Greg Vilt, 2009 WHS Hall of Fame Inductee

Greg Vilt graduated from Waseca High School in 1987 as one of the top three sport athletes in school history. He then attended St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN graduating in 1992.

While in high school Greg earned eight varsity letters, two in football, three in basketball and three in baseball. He earned all-conference honors six times, once in baseball, twice in football and three times in basketball. Greg helped lead his teams to four conference championships; one in football, one in baseball and two in basketball.

In baseball, Greg was team captain and played shortstop his junior year and first base his senior year. He had a great senior year, batting .355, set school records for home runs in a season with nine and for RBIs in a season with 32. Both records still stand. He helped lead the Bluejays to a 3rd place finish at the state tournament. He was all-conference, all-area, all- district and all-region. Greg was an outstanding defensive first baseman and arguably the top power hitter of all time for the Bluejays.  He went on to play baseball at St. Olaf College, earning four letters, and helped lead his team to two conference championships and in his senior year was the recipient of the Dimmer Award.

As a football player, Greg showed tremendous leadership and athletic ability. He was quarterback for the Jays his junior and senior year and led his team to an undefeated regular season in 1985, winning their first outright South Central Conference championship since 1960. This was the first undefeated season since 1956. His expertise at passing, ball handling, and his understanding of the offensive system helped the 1985 team set the record for most points scored in a season at 300. In a 51-35 shootout against St. James, the combined points and total yards are believed to be South Central Conference records. Unbelievable numbers were racked up; 85 combined points, 889 combined total net yards and 121 offensive plays. After downing Fairmont in the Class A Section II playoffs, the Jays bid to go to state was halted by St. Peter with a heartbreaking 24-23 loss. The Bluejays were ranked 5th in the state. Greg was named to the 1985 and the 1986 South Central Conference Teams.

Greg played three years on the varsity basketball team and was one of the few people to make a big impact his first (sophomore) year. He led the team in scoring his junior and senior years and helped lead his team to win two South Central Conference Championship titles. In 1986 and in 1987 he was voted team MVP. He was a three-time All-Conference selection and in his senior year he won the South Central Conference Most Valuable Player Award. Greg's brilliant career in basketball started when Manny Beckmann's "super sophs", Doug Tramp and Vilt led the team in scoring, becoming the first pair of sophomores ever to lead the Bluejays in scoring. Greg also led the team in field goal percentage, free throw percentage and rebounds.   
In his junior year, he led the conference in scoring, was named to Sid Hartman's WCCO All-State Team of the Week and helped lead his team to a SCC championship with a perfect 12-0 record. The Jays ended their season at 19-3 and were rated 4th in the state. Greg's final year with the Jays was outstanding; the team was ranked as high as 3rd in the state, winning the South Central Conference, District title and Region 1A title. In the region finals game, Vilt canned a 14-foot jump shot from the corner as the buzzer sounded to give the Bluejays a berth in the state tournament.

Opening round at state, Waseca (22-2) was pitted against Hawley (25-0) the number one rated team. This game was billed the championship game by twin cities sports writers. Hawley won 64-61 and Waseca dropped into the consolation bracket. The Jays defeated Jackson and lost to Tracy-Milroy in the consolation finals ending Greg Vilt's brilliant basketball career as a Waseca Bluejay. Greg joined the elite 1,000 Point Club by scoring 1209 points and ranks 6th on the all time scoring list. At the close of his senior year, he was a top thirty finalist for Mr. Basketball for the State of Minnesota.

Greg Vilt was not only an outstanding athlete, but also a great person, a quality he has maintained today. Greg and his wife, Stacy, have three children, Fletcher, Ragan and Max. They reside in Waseca where he is employed as a controller at Dataradio Corporation.