Š 2015
August 21, 2015 (800) 657-4665 www.TheLandOnline.com theland@TheLandOnline.com P.O. Box 3169, Mankato, MN 56002
NORTHERN EDITION
Horseshoe pitching champion Sig Armitage is...
By RICHARD SIEMERS The Land Correspondent July was a big month for Sig Armitage of Canby, Minn. He participated in the National Senior Games (held in Bloomington, Minn., this year), an Olympic-style event for elder athletes, and he was qualified to pitch in the National Horseshoe Pitchers Association World Tournament in Topeka, Kansas. But it is doubtful that either gave this former farmer more satisfaction than he got in 2014 when he was inducted into the Sig Armitage Minnesota Gopher State Horseshoe Pitchers Association’s Hall of Fame. He had been a MGSHPA member for 30 years and won numerous tournaments, and Hall of Fame recognition was a sweet reward. Armitage was nominated by his doubles partner, Bob Knudtson of Brooklyn Park, Minn., who was already a member of the Hall of Fame. Armitage was the 40th horseshoe pitcher to be inducted since the Hall of Fame started in 1969. When Armitage turned 70 and moved into the Elders division, his success grew even more. He has won the Elders Singles Championship three years in a row and with Knudtson the Elders Double Championship three years in a row. Last year he won the gold medal in his age bracket at the Minnesota Seniors Games, where he threw 86.66 percent ringers. That qualified him for the National Senior Games this summer. At 76, Armitage still has some things he wants to accomplish, but he expects it to get tougher as See RINGER, pg. 20