Rockville High School Coaching Legend Art Wheelock Gets Hall Of Fame Honor

VERNON, CT — The work of a true icon at Rockville High School has been immortalized.

Longtime coach and one of the true faces of the Ram athletic department Art Wheelock has been inducted into the Connecticut High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

The RHS baseball team posted a heartfelt the following tribute to Wheelock Monday:

"Congratulations to Coach Wheelock on his official induction into the Connecticut High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame this past weekend during halftime of the UConn football game.

"As so many that have played with and for him here will tell you, there is no Rockville High School Baseball without Coach Wheelock. Even now he is still a trusted advisor to Coach Matt Woodtke and his staff.

"Beyond the games, championships, and awards he has stacked up across multiple sports, it was the impact that he made on so many young lives over more than 60 years of Rockville athletes that will be forever remembered."

Wheelock was all smiles Tuesday evening while accepting congratulations at the Ram girls soccer game. He is a regular at games as a site official, still looking like a coach while cruising around in a golf cart.

It's a position he has embraced over the years. In 2014, Wheelock announced his retirement after coaching baseball for 41 years, 36 of them at the varsity level.

He said back then, "It will not be easy after all these years, but it's the right thing to do," but looks at ease every day at the stadium and other fields that he has really never left.

Wheelock also coached football for 32 years and girls basketball for a decade-and-a-half.

But he truly shined on the baseball diamond. He amassed a career record of 433-325 (a .571 winning percentage) and won a state title in 2000.

He has been named state coach of the year and was a finalist for national coach of the year.

Wheelock coached in three state finals and won 10 conference titles.

In 1988, he started a pee wee baseball program for the Junior Womens' Club that was recognized nationally.