The Kirk Hageman Memorial Scholarship Board of Directors is very proud to announce that McGwire Midkiff of Council Bluffs – Thomas Jefferson as the winner of the 2017 scholarship. McGwire capped off his outstanding high school wrestling career by capturing the 2017 class 3A state championship at 126 pounds and plans to continue his academic and wrestling career at North Dakota State University next year.
However, it wasn’t his wrestling that stood out in his application, and winning this award isn’t about being the best wrestler. McGwire’s love and passion for the sport and for those people who have helped him achieve his goals clearly stood out. He repeatedly spoke of all of the years of hard work and sacrifice put in, not by himself, but by his family and coaches and how much those around him have meant to him. Speaking to those around him and people who have known him for a long time his selflessness and dedication to wrestling, school, and family was very evident.
McGwire is also clearly dedicated to his school work and we know that he will have academic success at the next level as well.
The Kirk Hageman Memorial Scholarship was first given out in 2014. Kirk Hageman was an avid wrestling fan who graduated from Decorah High School in northeast Iowa. He continued to be heavily involved in wrestling after high school and it was a great passion of Kirk’s for his entire life. Kirk was involved in the sport in many ways but most notably, and his favorite, was as a volunteer high school wrestling coach at Richland Center, WI as well as Cedar Rapids Prairie High School in Cedar Rapids, IA. In 2009 Kirk passed away much too young, but his exuberance for wrestling lives on with his family and friends. This scholarship is now given every year to a high school senior from Iowa who is very passionate about wrestling and wants to give back to the sport in the future.
Past winners:
2014 – Brittney England – Cedar Rapids Prairie
2014 – Trevor Murano – Dallas Center Grimes
2015 – Jeren Glosser – Eddyville Blakesburg
2016 – Chase Lienhard – Crestwood