Inductees

He had left his hometown of St. Louis for Waynesville in the early 1980s, having graduated from a broadcasting center, and the plan was what you might assume it was.

We’ll let Marv Luten tell the story. After all, he does this for a living.

“I hoped to get back to St. Louis, but the traffic in Waynesville had one stoplight on the way to work, and most of the time it was blinking yellow,” Luten said. “I was hooked.”

The rest of the community was certainly glad he stayed, as Luten carved out quite a career as a sports broadcaster. In fact, he handled the mic from 1982 to 2022 as the Voice of the Waynesville High School Tigers, and that’s why the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame proudly inducted Luten with the Class of 2022.

Interestingly, his arrival coincided with the arrival of then-football coach Rick Vernon (MSHOF 2017), who coached there for 21 seasons.

Luten was on the call for Waynesville football’s 2007 state championship, as well as its seven district titles, seven conference championships (five in the Mid-Missouri Conference, two in the Ozark Conference). He also saw three players go on to the National Football League.

Additionally, Luten worked basketball, baseball and softball radio broadcasts not only for Waynesville but also for other communities such as Crocker, Dixon, Iberia, Laquey, Licking, Newburg, Plato, Richland and Stoutland. He also has been a longtime member of the Missouri Sportswriters and Broadcasters Association.

This from a St. Louis native who listened to Jack Buck and Harry Carey call St. Louis Cardinals games, and Dan Kelly with the St. Louis Blues.

Overall, he is one of those stories you pull for.

A 1972 graduate of Roosevelt High School, Luten grew up working rather than playing sports. You see, he was the son of a widow and, so as a teen, he was a custodian for a bank, cleaned a furniture manufacturing store and mowed lawns.

“If you want it, you have to earn it,” Luten said.

Luten wasn’t even supposed to get into sports broadcasting.

In fact, his entire career began on a bet. He was working part-time at a bank and, while picking up repo cars on Friday nights, tuned in to KSHE.

One night, a commercial promoted a seminar at a broadcasting academy, and so he attended. Forced to improvise in front of TVs, he made up a story that he was on a Mississippi River showboat, caught a catfish and, when he cleaned it, said there was a shot glass in the fish.

Later, the Waynesville sports job came unexpectedly.

“Our one sports director went into teaching. The next hire found a bride and moved away,” Luten said. “My boss knew I played softball, that I knew a lot about football as an NFL junkie and played golf. He said, ‘You’re doing football on Friday nights. Think you can handle it?’ I said, ‘I’ll try,’ and 41 years later, I retired.”

Luten fell in love with it.

“We keep things positive,” Luten said. “You never say negative things about teenage players when they make a mistake, and never questions coaches’ decisions about players. One coach told me years ago, ‘Until you’ve walked in our shoes in practice and games, you don’t know why we make the decisions we do.’ I may question a play that was called, or an ump’s or ref’s call, but not the coaches’ decision on players.”

Even better, Luten was well-prepared for games. He never tried to memorize stats or other tidbits. He always took notes with him to the press boxes.

He still has so many memories – too many to count. Yet his favorite is from the 2007 state championship game, as Waynesville beat Belton 17-17 at the Dome in St. Louis.

“We called the game from the rafters, huddled up with the pigeons,” Luten said, laughing before turning serious. “The season was great. My broadcast partner then, the late Don Nelson, was a teacher, wrestling coach and former baseball coach at Waynesville. He knew the kids pretty well. This was not the best team Vernon had put together, but they played well together.”

Luten certainly earned respect, and he is forever grateful for many: Clay and Millie Howlett, Dave Sheppard and Mike Edwards.

Most importantly, he long had the support of his wife of 32 years, Terri, and his mom, Jane, as well as sister Deborah.

“Terri’s stood by me through the good and bad days,” Luten said.