Tom Hogan

2022 Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame Inductee

Wrestling pedigrees don’t get much stronger than Tom Hogahttps://www.iowawrestlinghalloffame.com/inductee/bob-siddensn’s. Hogan excelled as a high school wrestler, a college wrestler, and as a coach of his Gilbertville Don Bosco squads.

Hogan won a state title as a senior while wrestling for legendary coach Dan Mashek and followed that up with a Division III national championship at Wartburg College
under two other legends; Jim Miller and Bob Siddens. He then built a coaching
career that rivals those who coached him.

Explaining his and Don Bosco’s success, Hogan said, “It’s so important to this community and the school. Mashek started the winning tradition back in the late ’70s, and we’ve been building on it since.” He was quick to point out that his wrestlers know they are expected to compete at a high level. “Guys who were pretty good in grade school know they have to elevate their skills, and they do it.”

Hogan credits the success of his teams to his assistant coaches. “This year, we had
10 assistants in our room. Six of them were state champions from Don Bosco. I am working with friends, and we develop special relationships with the kids.”

Hogan believes his background as a wrestler has also helped him become a better coach. “I understand how wrestlers process things, the wins and losses, the pressures, and everything else. They know I can relate to them, and they listen and learn.”

Hogan’s coaching career includes time at Wartburg College from 1995 to 1998, where he was part of winning the program’s first team national title. He then served as an assistant coach at Don Bosco from 1999 to 2011 under Dan Mashek and Tom Kettman before taking over as head coach in 2012. Since then, he has led Don Bosco to eight sectional championships and eight district championships, with the team qualifying for the State Dual seven times. Don Bosco won the traditional state championship in 2012, 2019, 2020, and 2021, while finishing runner-up in 2017 and 2018. The team also claimed State Dual titles in 2018 and 2019 while finishing as runner-up in 2014 and 2017. Hogan has been inducted into the Iowa High School Wrestling Hall of Fame, the Division III Hall of Fame, and the Wartburg College Hall of Fame.

“My current coaching record after this season is 209-46 after nine seasons as head coach. We were 28-3 this season. We finished second at the State Dual and first in
the Traditional State Tournament in Class 1A this year. We had nine place winners, including one state champion, four runner-ups, two third-place finishers, a fifth-place finisher, and a sixth-place finisher,” Hogan noted in 2021. Hogan retired as Don Bosco’s head coach in 2021.

Hogan, a 2022 inductee, was originally set to be inducted into the Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2020 with Tom Huff, G. Wyatt Schultz, and Chad Zaputil, but the pandemic forced the cancellation of the 2020 and 2021 banquets.