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As the center for the 1940
Centralia High School football team,
Klosterman received All-State honors.
The team tied for the South Seven Conference
title with an overall record of 8-2.
He was a member of the fabled
Wonder Five
basketball team of 1941. This team remains
as one of the most notorious high school
basketball teams in Illinois history. They
finished 44-2 and won 42 consecutive games
while taking third place at State.
Klosterman
went to Southeast Missouri State University
on a football scholarship. While there he
played both football and basketball, and was
regarded as one of their finest athletes of
that era. In 1943, he was a starter for
their NAIA National Basketball Championship
team and received All-American honors.
After
short stints as head football coach at St.
Elmo (19-7-1) and Pana (11-7), he moved to
Effingham in 1956 to become head football
coach and athletic director. While there he
turned out a record of 168-49-7 before
retiring in 1980. He remained as athletic
director through 1982.
His
total record of 198-63-8, in thirty-one
years, includes nine conference titles, six
undefeated seasons, and two playoff
appearances. Klosterman was twice named
Coach of the Year by the Decatur Herald and
Review.
In
1982, he was inducted into the Illinois High
School Football Coaches’ Association Hall
of Fame. Effingham named their
football field in his honor in 1969 and in
2000 rededicated their new field as
Klosterman Field.
Klosterman passed away in October of 1991.
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