BOONE, Iowa – The Iowa High School Athletic Association is proud to honor 162 game officials for the 2021 edition of its annual officials’ awards program which represents years of service, aspiring new officials, and state sport officials of the year.
Through 2019, the IHSAA presented these awards at an annual banquet in Des Moines. The ceremony has not been held the last two years due to COVID-19 considerations, and award-winning officials will receive their honors through mailings from the IHSAA.
“We’re always proud of how our officials serve their communities, students, and sports, but especially so in this 2020-21 school year as they have been essential partners in putting activities back in action here in Iowa,” IHSAA executive Tom Keating said.
The complete list is available below and features 12 officials receiving awards for 50 years of service, five regional Aspiring New Official honorees, and this year’s NFHS Section IV Distinguished Active Official selection, Pete Peterson of Urbandale.
Also recognized were 15 registered officials with 35 years of service, 39 with 25 years, and 75 completing 15 years, plus the NFHS Officials Association’s official of the year by sport.
Below is a list of this year’s honorees with their current city of residence listed for identification purposes. For more on IHSAA officials, visit www.iahsaa.org/officials.
2021 OFFICIALS AWARDS
Honorees listed alphabetically by last name | Years of service as maintained by IHSAA
NFHS Section IV Distinguished Active Official
Pete Peterson, Urbandale
NFHS State Officials of the Year – Sport
Curt Anderson, Paullina – Girls’ Track & Field
Michael Burke, Bettendorf – Wrestling
Marshall Cotton, Mount Pleasant – Boys’ Basketball
Kelly Dunbar, Marshalltown – Girls’ Soccer
David Foltz, Rock Rapids – Football
Jay Grassley, Cedar Falls – Volleyball
Kris Groff, Mapleton – Softball
Roger Johnson, North Liberty – Baseball
Michelle Koller, Kalona – Girls’ Swimming
Chuck Northrup, Dubuque – Boys’ Swimming
Al Robson, Scranton – Girls Cross Country
Jason Slaughter, Sioux City – Girls’ Basketball
Kevin Stapleford, Des Moines – Boys’ Soccer
Tim Thomas, Ames – Boys’ Cross Country
Joe Toot, Nevada – Boys’ Track & Field
Aspiring New Official – Region
Brianne Byerly, Fayette – Northeast
Joe Fontenot, Stanwood – Southeast
Casey Pelzer, Atlantic – Southwest
Blake Reinke, Spirit Lake – Northwest
Raun Taylor, Des Moines – Central
50 Years of IHSAA Service
Lee Brecht, Carlisle
Kenneth Carlson , Ankeny
Tom Claude, Algona
Kurt Harthoorn, Sully
Paul Honnold, Clarinda
Howard Johnson, Altoona
Paul Lorber, New London
Bob Neswold, Windsor Heights
Francis Olson, West Union
Michael Pauly, Urbandale
David Suntken, Clear Lake
Bob Sweeney, Atlantic
35 Years of IHSAA Service
Mike Anderson, Clarinda
Greg Becker, Waterloo
Brian D. Cohen, Robins
Clayton Fjerstad, Lytton
Joel Grabinoski, Armstrong
Jerry Hartman, Creston
Patrick Knobbe, Iowa City
James MacLean, West Des Moines
Kirk Park, Wyoming
Todd Parker, Oskaloosa
Dennis Perry, Essex
Keith Poolman, Clarion
Dennis “Bud” Schroeder, Bellevue
Kevin Van Otterloo, Eagle Grove
Terry Weisenborn, Exira
25 Years of IHSAA Service
Louis Agocs, Clive
Jim Albertson, Marion
Shawn Angell, Grand Junction
Doug Arrowsmith, Ankeny
Tom Bice, Fort Dodge
Ronnie Blocklinger, Cedar Rapids
Timothy Blum, Council Bluffs
Robert Breckenridge, Ottumwa
Michael Burke, Bettendorf
Catherine Creighton, Urbandale
Dave Cusick, Iowa City
Pat Dolphin , Ames
Dale J. Ernst, Bellevue
Mark Fuhrman, Paullina
Christopher Girres, Council Bluffs
Jesse Grote, Boone
Dennis Hammel, Fairfield
Jesse Henderson, Waterloo
Ted Henderson, Bloomfield
Marty Hermsen, Albia
Ronald Knoche, Iowa City
Michael Lawler, Nevada
Randy Link, Dubuque
Claude Manning, Waterloo
Richard Matzen, Camanche
Chris Meinecke, Maquoketa
Brian Meyer, Pomeroy
Brian Motley, North Liberty
Kim Patik, Swisher
Mark Shaffer, Clinton
Chad Shellmyer, Urbandale
Justin Stockdale, Dike
Tracy Stone, Ely
Brad Thiel, Cedar Rapids
Monte Tilgner, Orange City
Dave Ullom, Estherville
Chad Vogelgesang, Danville
Mark Warth, Mediapolis
Mark Wetz, Dakota Dunes, S.D.
15 Years of IHSAA Service
Antonio Aguilar, Columbus Junction
Kyle Akers, Cedar Rapids
Steve Allman, Van Horne
Jake Anderson, Hull
Joshua Baxter, Carlisle
Benjamin Bergman, Clear Lake
Greg Best, Cedar Rapids
Matt Bird, Clarinda
Travis Birkey, Algona
Wayde Blumhardt, Waterloo
Joshua Boyles, Davenport
Mark Breitbach, Dyersville
Dean Burger , Sioux City
Luis Cacho, Muscatine
Darwin Carstensen, Marion
Aaron Christians, Sioux City
Kyle Clark, Waterloo
Jeffrey W Cook, Cedar Rapids
Denny Dingel, Rockford
Jordan Dinkla, Guthrie Center
Daniel Dyrland, Ely
Rod Foutch, Missouri Valley
Dennis Frye, West Des Moines
Chad Geerdes, Rock Rapids
Eric Gilson, Boone
Wade Harriman, Holstein
Joel Harthoorn, Sully
Robert Hauenstein , Mediapolis
Sean Helton, DeWitt
Rob Hoerner, Epworth
Chris Holstun, Waverly
Brad Johnson, Marion
Don Juan Johnson, Ankeny
Chris Kangas, Waverly
Donnie Kenkel , Portsmouth
Dean Kirkpatrick, Des Moines
Andrew Koehn, Tiffin
Tony Kury, Centerville
Brandt Lacey, Iowa Falls
Mick Langguth, Tiffin
Andrew May, Cedar Rapids
Patrick McAvan, Fairfield
Adam Mickelson, Odebolt
Matthew Miller, Davenport
Matt Nost, Solon
James O’Connor, LeClaire
Mark Odor, Coralville
John Parsons, Ankeny
Craig Pauley, Stuart
Joseph Paulsen, Norwalk
Trent Payne, Cedar Falls
Nathan Pick, Huxley
Martin Pontier, Pleasant Hill
Jim Poppema, Orange City
Rick Powell, Logan
Paul Presson, Clinton
James Prouty, Oelwein
Jared Rahe, Lake Park
Brian Ranum, Davenport
Michael Reindl, Northwood
Chester Rice, West Des Moines
J.P. Richardson, Newton
Mike Schmidt, Dysart
David Slechta , Carroll
Linda Sones, Quimby
Bob Squiers, Iowa City
Shea Stamp, Mount Vernon
Scott Starr, Wellsburg
Brent Swart, Spencer
Dale Tokheim, Schaller
Aaron Valley, Altoona
Mike Wedge, Sibley
Rusty Wintermote , Carroll
Adam Wuestewald, Norwalk
Billy Yuska, Palo