Welcome to the Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame
IWHOF Class of 2019 Steffensmeier, Buzzard, Bahr, Corso, Whitmer
Our Purpose
The Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame seeks to promote amateur wrestling by honoring native Iowans.
The inaugural banquet was held in 1970. When we concluded the 50th annual awards banquet on April 08, 2019, our roster of inductees included 133 outstanding individuals for their contributions to amateur wrestling.
Join us every second Monday of April as we honor the latest Inductees into the Hall of Fame.
IWHOF News
Have news to share publicly about an IWHOF inductee? Please fill out the following form & we’ll publish it here.
Check out who’s Mom visited the IWHOF
On a beautiful day in Iowa, Laura and Dick Mattoon drove all the way from Ankeny to visit the Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame in Cresco.
Laura is the mother of Kevin Dresser, head coach of the Iowa State University wrestling program. They were here in 2014 when Dresser was inducted into the IWHOF. We had a nice visit and heard some new stories about our native born Iowans in the Hall of Fame.
Visitors from Ames
Hitting the road on their motorcycles, John & Chris Kinley ended up in Cresco at the Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame. We don’t know who had more fun – us or the Kinleys. We do know we learned a lot and made two new friends. We expect this will not be the last visit and we look forward to their return.
A NEW TRADITION FOR CRESCO WRESTLING
A new chapter in Cresco’s rich wrestling history was forged recently
when state champions Laken Lienhard and Carter Fousek signed their names
to the Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame mural in Cresco. The tradition of
signing the mural began last year after Fousek won his first state title
as a freshman.
Laken is the first female state champion from Crestwood while Fousek is
the first two-time state champion from Crestwood since Chuck Martens won
titles in 1982 and 1983.
The additional two state titles now has Crestwood/Cresco individual
state titles at 69, the second highest number in the state behind West Waterloo’s 89.
“The addition of autographs to the mural was done to honor the wrestler
and not be just a number in Cresco’s wrestling history,” IWHOF Chairman
Dennis Meirick said.
The last time Crestwood/Cresco High School had multiple state champions
in one year was in 1982 when Chuck Martens and Jeff Knutson won titles.
Before that in 1961 Don Henry, Omar Frank, and Tom Peckham all won
individual state titles. The year before that Richard Schmauss, Merlin
Schmauss, Tom Peckham and Alex Egorenko all won individual titles. The
1960 team also won the state team title.
“The left banner of the mural was created so visitors can gain an
understanding of why the Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame is in Cresco. It
recognizes our rich heritage and adding these two to our history is our
honor,” Meirick concluded.
Search Inductees
Thank You to Our Donors
in memory of
Mary Lou Brand
Arlin, Edward, Larry
in memory of
Finn
in memory of
Dorothy Dean Marten
in memory of
Chris Flanagan
in memory of
Harold J. Nichols
in memory of
Chris
in memory of
David C. Bartelma
Geneva Peckham
by Tom, Ruth and families
in memory of
Robert T. "Bob" Mitchell
in memory of
George E. Johnson
Merlin
Cedar Rapids
in memory of
Rich Schmauss
