Wausau West girls basketball coach Tom Weinkauf retires

WAUSAU, Wis. (WSAW) - Wausau West girls basketball coach Tom Weinkauf has retired. The coach confirmed the news to NewsChannel 7, citing a “lack of energy” as one of the reasons. He later also pointed to spending more time with family.

“I have two grandkids over in Minnesota, two boys that I want to watch and coach all winter prohibits me from seeing them all very often,” said Weinkauf. “I’d like to see them and, again, I’ve been at it a long time. It’s time to retire.”

Weinkauf’s career in coaching spans a half a century, including stops as the Marathon boys basketball head coach in the 1970s and the Newman girls basketball coach. Weinkauf has six WIAA state titles, with three in a row at Marathon from 1975-77, and three with Newman in 2002, 2010 and 2011.

Wausau West girls' BB coach Tom Weinkauf has announced he his retiring from his position & coaching. Weinkauf is a 6-time WIAA state champion with 3 titles as boys' coach (Marathon in 1975, '76 & '77) & 3 titles as a girls' coach (Newman Catholic 2002, '10 & '11). #wisgb #wisbb
— Chad Holmes (@ChadHolmesWI) March 23, 2023

Weinkauf coached at Wausau West for six seasons, with a record of 102-41. He was 671-172 as a girls coach, with 15 trips to the state tournament and 18 conference titles. Through all his coaching experience, Weinkauf hopes the life values that came with basketball really stuck with the players he coached.

“I hope they learned that if you’re willing to work hard, you can be successful at anything you do, whether it be basketball, whether it life, whether it’s jobs, whatever,” said Weinkauf. “If I can instill in people that by working hard and focusing on what you want to accomplish, you can accomplish it, then I’ll be happy.”

Wausau West did not make an announcement regarding a replacement.

Copyright 2023 WSAW. All rights reserved.