Wolken has surrounded himself with quality assistant coaches.
Courtesy of St. Joseph-Ogden Yearbook
In the long haul, Wolken was able to have his cake and eat it, too.
He also had a very successful basketball career, winning 443 games (against 236 losses) and four regional titles in 27 years and making the Illinois Coaches Association Hall of Fame in both basketball and softball.
Under Wolken, the Spartans played a crowd-pleasing, fast-break pressing style, just the opposite of what he had played in high school.
"We shot quick and crashed the boards," he said. "We scored a lot of points — 75 in a half, 50 in a quarter, 120 a couple times (in a full game). We averaged 90 points (quite often). We never had much size, but we were quick (often forcing 25 turnovers). We packed the place and they loved it. (When he played) it was just the opposite, 30-28 games. I didn't like it and it just wasn't fun."
Wolken credits Richmond, Ind., shooting guru Dick Baumgartner for much of his offensive success.
Wolken ran a high-tempo offense when hecoached basketball.
Courtesy of St. Joseph-Ogden Yearbook
He noted, "I spent a lot of time on shooting. I spent 11 years at the Dick Baumgartner Camp. I loved what he did. He broke it down a lot."
One of Wolken's most satisfying experiences in basketball was coaching his son, Brad, a 6-footer who led the Spartans in scoring twice and also earned MVP honors both years.
Coaching girls for the first time, Wolken noticed that they really listened and accepted things.
"They cried a little more, but they really were eager and wanted to learn," he said. "We do a lot of bunting, a lot of slapping and stealing. That was my style. I give the green light to a lot of girls. We've been 90 percent on steals."
His first softball team, playing only in the fall, posted a 7-5 record in 1980. The Spartans were 4-3 the following fall when a teachers' strike ended the season.
The third year, however, the Spartans moved their season to the spring so they could compete in the state tournament and they posted a 16-6 record.
"It gave us something to shoot for - an incentive," Wolken said.
That was the beginning of big things, because the No. 9-seeded Spartans knocked off the Nos. 1, 2 and 3 seeds to win the regional in what at that time still was a one-class state tournament. That tradition is still intact since the Spartans have lost just one regional in 31 years. During one stretch they won 67 straight regional games.
The Spartans' only state championship (then Class A in a two-class system) came in 2006 when they posted a 31-6 record. They had to beat Beecher — then ranked No. 10 in the nation — to win the super sectional. Beecher had lost just once in the previous three years.
It was probably the biggest game in school history as they eked out a 1-0 victory with just one ball getting hit out of the infield. With a runner on second base (infield hit and sacrifice bunt), Sara Ferguson hit a bloop single to right field to produce the game's only run in the seventh inning.
Wolken conceded, "If we'd played them 10 times, they probably would have beaten us eight or nine of them."
The Spartans' defense and pitching were so stifling during their title march that they yielded just one run while winning eight times.
Still, Wolken believes last year's 41-1 team probably was his best. It entered the Class 2A Final Four with a 40-game winning streak only to be upset in the semifinals by eventual champion Nashville, 5-2. They rebounded to win the third-place game.
"It was very disappointing," he said. "We had our hearts set on winning the state."
Five 2012 graduates from that team are playing college softball. Record-setting Stephanie Canfield is an outfielder at the University of Arkansas, while Elizabeth Everingham is a third baseman at St. Louis University. Three others are playing at junior colleges.
