BOONE, Iowa – A busy winter season has arrived for the Iowa High School Athletic Association’s new broadcast initiative to expand coverage alongside television and streaming partners.
As announced in August, IHSAA will provide free streaming through its website and have events appearing across multiple platforms through arrangements with Gray Media, Marquee Sports Network, Mediacom, and Nexstar, as well as select finals on Iowa PBS.
As in past years, wrestling will have mat-side cameras from every state tournament match via FloWrestling and its established subscription service.
Production and on-air personnel for IHSAA originated streams and broadcasts through Tournament Partners have been contracted by IHSAA.
Affiliate listings and coverage maps are available through the IHSAA’s How To Watch page.
Biographical information on play-by-play commentators and analysts can be found below.
| SPORT | DATES | IAHSAA.org | Tourney Partners | Iowa PBS | FloWrestling |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iowa PBS:Wrestling, Duals | DATES: Feb. 7 | IAHSAA.org: Finals | Tourney Partners: Finals | Iowa PBS: | FloWrestling: All Matches |
| FloWrestling:Swimming | DATES: Feb. 13-14 | IAHSAA.org: State Meet | Tourney Partners: State Meet | FloWrestling: | |
| Wrestling, Traditional | DATES: Feb. 18-21 | IAHSAA.org: Semifinals, Finals | Tourney Partners: Semifinals | Iowa PBS: Finals | FloWrestling: All Matches |
| Basketball | DATES: March 9-13 | IAHSAA.org: All Rounds | Tourney Partners: Quarterfinals, Semifinals | Iowa PBS: Finals |
broadcaster bios
WRESTLING
- Kyven Gadson, analyst: A two-time state champion at Waterloo East who became an NCAA champion in 2015 at Iowa State. Gadson was a three-time Big 12 champion and three-time All-American with the Cyclones, and has worked as a wrestling analyst with ESPN+ and FloWrestling. He also is a professional MMA athlete and immersed in his local community. He enjoys ice cream – ChampionCHIP Kyven Dough is his favorite!
- Tim Johnson, analyst on Iowa PBS: “The voice of college wrestling” for the last 39 years, Johnson wrestled at Morning Sun and Coe College before coaching at Mount Vernon. He served as assistant executive director for USA Wrestling and was the director of wrestling at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. Johnson began broadcasting with Iowa PBS in 1986, and has worked more than 500 college events across Iowa PBS, Big Ten Network, and ESPN.
- Shawn Kenney, play-by-play on Iowa PBS: Kenney, a Council Bluffs native and current Perry resident, is beginning his 14th year with ESPN. He is a regular play-by-play voice for college football, basketball, wrestling, track and field, and softball for the television network. Kenney is also the lead play-by-play voice for international wrestling having covered Continental, Olympic Qualifier, and World Championships in 14 different countries. He has been a part of Raccoon Valley Radio in Perry since 1999 (Go Bluejays!).
- Jim Miller, analyst on Iowa PBS: The recent IHSAA Wrestling Hall of Fame selection won 10 NCAA Division III championships in 22 years as head coach at Wartburg College. Miller was a championship wrestler at Waterloo East and the University of Northern Iowa, then went into coaching at the high school and collegiate levels, racking up 21 conference titles at a dual record of 413-34 at Wartburg. He currently serves as the director of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame’s Dan Gable Museum in Waterloo.
- Russ Ocker, play-by-play: A broadcaster for over 30 years, Ocker began calling sports when he was 16 years old. He currently serves as the voice of Indian Hills Community College, where he has been fortunate to call multiple national championship events. He is the co-owner of the Iowa Media Network. Ocker has been married to his wife Angela for 29 years and has two adult children.
- Chad Zaputil, analyst: A two-time state champion for Centerville and three-time All-American and national finalist at the University of Iowa. Member of the Centerville High School and the IHSAA Wrestling Hall of Fame, the Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame and the Glen Brand Wrestling Hall of Fame. Chad currently resides in his hometown of Mystic with his wife Stephanie.
SWIMMING
- Ian Hoover-Grinde, analyst: A former varsity head coach at Linn-Mar, Hoover-Grinde is currently the head coach of Piranhas Swim Club located in the Quad Cities, and the coach of two-time Olympian and Olympic finalist, Tatiana Salcutan, and Olympic hopeful Adoh Doherty. A former professional triathlete and junior world champion for Olympic Distance Triathlon, he has a degree in exercise science and physiology, where he has been published in the American College of Sports Medicine.
- Sarah Patterson, analyst: Patterson is originally from Wisconsin and attended Iowa State on a swimming scholarship. She taught and coached swimming at Newton for 32 years. In addition to swimming, she also coached soccer, track, and wrestling. In her coaching career, she earned conference and district coaching honors numerous times, the Golden Plaque award from the IGHSAU, and the Character Counts Coach of the year Award. Currently, she works for the Iowa State Extension Office in Newton as the retired senior volunteer program director.
- Donald Spellman, play-by-play: A USA Swimming club coach with over 30 years of swim coaching experience in central and eastern Iowa. Currently serves as head coach of Kohawk Aquatics (USAS club) and assistant aquatics director at Coe College in Cedar Rapids. Spellman is former athlete at Perry, Dowling Catholic, Des Moines Swimming Federation, University of Nevada at Las Vegas (UNLV), and Hawkeye Swim Club, as well as a former Masters (USMS) swimmer and coach with the Iowa City Eels.
BASKETBALL
- Michael Admire, play-by-play: Admire has served as the director of broadcasting at Drake University since 2018, where he is the voice of the Bulldogs’ men’s basketball team and tells stories for Drake athletics and the Des Moines community. He also hosts multiple podcasts and calls Drake football on ESPN+ broadcasts. Before joining Drake, Admire spent seven years as a television sports reporter and anchor, including five years covering high school, college, and professional sports in Des Moines at WHO 13.
- Eric Braley, play-by-play: Since 2000, Braley has worked as a play-by-play commentator covering a wide range of college and high school sports, including basketball, football, volleyball, wrestling, baseball, softball and soccer. A Nevada, Iowa native and University of Northern Iowa alum, he hosts and produces sports content for the Panthers and the Missouri Valley Conference. His work is also featured across the ESPN family of networks.
- Chris Larson, analyst: Larson coached the boys’ basketball team at Norwalk for 24 seasons. During that time he amassed 344 wins, led the team to six tournaments and three state championship game appearances. In 2019, he culminated his time at Norwalk by coaching the Warriors to their first state boys’ basketball championship.
- Keith Murphy, play-by-play: Murphy has spent 35 years as a television sports director in Central Iowa. The host of SoundOff for 30 years and co-host of Murph & Andy Show for 17, Murphy has been the lead play-by-play for WHO 13’s Football Friday PrimeTime for the last five years. Prior to joining WHO 13, served as sports director at WOI and play-by-play for Iowa State basketball.
- Mike O’Connor, analyst: O’Connor has 25-plus years of basketball experience as both a player and a coach. He played collegiately at Clarke University, and most recently served as boys’ basketball coach at Dowling Catholic from 2006-21. During his time at Dowling Catholic, the Maroons qualified for six state tournament appearances and won over 200 games. Prior to his tenure at Dowling Catholic, Mike spent two seasons at the college level as an assistant coach at Simpson College under Bruce Wilson and also spent time as a lower level assistant coach at both Dowling Catholic and Wahlert Catholic. O’Connor currently serves as the assistant activities director at Waukee.
- Mitch Osborn, analyst: Osborn was head boys’ basketball coach at Elk Horn-Kimballton from 1984-90, Pomeroy-Palmer from 1990-97, and Harlan Community from 1997-2025. He led 19 teams to the state tournament, with three state championships and five state runners-up, attaining an overall coaching record of 770-219. Osborn was named National Boys Basketball Coach of the Year in 2017. He started his auctioneering career with Osborn Auction LLC in 1982 and is still very active in the auction business. He has been married to his wife Nancy for 42 years and they have 3 sons: Joel, Kevin and Zach, with 8 grandchildren. Osborn was also the long time activities director at Harlan Community until his retirement in the spring of 2019.
- Jess Settles, analyst: Settles led two squads to the IHSAA State Basketball Tournament during the glorious Winfield-Mount Union boys and girls runs of the 1990s. Sold-out gyms and standing room only games were common as the three-time All-State forward and Parade All-American was named Iowa’s Mr. Basketball in 1993. Jess starred at the University of Iowa and became one of the most popular Hawkeyes of all-time. Iowa’s first B1G Freshman of the Year was also a first team All-B1G performer. The IHSAA Hall of Famer is a college basketball analyst for ESPN, FS1, BTN, and Peacock.
- Dr. Joanna Settles, analyst: Settles is a former multi-sport standout, coach, educator, and experienced color analyst who was a 16-time varsity letter winner, scoring more than 1,000 career basketball points and collecting over 600 rebounds while also earning first team all-state softball honors and setting the state tournament batting average record of .667. She later became a successful varsity head coach in basketball and volleyball and now announces state volleyball, basketball, and softball championships, district track meets, and Division 1 women’s basketball and collegiate volleyball. Dr. Settles earned her Ph.D. from the University of Iowa and is the daughter of Hall of Fame football coach and Hall of Fame athletic director Warren Woepking of Columbus Junction, and is the wife of Iowa Hawkeye great Jess Settles.
- Justin Surrency, analyst: Surrency works as a weekday morning news anchor on WHO 13 News Today in Iowa in Des Moines. He arrived in Iowa as a student-athlete playing football at the University of Northern Iowa. After some stops in the NFL with the Seattle Seahawks and Minnesota Vikings, he found a passion for storytelling that led him back Iowa and his current roles.
- Ras Vanderloo, analyst: Spent 14 years as boys’ basketball coach at Sioux City East, leading the Black Raiders to eight 20-win seasons, racking up 314 career wins, eight district coach of the year awards and two State Coach of the Year Awards (2017 & 2023). Vanderloo was a part of 12 teams that reached the state tournament (8 times as an assistant coach, 4 as the head coach), earning state champion honors in 2002 and runner-up in 2012.
- Daniel Ver Steeg, play-by-play: A native of Orange City and Unity Christian graduate, Ver Steeg started working in sports broadcasting as a freshman at Morningside University. He can be heard over the airwaves in Northwest Iowa as the sports director at KLEM Radio in Le Mars, and as the play-by-play voice of Morningside University in Sioux City. Ver Steeg has worked alongside NFL broadcast crews and at national championship collegiate events, but nothing makes him more excited than telling the stories of Iowa high school athletes representing their proud communities during some of the most exciting moments of their lives.
- Brad Wells, play-by-play: Wells is a play-by-play announcer with more than 25 years experience at the college level. He has worked NCAA football, basketball, track and field, softball and volleyball broadcasts. Events covered include numerous championship events for the Missouri Valley Conference, the US Virgin Islands Paradise Jam basketball tournament, and the Drake Relays as trackside reporter on CBS Sports Network. Wells is a Fonda native who won two IHSAA state basketball championships at Newell-Fonda in 1997 and 1999, and was the Bernie Saggau Award recipient of his high school. He has announced IGHSAU state championship basketball and softball games on Iowa PBS since 2015.
- Corey Westra, play-by-play: Corey Westra is commissioner of the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC), which is a member of the NAIA. He has served in that role since 2003. He also serves as co-tournament Director for the NAIA Women’s Basketball and NAIA Women’s Volleyball Tournament in Sioux City. Westra also served as co-chair of the local organizing committee in 2025 for the IHSAA State Baseball Tournament in Sioux City. He has done freelance play-by-play announcing and sideline work for ESPN, The Urban Edge Network, and the NAIA Network along with work for numerous radio stations in Iowa and in the NAIA.
- Noah Wolf, play-by-play: Wolf is the play-by-play broadcaster for Iowa State women’s basketball. A native of Cedar Falls, he also broadcasts collegiate men’s and women’s basketball, volleyball, gymnastics and softball on ESPN+. Since graduating from Ohio University in 2020, he has also worked in Minor League Baseball for the Great Lakes Loons and on fill-in duty for the Iowa Cubs.