One hundred sixty-six prep officials will be honored at the Iowa High School Athletic Association’s 23rd Annual Officials Recognition Banquet and Awards Ceremony, Saturday, April 29 at Iowa Events Center – Community Choice Credit Union Convention Center.
Festivities will start with a 5:30 p.m. social hour in the Hall of Pride followed by dinner, a featured speaker and the Awards Program. Seventy-eight officials will receive plaques for 15 years of service with 30 being honored for 25 years of work and 26 will receive a plaque for 35 years of officiating.
In addition, the following will be honored for their 50th year – Richard Wulkow, Boone; James Patterson, Cedar Rapids; James Wood, Center Point; Paul Fuhrman, Cherokee; Robert Bowen, Middletown; Cary Griffith, Nashua; James McConnell, Ogden; Craig Snider, Spirit Lake; Terry Eaton, Urbandale; Michael Amundson, Waterloo; and Glenn Tjaden, Webster City.
In addition, five other officials will be recognized as Aspiring Officials of the Year in their district and 15 more will be receive the National Federation Officials Association’s official of the year in their sport.
John Bartolo of Algona will be honored as the NFHS Distinguished Active Official in Section 4 – Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan and Indiana. Bartolo has been a registered official with the IHSAA and IGHSAU for 37 years He has a long history as a state tournament official working championships in football, boys’ and girls’ basketball, volleyball and baseball.
Bartolo is a member of the Algona Officials Association, the North Iowa Officials Association, the NFOA and NASO. He is past member of the IHSAA Officials’ Advisory Committee and is a long-time presenter in IHSAA Officials Clinics in basketball and football. He has a superior rating in football, basketball and baseball. As a coach, he guided Bishop Garrigan baseball to the 1999 state runner-up and into the basketball substate twice.
This year’s keynote speaker will be Terry Curtis of Williamsburg. Mr. Curtis is an active official in baseball and currently in his 55th year. He retired from, wrestling officiating in 2004, after 21 seasons.
A native of Fairfield he has a degree in elementary education from Parsons College and his M.S. Degree in Elementary School Administration from Northeast Missouri State University. In 1962 he was hired at Williamsburg and up to his retirement in 1997 he served as a teacher, guidance counselor, coach and the Elementary and Jr. High Principal for 25 years.
In addition to a full slate of prep wrestling and baseball, he also umpired baseball in the Iowa Conference, and the Big Ten and the Big Eight Conferences. He has umpired 24 state summer baseball tournaments plus three fall tournaments and been on the mat for 18 state wrestling tournaments. He has been inducted in the IHSAA Officials Hall of Fame and the Iowa Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame. A former state umpire of the year, he is also a member of the Williamsburg Community Library Board of Directors and has a 2006 film credit for his appearance in the baseball film, “The Final Season.”
WRESTLING ONLY
15-year award winners
David Pfaffle
Brody Benton
Jeff Pavlovich
Brad Honnold
Dwayne Lundvedt
Travis Pike
Ryan Hildreth
Jay Cox
25-year award winners
Lee Schechinger
Brian Gray
Eric Eckerman
Aspiring New Official
Carl Davis
The complete list of award winners follows.
15 Year Honorees
CITY NAME
ADEL JOHN BEGLEY
ALTON DAVID PFAFFLE
ANKENY TERRY ALEXANDER
ANKENY BRODY BENTON
ANKENY SHANE SVOBODA
BENNETT RODNEY DEERBERG
CALMAR CHRIS WILTGEN
CAMBRIDGE RICHARD VOYEK
CEDAR FALLS RYAN EKLUND
CEDAR FALLS DENNIS PETERS
CEDAR RAPIDS CORY BURKLE
CEDAR RAPIDS RANDALL CLAPP
CEDAR RAPIDS ROB NOBLE
CEDAR RAPIDS NICHOLAS ROLING
CHARLES CITY JEFFREY PAVLOVICH
CLARINDA BRAD HONNOLD
CLIVE MICHAEL CALEY
COUNCIL BLUFFS KIP SHANKS
COUNCIL BLUFFS KEITH WOHLERS
CRESTON SCOTT BUSCH
DECORAH DWAYNE LUNDTVEDT
DEEP RIVER JOSEPH KOEHN
DES MOINES ALAN DARNIELLE
DES MOINES TRAVIS GRAVEN
DONNELLSON ANDY CROZIER
DUBUQUE THOMAS KIEFER
DUBUQUE GARY THIBADEAU
DUBUQUE STEVEN TSCHIGGFRIE
ELDRIDGE MARK COPLEY
ELDRIDGE BILL KIETZMAN
EMMETSBURG MICHAEL DEWALL
FORT DODGE RANDY LOHMEIER
FORT DODGE MICHAEL SMITH
GILMAN KEVIN BENZING
GRINNELL ERIC PAVEY
HIAWATHA RONALD VAN HOECK
INDIANOLA CHRISTOPHER WEBER
IOWA CITY GERALD LOWRY
KEOKUK TERRY TWITCHELL
KEOKUK STEPHEN WORSTER
LISBON FRED GRIFFITHS
LUVERNE DANIEL FETT
MANSON JERRY SONNTAG
MAQUOKETA MICHAEL CORNELIUS
MARBLE ROCK BRIAN CHAMBERS
MARION KEVIN FLOOD
MARION SHANE REMINGTON
MARION MATTHEW SMITH
MASON CITY RANDY LEWIS
MASON CITY TRAVIS PIKE
MECHANICSVILLE KEITH LEHRMAN
MOUNT PLEASANT PATRICK WEBER
NEW LONDON REGGIE WILLIAMSON
NORTHWOOD MARTIN COTTER
NORTHWOOD MICHAEL CROZIER
NORTHWOOD GREG PARKS
NORWALK CRAIG DEDECKER
OMAHA RAY WOOD
OTTUMWA BRETT WHITE
PAULLINA BRIAN COLE
PEOSTA FRANK DARDIS
PLEASANT HILL DOUGLAS JOHNSON
REMSEN ALAN LOUTSCH
ROCK RAPIDS STEVEN SIEPERDA
ROCKWELL CITY RYAN HILDRETH
SHELDON CURT STROUTH
SPENCER JADE BEEHLER
STATE CENTER AARON BURDORF
TRAER THAD ESPENSCHEID
URBANDALE TIMOTHY STOVIE
VINTON WILLIAM FOSS
WATERLOO CHRISTOPHER MARTIN
WATERLOO TODD MEYERHOFF
WAVERLY RICK HALL
WEST DES MOINES JAY COX
WEST DES MOINES KURT RENAUD
WILLIAMSBURG C. RICHARD STOCKNER
WINTERSET STEVE DICK
25 Year Honorees
CITY NAME
ALTOONA JOSEPH BOORD
ANKENY WILLIAM BURCHETT
BETTENDORF DON UMLAND
BLOOMFIELD BRIAN ROBERTS
BROOKLYN KEVIN JAMES
COUNCIL BLUFFS THOMAS HOLM
DAVENPORT PAUL EICKHOFF
DES MOINES LARRY JACOBUS
DUBUQUE ALAN STOLTZ
GRIMES RUSSELL KRAMER
HARLAN LEE SCHECHINGER
LAKE CITY MATTHEW CARLSON
MARION DONALD DAHL
MARION MATTHEW FRIDAY
MOUNT AYR JOHN FORD
MOVILLE MARK HARRIS
NORTH LIBERTY GREGORY DAVIES
NORTH LIBERTY RAYMOND C WALASKA
RUTHVEN MIKE FELDMAN
RUTHVEN PATRICK GEELAN
SAINT CHARLES BRIAN GRAY
SCHALLER ARNOLD WIENER
SIOUX CITY RONALD BEALS
SIOUX CITY SCOTT PIERSMA
UNDERWOOD JON SORENSEN
URBANA BRAD JACOBS
WASHINGTON PETER SCHAEFER
WAUKEE NORMAN GRANGER
WAVERLY ERIC ECKERMAN
WAVERLY ROBERT WHARRAM
35 Year Honorees
CITY NAME
AMES DOUG JENSON
ANKENY BRIAN GIBSON
ANKENY JON JETMUND
ARLINGTON BRIAN SCHOENJAHN
CARROLL JERRY FLESHNER
DAVENPORT MIKE BOTTS
DES MOINES JAMES PETERSEN
DEWITT JOHN MCDONNELL
ELK RUN HEIGHTS GARY EWALD
FOREST CITY KIRK JEFSON
GARNAVILLO ROBERT RODENBERG
HAMPTON BEN FRIDLEY
JOHNSTON GREGORY MANGOLD
JOHNSTON TIM NEUMANN
MARCUS MARK BRIGHTON
MARCUS JERRY MOSER
MARSHALLTOWN JAY FLORA
MYSTIC MICHAEL GILL
NEVADA KEITH HAWKINS
NEWTON BRUCE MAACH
RICEVILLE ARNOLD KRUKOW
SEYMOUR RICH CHOPONIS
SIOUX CITY JENNI MALSAM
SIOUX CITY DENNIS MENEFEE
URBANDALE RICK MOLDEN
WATERLOO DAVID NIEDERHAUSER
50 Year Honorees
CITY NAME
BOONE RICHARD WULKOW
CEDAR RAPIDS JAMES PATTERSON
CENTER POINT JAMES WOOD
CHEROKEE PAUL FUHRMAN
MIDDLETOWN ROBERT BOWEN
NASHUA CARY GRIFFITH
OGDEN JAMES MCCONNELL
SPIRIT LAKE CRAIG SNIDER
URBANDALE TERRY EATON
WATERLOO MICHAEL AMUNDSON
WEBSTER CITY GLENN TJADEN
Aspiring New Officials