Winona State University Athletics

In the early 1990’s there was a group of five athletes who took the Winona State University men’s golf program to heights never before reached at the university.  One of the leaders of that group was Kirk M. Thompson.

Winona State golf was dominant force in the upper Midwest, in District 13 of the NAIA and the NSIC where Thompson became a highly decorated player.  Thompson was an Academic All-American selection twice, and NAIA All-American in 1994, twice earned NAIA All-District 13 honors and three times played his way to the All-Conference team.

During his collegiate career, Thomson helped the Warriors to a couple of rare national tournament appearances, as WSU played in both the NCAA and NAIA national tournaments, which was a feat that very few collegiate teams could do during that period of time.

The Warriors and Thompson went three straight years to the NAIA tournament, finishing as high as fourth in 1994, and went back to back years to the NCAA national tournament with a top finish of ninth, also in 1994.

With his career stroke average around 74, Thompson was a force in the individual play of many of the tournaments the Warriors played in.  He was the conference medalist in 1990 and helped lead the Warriors to a league title.  Thompson garnered medalist honors in the 1991-92 NAIA District 13 season and reached a personal best with a tie for 15^th in the NAIA national tournament and 38^th in the NCAA national tournament.

After completing his collegiate golfing career, Thompson continued to make a mark for himself in the golfing circles in Minnesota and western Wisconsin. 

But golf was not Thompson’s only love.  After play at Winona State he went on to become head basketball coach for the boys; program at Plainview/Elgin/Millville, MN High School, where he also was the head golf coach.  His basketball teams won nearly 60% of the time, he has been named conference coach of the year three times, section coach of the year once and twice guided his team to the Minnesota State High School League State Tournament.