Two coaches aim for 500-victory milestone

By Ron Haggstrom, Star Tribune , 01/28/11, 2:05PM CST

Tom Vix of Rushford-Peterson and Jeff Wall of Maranatha are nearing the mark

Two boys’ high school coaches – Tom Vix of Rushford-Peterson and Jeff Wall of Maranatha – are on the verge of joining elite company. Both coaches are six victories away from career win No. 500.

There are 28 boys’ coaches who have reached the milestone, eight of whom are still active. Bob McDonald of Chisholm is the winningest coach (955-384) in state history. McDonald and Bob Brink of Rocori have both eclipsed 900 career victories.

Vix currently owns a career record of 494-194. Rushford-Peterson is now off until Tuesday when it hosts Kingsland.

Wall’s career mark stands at 494-219. Maranatha is also off until Tuesday when it hosts New Life Academy.

State coaching all-time victory leaders entering 2010-11 season

Name	Team	Record
#Bob McDonald	Chisholm	942-382
#Bob Brink	Rocori	901-306
#Zig Kauls	Mounds View	710-331
#Lynn Peterson	Staples-Motley	680-236
John Nett	Winona Cotter	580-297
#Ken Novak	Hopkins	628-120
Jerry Snyder	Lake City	574-245
Jack Evens	Bloomington Jefferson	554-193
Hugo Goehle	Hills-Beaver Creek	550-239
Len Horyza	Cretin-Derham Hall	550-199
Gary Schuler	Fergus Falls	546-199
#Franz Boelter	Bethlehem Academy	545-243
Jim Hastings	Duluth Central	543-236
Louie Mitteco	Totino-Grace	542-292
#Dave Galovich	Crosby-Ironton	540-268
Darrell Kreun	Sibley East	533-185
Ron Ueland	Marshall County Central	532-322
Lloyd Holm	St. Louis Park	531-234
Bob Torgrimson	Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton, Ashby	528-296
Rich Decker	Rochester Lourdes	527-203
Merrill Skinner	Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted	524-363
Lloyd Stussy	Wells-Easton	522-209
Al Andreotti	St. Cloud Tech	521-222
Red Pelzl	New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva	520-308
Butsie Maetzold	Hopkins	508-62
Dick Finck	Bertha-Hewitt	508-255
Ron Hested	Fairmont	506-260
#Bob Vaughan	Braham	503-153

# denotes active coach

All-time coaching victory leader Bob McDonald of Chisholm. /Star Tribune file photo