Columbia Middle School basketball coach Jon Wehrenberg is honored for achieving 500 wins with his daughter, Lynsey, and wife, Laurie. (Sean McGowan photo)

The wins are great. But for longtime Columbia Middle School boys basketball coach Jon Wehrenberg, the relationships developed with players are what matter most.

“To this day, some of my closest friends are my former players,” he said.
Wehrenberg was honored last week for winning his 500th career game. He has coached 32 years in all, the past 22 at CMS.

Wehrenberg’s 500th win came last Monday against rival Waterloo.

“It was a thrill to get my 500th against Waterloo, a school and program I respect so much, and clinch the regular season title on the same night,” he said.

Wehrenberg coached at Central Junior High School and Belle Valley in Belleville, amassing 156 victories. At CMS, he has won 344 games with seven conference championships.

Wehrenberg was honored along with his wife Laurie and daughter Lynsey during a special ceremony held prior to last Tuesday’s game at CMS.

“He emphasizes basketball to these kids. They improve. They get better,” CMS principal Brian Reeves said during the ceremony.

Reeves also praised Wehrenberg for the volunteer work he and his team performs together during each season.

“It’s in his heart,” Reeves said. “It’s a passion of his and it carries on to the kids.”

Wehrenberg stresses defense, and came up with a point system based on defensive rebounds, steals, deflections and charges.

“I told my players to be the ‘Big Dog’ on defense and earn the dog bone,” he said. “Every game, a player is awarded the bone, which he keeps with him 24/7 until the next game. It’s a cool tradition.”

To win 500 games, Wehrenberg said it is a must to have an understanding wife and family.

“They have had to endure much sacrifice along the way,” he said. “I look forward to watching my daughter continue the coaching tradition. I also had amazing passionate parents growing up in Fred and Shirley Wehrenberg, who taught me to live life with passion and give my fullest and use the gifts God has bestowed upon me.”

Wehrenberg also heaped high praise on his Waterloo upbringing.

“I have been blessed with great teammates growing up at Waterloo,” he said. “I was a role player surrounded by stars and amazing athletes. I knew the only way to contribute was to work hard and be a good teammate.”

Wehrenberg mentioned coaches Rich Marquis, Rick Keefe, Lonnie Fulte and Larry Henson for pushing him and being positive influences on his life.

“I only knew one way to play the game and that was with 100 percent dedication,” Wehrenberg said.

The longtime coach said he has been blessed to have great assistant coaches along the way.

“The biggest thrill is seeing former players such as Eric Turner, Brent Mueller, Alex Schlemmer and Tory Arzola go into the profession and be a part of the Columbia basketball family,” he said.

As for his coaching highlights, Wehrenberg pointed to the rivalry games against Waterloo, especially against good friend and fellow coach Mark Vogel.

“We have a tremendous relationship in which to this day we feed ideas off each other,” he said.

His most successful teams at CMS included the 1995 team that finished 23-1, the 2004 team that finished 25-1 and the 2013 team that finished 18-0.

“The one player that will always stand out for me is Patrick McDermott,” Wehrenberg reflected. “He is the one player I can honestly say in two years never saw take one drill off in practice or one minute in a game. I hold all players to that standard every year.”

The one thing Wehrenberg has stressed the most to his young players  is giving back to the community and being productive in helping others.

“I think that has gone a long way to developing a selfless attitude in our players,” he said.

Songs4Soldiers founder Dustin Row, who played for Wehrenberg in 1997, was mentioned as a great example of making an impact on society.

“I have told him I am as proud of him as any player I have ever coached,” Wehrenberg said.