The Missouri Sports Hall of Fame bestowed its prestigious President’s Award on Gary Aggus of Hiland Dairy Foods, and also inducted seven individuals, a married couple that has championed shooting sports, the members of their local shooting club, as well as a high school cross country program.
The Outdoor Sports Luncheon presented by Hiland Dairy Foods drew a crowd of nearly 500 on Tuesday to the University Plaza Hotel & Convention Center in Springfield.
“What a great group. Everybody has made significant impacts in their sports and have inspired many,” said Rob Marsh, CEO & Executive Director of the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame. “We also want to thank all of the businesses and individuals who supported the luncheon, as it made for a special day for all of our honorees.”
The Class of 2025 is as follows:
- Brandon Butler – Outdoor Media
- Steve Dampier – Professional horse trainer
- Amy Francka – Archery
- John McNabb – Camdenton High School track & field coach
- Bob Burchett – Bird dog trainer
- Linn High School Cross Country Program
- Mike McClelland – Pro bass fisherman
- Dale & Peggy Siler and the Ozark Shooters Complex
- Lester Friebe – Motorsports
- Gary Aggus – President’s Award
Brandon Butler – Outdoor Media
Butler is a syndicated outdoor newspaper columnist, masthead magazine contributor, podcaster, photographer, and film producer. He published his first Driftwood Outdoors newspaper column in 2006 and hasn’t skipped a week yet. To date, his column has appeared in more than 50 newspapers and magazines. Butler has earned many awards, including the 2017 National Wild Turkey Federation’s Save the Habitat, Save the Hunt Award, the 2018 Conservation Federation of Missouri (CFM) Conservation Communicator of the Year, 2011 and 2019 Professional Outdoor Media Association Pinnacle Awards, and the Mid-Missouri Trout Unlimited Spencer Turner Conservation Award. Butler has served as president of the Association of Great Lakes Outdoor Writers, the Missouri Outdoor Communicators, and the Hoosier Outdoor Writers. He served five years as the executive director of the Conservation Federation of Missouri. He created and taught Conservation Communications at the University of Missouri. He is actively involved in conservation organizations and is a life member of Conservation Federation of Missouri, Quail Forever, Trout Unlimited, the National Rifle Association, the Boone & Crockett Club, Fly Fishers International and the Missouri Hunting Heritage Federation. These days, he serves as the CEO of Retrieving Freedom.
Steve Dampier – Horse Trainer
A 1980 graduate of Buffalo High School, Dampier has been training and riding fox trotters since age 14 and has been one of the best trainers in the state. In fact, he has been the World Grand Champion or Reserve World Grand Champion 12 times in the Missouri Fox Trotters Association. He rode Rex’s Golden Touch in 1987 for his first Reserve Champion title, and his Grand Champion rides have been Missouri Red Wing (1988), Rex’s Golden Touch (1990), Touch’s Golden Taffy (1992), Teardrops on My Guitar (2011), Legend’s Wendy (2014) and King’s April Star (2024). His Reserve Champion rides have been Traveler’s Perfect Lady (1999), Taffy’s Special Invitation (2003), Stratus’s Country Classic (2005), Back Alley Salley (2019) and King’s April Star (2021). Dampier also has trained Fox Trotters at his family’s stable north of Lebanon. In 1986, he set a record with three horses that were championship contenders in their age divisions in one night, and the record stood until 2016. In 1988, he attended the Mid-America Fox Trotting Horse Breed Association’s National Western Stock Show in Denver for an exhibition and clinic. He exhibitioned Rex’s Golden Touch in all three gaits to a crowd of 60,000, along with the other three members. Dampier is a member of the National Association of Breeders, the Mid-America Foxtrotting Horse Breed Association and the Missouri Fox Trotting Horse Breed Association. He also has earned the MFTHBA’s Lifetime Achievement Award and was one of its top five trainers several years.
Amy Francka – Archery
A 1988 graduate of Marion C. Early High School in Morrisville and later at Missouri State University, Francka works for the Springfield-Greene County Park Board’s Community Sports Development Program. In it, she is the CSDP head archery coach, handling its clinics, shooting classes, and offers private instruction. She also leads its USA Archery Programs and the Scholastic 3D Archery Club. Francka has been an archery teacher for 18 years, including 14 as head coach of the Ozarks Target Archers through the Park Board. She also was an instructor for 12 years at Willard Middle School, including four years as the National Archery in the Schools Program coach, and two years as the Missouri Department of Conservation Outreach and Education Coordinator. Francka has been a competitive archer for 10 years. Among her accomplishments is being named the Female Compound Shooter of the Year for the Missouri Archery Association (2015, 2016, 2017, 2020) and has been a champion or top placer in Archery Shooters Association competitions, the Missouri Bowhunters Association and Show-Me State Games. She won the 2022 Classic Championship and Shooter of the Year the same weekend. Francka also serves on the board of directors for the USA Archery JOAD, Missouri Bowhunters Association, and is an advisor for the USA Archery and Springfield Sports Commission.
John McNabb – Camdenton High School Track & Field Coach
McNabb was a coach for Camdenton High School for 46 seasons. His tenure included 31 seasons (1991 to 2002) as the head coach of the girls track & field team, and that was after he served as a varsity assistant from 1989 to 1991. Three teams finished in the top 10, with the 2017 team winning the Class 4 state championship. The next season, the Lakers placed third and that was just four years after finishing in the top 10. Additionally, his Lakers teams won two sectionals (2001, 2017), as well as five district titles (1989, 2001, 2007, 2017, 2018) and had three district runner-up finishes in 1991, 2005 and 2015. Individually, 179 girls were state qualifiers, including 58 who became state medalists. Five of them were state champions, and another was a relay state champion. As an assistant for the boys teams, he helped the 1989, 1991, 1992, 2005, 2006 and 2021 teams win districts. Four other teams (1990, 2000, 2003, 2015) were district runner-up. McNabb also was an assistant football coach from 1984-1992 (the Lakers won two state titles in 1986 and 1987), the girls basketball head coach from 1997-2004, boys varsity basketball assistant 1992-1996, volleyball varsity assistant (1995-1997, 2011-2014), a baseball varsity assistant (1997-1980), and cross country head coach 1976-1977. A graduate of Downers Grove (Ill.) High School and Missouri State University, McNabb is also the mayor of Camdenton.
Bob Burchett – Bird Dog Trainer
Located in Conway just east of Marshfield, Burchett has been a bird dog trainer full-time since 1994, when he resigned as Director of the Lee County Conservation Board after a 12-year run there. He has placed more dogs in the National Gun Dog Championships than any other handler and has won most of the other major championships and classics along the way, both all age and shooting dogs. For the past 13 years, running dogs that were schooled and handled at Burchett’s Bird Dogs have been awarded more than 100 placements each year. He has developed programs, facilities, and grounds to bring out the best in every dog, whether a hunting dog or field trial prospect. Each dog is worked at their pace and in a way to match their individual temperament. The grounds are groomed to bring out the best in each dog and with a combination of wild and pre-released birds each new prospect is assured lots of game contact. He leaves nothing to chance when training dogs. His full-time assistant/scout, Valerie Weaver, and Burchett travel the training fields and field trial venues to develop and exhibit each dog’s abilities.
Linn High School Cross Country Program
Just east of Jefferson City on Highway 50, in Osage County, is one of the most successful high school cross country programs in the Show-Me State. The Linn High School Wildcats – both the boys and girls teams – have had quite the tradition, with 22 top four finishes. The boys won five state championships (1987, 1989, 1998, 1999, 2011) and had five state runner-up finishes (1988, 2000, 2010, 2012, 2013), as well as third-place trophies in 1995 and 1997, and fourth in 1996 and 2009. Kaleb Wilson (2011) and Tyler Rush (2012) were state champions. The girls’ great run was from 1998 to 2005. They won state championship in 1999 and 2003, placed third in 1998, 2001, 2002, 2005 and were fourth in 2000 and 2004. Kaleb Wilson and Tyler Rush were state champions in 2011 and 2012, respectively. The girls enjoyed an outstanding run from 1998 to 2005, with eight top four finishes. They won state championship in 1999 and 2003, placed third in 1998, 2001, 2002, 2005 and were fourth in 2000 and 2004. Call it an incredible story for a program that began in 1978. Coaches over the years have been Lonnie Thompson (1978, 1980, 1986-1989), Scott Connor (1981-1983), Dave Pfiefffer (1984-1985), Tim Bower (1990, 2002-2016), Brian Kirk (1991), Brett Phillips (1992-2001), Suann Bower (2017-2019) and Robyn Baker (2020 to present).
Mike McClelland – Pro Bass Fisherman
Born in Branson in 1967, McClelland has emerged as one of the more successful pro bass fishermen from Missouri. Overall, he has competed in 261 total tournaments, including 11 Bassmaster Classics. He has enjoyed eight first-place finishes and four runner-up finishes. Those statistics also include a whopping 89 Top 30 finishes, with 64 of those in the top 20 and 32 in the top 10. He also has had career earnings of $1.85 million and has secured sponsorships from Bass Pro Shops as well as Mercury Marine, among many others. Overall, McClelland has hauled in more than 8,000 pounds of fish in his career. His highest finish in the Bassmaster Classic was fourth in 2009 at Red River in Shreveport, La., and then fifth in 2013 at Grand Lake in Oklahoma. His victories include the 1992 Central Pro Am at Table Rock, the Bassmaster Invitationals on the Arkansas River and Ross Barnett in Jackson, Miss., the 2005 Bassmaster Open, and four Bassmaster Elite Series – in 2006 at Grand Lake, in 2007 at Clarks Hill Lake in Georgia, at the 2008 Harris Chain of Lakes in Florida, and in 2014 at Table Rock, where he also won the Bassmaster Central Open in 2017. McClelland is a 1986 graduate of Fayetteville, Ark., High School but has been a longtime resident of Blue Eye near Table Rock in southwest Missouri.
Dale & Peggy Siler and the Ozark Shooters Complex
Since 1969, owners Dale and Peggy Siler have been doing their part to build up the Ozarks shooting community. They started by opening with their gun shop, Ozark Shooters Inc., in Springfield in 1969, seven years after Peggy graduated from Draughn Business College. Deep down, they dreamed of opening a shooting sports complex and gun range, and that came about in 1989 in Walnut Shade, with a 65-acre facility located between Springfield and Branson off Highway 65. The couple has earned a reputation for decades of service to the firearms community. They proudly serve local schools, businesses, charities, national organizations, professional competitions and shooters from all over the world. Based on tradition and values, Ozark Shooters also teaches safety and responsibility. The organization now counts more than 450 members, and has six employees and numerous part-time employees. They include Jordan Ellingsworth, Jeremy Ellingsworth, Melinda and Dale Cline, Cynthia Emery and Mike Cooper.
Lester Friebe – Auto Racing
A graduate of Logan-Rogersville High School, Friebe began racing in 1955, and became an eight-time track champion at various speedway’s across the Ozarks. He claimed titles at tracks in Kansas City, Kan., and Bolivar, Nevada, and Humansville, in Missouri. In the 1960s, he ran in the IMCA (International Motor Cars Association) and, at one point, was voted by the fans as their No. 1 driver. Friebe certainly earned their respect. Among his most memorable championships came in 1969 at the Fairgrounds Speedway in Springfield. Driving a purple 1955 Buick, Friebe battled Larry Phillips (MSHOF 2001) for the title. Sponsored by O’Reilly Auto Parts, the car was built by Louis Gotschal of Fort Scott, Kan. The popular Buick had two unique features – the driver’s seat was placed in the center of the car, and it used the supposedly unlucky No. 13. Friebe’s season-long rivalry with Phillips brought thousands of fans to the Fairgrounds each Friday night to cheer for their favorite driver. Friebe has been a part of the local race scene for decades since, and was a founder of the Ozarks Area Racers Foundation, which later inducted him as a legend. He also is an inductee of the Springfield Area Sports Hall of Fame.
Gary Aggus – President’s Award
Aggus will receive the President’s Award, bestowed on individuals who champion the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame and sports in general in the Show-Me State. In his 20 years as president of Springfield-based Hiland Dairy Foods before retiring in 2023, Aggus saw to it that Hiland Dairy served as a corporate sponsor of the Hall of Fame and a lead sponsor of the Price Cutter Charity Championship, which in late 2024 saw Hiland Dairy agree to become the presenting sponsor. Aggus made certain Hiland Dairy supported the Hall of Fame’s menu of events, including golf classics and induction ceremonies, and supported the nearly 50 children’s charities of the PCCC. Aggus certainly put Hiland Dairy in position to support non-profits. Founded in 1938, Hiland Dairy is an award-winning processor and distributor of dairy foods and other beverages. Under Aggus, Hiland has grown from six plants in three states to 19 plants and 64 distribution centers in 10 states, and sales increased from $400 million to approximately $2 billion. When Aggus became president, Hiland had a staff of fewer than 800, and today, Hiland has nearly 4,000 employees. During his tenure, Hiland began acquiring other dairy brands by purchasing plants in Fayetteville and Fort Smith, Arkansas, in 1985. Throughout the years, growth and expansion into Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Texas followed. Gary is a 1972 graduate of Joplin’s Memorial High School, where he excelled in football, basketball and baseball, garnering all-conference or honorable mention all-conference in all three sports. In football, he was also Second Team All-State as a wide receiver. He then earned a football scholarship from Missouri Southern State University, graduating in 1976.
