Basketball Fever in Wayzata

Basketball Fever in Wayzata. . , In 1959, Wayzata was out of the metro area, just small town with Greyhound Bus and Great Northern Railway as public transportation to Minneapolis. The Wayzata School District was mostly rural, made up of seven towns, with Wayzata as the commercial center. The Junior/Senior High School, at the corner of Barry Avenue and Wayzata Boulevard, had only boys’ athletic teams. Wayzata had lost 24 straight basketball games before Jack Thurnblad became coach. One of Jack's smartest ideas was to appoint Norm Schroeder as advance scout. , Jack possessed an intense determination to win, combined with a warm friendship-building personality which was a big hit with the players, their parents, and the Greater Wayzata community. Basketball dominated the sports news. The year's premier sporting event was the State Basketball Tournament which crowned one State Champion. This was the era before the professional teams came to Minnesota, changing the focus of sports. , Wayzata’s ’58-59 team was not as tall as most competitors, nor was it as deep in talent, but it had Jack with one goal at each game: win. 486 teams statewide entered public school elimination tournaments to determine the eight teams that would “go to State.” Wayzata was the underdog while winning the first games it played. The Minneapolis press began referring to Wayzata as “Cinderella,” yet continued picking its next opponents to win. , After Wayzata defeated much larger Minneapolis area schools for the regional berth in the State Tournament, Wayzata’s Mayor issued a proclamation: “Every place in Wayzata will be closed to cheer the school team on.” Lake area schools hung banners along Lake Street expressing their support for the Wayzata boys. Most merchants in Wayzata painted signs on their windows cheering the team on, and many gave free noisemakers, pompoms and hats to ticket holders. Game tickets were precious. Locals lined up at 4 a.m. outside the school for the 9 a.m. ticket sale. As the three day tournament progressed, teams were eliminated. Resourceful Wayzatans bought their ticket allocation and hustled those back to the school sale, providing Wayzata with the largest share of the 18,501 fans in Williams Arena. , In the Championship game, Wayzata once more came from behind to win, 55-41. The next morning, a 1000 car parade was waiting at the city limits to escort the team into town, with 2000 fans waiting for them at the school. As the small Wayzata community basked in the recognition of being State Champions, Coach Jack was given the keys to the City and many banquets were held around the school district for the team. A tradition was established. In succeeding years, Wayzata would win many State Championships in other sports. It all began with Jack Thurnblad teaching his boys of ’59, “Winners never quit!”