Former Clintonville boys’ basketball coach Carl Bruggink was among the state championship coaches honored at the 100th WIAA state tournament this past weekend.
The coaches were introduced at halftime of the Friday night Division 1 game on the court at the Kohl Center.
The Truckers won the State Championship in 1977 and 1989 and were runners-up in 1976, 1987 and 1988. They made eight trips to State; three in Division 1 and five in Division 2. In Division 1 they twice lost to the eventual State Champions, once in the quarterfinals.
Bruggink is the youngest coach to be inducted into the Wisconsin Basketball Association Hall of Fame (1980). He is the eighth winningest coach in Wisconsin history with 549 varsity wins. In the 1980’s and 90’s if his team did not qualify for State he did game analysis on the state-wide television broadcasts.
“I had the honor to work with some of the greatest names in state history in our broadcasts. Our analysts included Hall of Fame coaches such as Eli Crogan, Carl Bruggink, and Jerry Petitgoue,” said Madison television sports icon Jay Wilson.
“More important than the wins was the wonderful, exciting experiences the players and our entire Clintonville school and community had at State,” commented Bruggink.
Bruggink coached the Truckers from 1960 to 2001. The basketball court at Clintonville High School was dedicated in his honor at halftime of the boys’ varsity season opener on Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2011.