Bob Roethler

2010 Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame Inductee

June 3, 1945 – February 8, 2015

Only a handful of high school wrestling coaches have had as significant an impact on the sport as Bob Roethler.

Just the word “Emmetsburg” makes most avid wrestling fans nod their heads knowingly and smile.

Bob Roethler was the coach who put Emmetsburg among the elite wrestling programs in the history of Iowa wrestling—and in the process, helped rewrite that history. The legacy he leaves behind includes both exceptional individual achievements by wrestlers and seldom-reached team milestones.

Roethler, who wrestled at Central of Elkader in high school and at Loras College, began his coaching career at St. Edmond High School in Fort Dodge, where his squads compiled a 37-17-1 record from 1967 to 1972.

He then moved on to Emmetsburg, where he made a lasting impact on the sport. As head coach, Roethler’s teams went 77-7-1. During that tenure, his teams won four consecutive state championships (1976–1979). From 1974 to 1978, the E-Hawks achieved 63 consecutive dual meet wins.

One of Roethler’s fondest memories of the state title streak was returning in 1979 to see his team win another championship—after having spent three months in Rochester, MN, recovering from an illness.

“Wrestling helped save my life during the winter of 1978–79,” Roethler stated. “The will to overcome personal health adversity and the fight to maintain life came from an attitude that I developed through the sport.”

Roethler believed that coaching is an attitude, and the key lesson he hoped to instill in his wrestlers was that “hard work and perseverance pay off.”

In addition to team titles, Roethler coached Jeff Kerber to four individual championships, Rich Stillman to three, and Dan Kauffman to two. He coached 35 place-winners at the state tournament, in addition to the ten state titles.

“I can say that I gave it my all,” Roethler concluded. “In return, wrestling has been very good to me. My association with countless hundreds of people was made possible because of the sport of wrestling. I truly love the sport.”

Roethler was inducted into the Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2010 alongside Mark Ironside, Jason Smith, and Mike Chapman.