". Des Moines Tribune. Des Moines, Iowa. 15 January 1979. p. 16. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  11. ^ "Cornets hope to lure 5,000 for its first game". The Des Moines Register. Des Moines, Iowa. 12 December 1978. p. 22. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  12. ^ "Connie Kunzmann". IMDB.com. Internet Movie Database.
  13. ^ Grett, Wayne (20 March 1980). "Vance out as owner of WBL Cornets; Financial problems hit division champs". The Des Moines Register. Des Moines, Iowa. p. 33. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  14. ^ Grett, Wayne (10 April 1980). "Stars Top Cornets For WBL Crown". The Des Moines Register. Des Moines, Iowa. p. 25. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  15. ^ Grett, Wayne (14 April 1980). "Cornets tab Bolin their most valued". The Des Moines Register. Des Moines, Iowa. p. 23. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  16. ^ "1980 Iowa Professional Basketball Camp for Girls". The Des Moines Register. Des Moines, Iowa. 14 May 1980. p. 26. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  17. ^ Neal, Connie. "Cornets saga continues with Lein resigning, Nissen 'back'". The Gazette. Cedar Rapids, Iowa. pp. 1, 8. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  18. ^ "New Bolin no longer a gunner..." Des Moines Tribune. Des Moines, Iowa. 19 January 1981. p. 17. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  19. ^ "Pride's Blalock is Kunzmann Winner". The Palm Beach Post. Palm Beach, Florida. Associated Press. 15 April 1981. p. 67. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  20. ^ "Divers searching for body of former Cornet". The Gazette. Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Associated Press. 10 February 1981. p. 27. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  21. ^ a b Porter, Karra (2006). Mad Seasons: The Story of the First Women's Professional Basketball League, 1978-1981. Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press. pp. 204, 207–208. ISBN 0803287895. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
  22. ^ "Murder charge filed in Kunzmann's death". Lincoln Journal Star. Lincoln, Nebraska. 10 February 1981. p. 13. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  23. ^ "Accused waives in hearing in Kunzmann's death investigation". The Gazette. Cedar Rapids, Iowa. United Press International. 11 February 1981. p. 19. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  24. ^ a b "Tibke pleads guilty in Kunzmann murder". The Des Moines Register. Des Moines, Iowa. Associated Press. 16 June 1981. p. 10. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  25. ^ a b c "Connie Kunzmann apparently slain". Iowa City Press-Citizen. Iowa City, Iowa. Associated Press. 11 February 1981. p. 22. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  26. ^ "Woman Cager Missing; Murder Charge Lodged". Hartford Courant. Hartford, Connecticut. Associated Press. 11 February 1981. p. 49. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  27. ^ "Missing WBL player is believed murdered". Austin Statesman-Journal. Austin, Texas. Associated Press. 11 February 1981. p. 52. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  28. ^ "Man charged in death of woman basketball star". The San Francisco Examiner. San Francisco, California. Associated Press. 11 February 1981. p. 66. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  29. ^ "The players of the Nebraska Wranglers, through the league..." United Press International. New York. 10 February 1981. Retrieved 20 June 2021.
  30. ^ "Good golly, Miss Molly". Des Moines Tribune. Des Moines, Iowa. 13 February 1981. p. 18. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  31. ^ "1980-1981 Nebraska Wranglers". funwhileitlasted.net. Fun While it Lasted. 27 November 2011. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  32. ^ Bartges, Ellyn (16 March 2010). "Interview with Holly Warlick". presidentlincoln.illinois.gov. ALPL Oral History Program. p. 17. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  33. ^ "Ice prevents search for body of Kunzmann". The Des Moines Register. Des Moines, Iowa. Associated Press. 12 February 1981. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  34. ^ "May discontinue Kunzmann search". Des Moines Tribune. Des Moines, Iowa. Associated Press. 17 February 1981. p. 13. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  35. ^ "Find jacket of Kunzmann in cemetery". Des Moines Tribune. Des Moines, Iowa. Associated Press. 18 February 1981. p. 20. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  36. ^ "Kunzmann service held today". The Gazette. Cedar Rapids, Iowa. 6 March 1981. p. 20. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  37. ^ "Body is found; believed to be Connie Kunzmann". Star Tribune. Minneapolis, Minnesota. Associated Press. 29 March 1981. p. 44. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  38. ^ "Kunzmann's body believed found in river". Sioux City Journal. Sioux City, Iowa. Associated Press. 29 March 1981. p. 10. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  39. ^ "Untitled". Kingsport Times-News. Kingsport, Tennessee. 31 March 1981. p. 14. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  40. ^ "Edward Harry Tibke". reichmuthfuneralhomes.com. Reichmuth Funeral Home. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  41. ^ "Omaha slaying; Evidence hearing finished". Lincoln Journal Star. Lincoln, Nebraska. Associated Press. 29 April 1981. p. 30. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  42. ^ "Omahan sentenced in Kunzmann slaying". The Lincoln Star. Lincoln, Nebraska. United Press International. 11 July 1981. p. 5. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  43. ^ "DCS ID: 33675 -- Lance Tibke". dcs-inmatesearch.ne.gov. Nebraska Department of Correctional Service. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  44. ^ "Connie Kunzmann; Inducted: 1986". wsc.edu. Wayne State College. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  45. ^ "Trailblazers of the Game" (PDF). wbhof.com. Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. Retrieved 14 July 2021.
  46. ^ "Untitled". Sioux City Journal. Sioux City, Iowa. 24 June 2018. p. D6. Retrieved 15 July 2021.

See also

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