How and why Bill Bentson has driven nearly 600,000 miles for high school sports

CHATFIELD Nobody is quite sure how Bill Bentson does it.

Does he teleport? Does he have a clone? Identical twin? Surely, there has to be some magic or perhaps witchcraft in how the 81-year-old can drive thousands of miles each year to cover high school sports.

ADVERTISEMENT "I don't know how many miles he puts on in a year, and I don't know how his cars hold up," Chatfield Activities Director Dan Schindler said.

"It's nothing for him to travel four or five hours to an event at night and then go back to a different one.

I don't quite know how he does it.

"Bill just has a passion for sports.

He just loves what he does." That love and passion started many decades ago.

Long before he began writing stories and covering athletes in southeastern Minnesota, Bentson spent more than 30 years in education, wearing a variety of caps as a teacher, principal, activities director, statistician and coach.

Along the way, the 1962 Windom High School graduate fell in love with the southeastern portion of the state while working at Kasson-Mantorville and Fillmore Central schools.

He retired from education in 1999, but knew he needed to find a way to stay involved.

After all, prep athletics had long been one of his greatest loves.

"I love high school ball, I really do," he said.

"College is next, and if there's a pro game on Sunday, I'll sit in front of the TV and fall asleep in front of it.

I just love high school ball." He had done quite a bit of work with KFIL radio out of Preston, and he enjoyed it.

He was hoping to find a new role in local media and cover high school sports.

That's when the Chatfield News came a calling.

ADVERTISEMENT Bentson has since become a local legend, a staple in Fillmore and Olmsted counties.

"WEB is a walking Minnesota sports history encyclopedia," Fillmore Central AD and football coach Chris Mensink said, referring to Bentson's nickname (his intials).

"I have had the honor to have him as my high school principal, coach and friend.

Not a time goes by when we see each other that we do not greet each other with the 22 handshake.

He has given so much to Minnesota high school athletics, support and coverage to our student-athletes.

If there is a good matchup in the state, he will be there.

He is a local icon." "Bill is a huge sports fan in general, but really loves Chatfield sports," Chatfield football coach Jeff Johnson said.

"He enjoys not only covering the games but also being around the players and fans.

He goes out of his way to wish me luck before every game.

We bump our fists together, and he tells me to go get 'em.

He's been telling me that for 23 years." Bentson is most known for his coverage of Chatfield.

He proudly dons either his vintage University of Minnesota jacket one that every demographic can appreciate or his old No.

22 Chatfield football jersey as he keeps diligent stats for that night's game.

Twenty-two has long been his favorite number since watching his boyhood idol, former Minneapolis Lakers and L.A.

Lakers great Elgin Baylor sport the number.

It has become his calling card.

"I'm a little weird when it comes to 22," he said with a laugh.

"I carry 22 cents in my pocket two dimes, two pennies.

...

Anytime a big game ends with a 22, I get messages from all over." ADVERTISEMENT Bentson has covered Chatfield sports since 1999, even when he and his wife spent three winters in Texas.

He was still covering Chatfield and Minnesota athletics helping out the Minnesota State High School League with its state tournament programs and keeping stats for the Three Rivers Conference.

"My mother-in-law, they had retired down in Texas," Bentson said.

"She finally approached me one time, and she says, 'you know, we have basketball in Texas.' And I said, 'You don't have Minnesota basketball in Texas.'" Even when he moved to Halstad a small town on the border of North Dakota and Minnesota, approximately 35 miles north of Fargo in 2018, he was still covering southeastern Minnesota, before adding Ada-Borup-West High School to his beat with the Norman County Index in Ada.

He has done that for the past seven years, alternating between driving to Ada and Chatfield every other week during the school year from his apartment in Willmar.

That's right, Bentson currently lives in Willmar his daughter lives in nearby Kandiyohi and yet still covers, on average, four to five games/events per week for the two schools.

Willmar to Chatfield is more than a 200-mile, one-way trek.

The same can be said about the journey from Willmar to Ada.

In other words, he's easily putting on close to 1,000 miles a week in his Chevy Malibu.

He originally bought that Malibu used with 17,000 miles on it.

Just more than 4 1/2 years later, it now has more than 200,000.

His previous vehicle a Ford Ranger had more than 365,000 miles in almost two decades of use.

That means, this century, Bentson has traveled close to 600,000 miles the equivalent of going around the world 24 times.

The key, he said, is to get oil changes every 3,000 miles, as well as having satellite radio.

He puts on the '50s and '60s stations, and sings along to the likes of Chuck Berry, Roy Orbison and the Everly Brothers as he drives hundreds of miles on any given day.

ADVERTISEMENT "It's all for the love of the games," he said.

The most meaningful of those miles came a few years ago, after the love of his life, Carol, passed away in 2020.

During her final days, Bentson had picked up a book titled "Little Minnesota" that focuses on 100 Minnesota towns with a population of 5 to 141.

From the Canadian border to the Iowa border and everywhere in between, Bentson visited all 100 towns in a span of just 10 months.

He made sure to get signatures from a resident in each town even having Minnesota Gov.

Tim Walz sign, as well as the author of the book.

It provided him solace in one of the most difficult stretches in his life.

"That was my therapy," he said.

At the age of 81, Bentson has flirted with the idea of this being his last year of writing about high school sports.

ADVERTISEMENT The impact he made in not only this region but across the state will be remembered for generations.

"My first year of being the head coach at Chatfield, we were on the road for our first round of the playoffs," Chatfield girls basketball coach Kyle Tollefson said.

"Bill was one of the first fans in the stands.

His excitement before the game helped calm my nerves.

Throughout the game, I could hear Bill cheering loudly in support of the Gophers as he watched the game intensely.

We ended up winning with an exciting comeback, and Bill was probably the most ecstatic fan in attendance.

"I can also remember that after I accepted the head coaching job, I received a congratulatory email from Bill.

He offered me some advice on taking over as a head coach that I will always remember.

Bills dedication to high school sports is second to none and we are lucky to have his support for our sports programs here at Chatfield." "Bill has been a staple in our community," Ada-Borup-West AD Kenley Wahlin said.

"He is personable and really cares about the student/athletes, coaches, and the game in general." Bentson's ability to treat everyone like a lifelong friend and his commitment to prep sports are something many athletes in southeastern Minnesota will always remember.

No doubt many across the state can say the same..

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