Iowa High School Athletic Association

Iowa High School Athletic Association
Abbreviation	IHSAA
Legal status	Association
Purpose/focus	Athletic/Educational
Headquarters	1605 South Story St. Boone, IA 50036
Region served	Iowa
Membership	375+ high schools
Official languages	English
Executive Director	Richard Wulkow
Affiliations	National Federation of State High School Associations
Staff	17
Website	iahsaa.org
Remarks	(515) 432-2011

The Iowa High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) is the regulating body for male Iowa high school interscholastic athletics and is a full member of the National Federation of State High School Associations. Its female counterpart, the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union, (IGHSAU) is an associate member. Iowa is the only state that maintains separate governing bodies for boys' and girls' athletics.

Sports overseen by the IHSAA are baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer, swimming & diving, tennis, track & field, and wrestling. For the 2009-10 winter sports season, bowling has also been added as a championship sport.

As classifications vary highly across sports, they are included under the individual sport sections.

Mission Statement

The ideals of good sportsmanship, ethical behavior, and integrity permeate our culture. The values of good citizenship and high behavioral standards apply equally to all activity disciplines. In perception and practice, good sportsmanship shall be defined as those qualities of behavior which are characterized by generosity and genuine concern for others. Further, an awareness is expected of the impact of an individual’s influence on the behavior of others. Good sportsmanship is viewed by the Iowa High School Athletic Association as a concrete measure of the understanding and commitment to fair play, ethical behavior, and integrity.

Administrative staff

The administrative staff that runs the IHSAA consists of the 7 members in the office of directors, and the 10 members of the board of control.

Board of directors

• Executive Director- Richard Wulkow
• Assistant Executive Director- David Anderson
• Assistant Executive Director- Todd Tharp
• Assistant Executive Director- Alan Beste
• Director of Officials- Roger Barr
• Communications and Marketing Director- Chad Elsberry
• Information Director- Bud Legg

Board of control

• Chairperson- Brett Nanninga
• Vice-Chairperson- position currently unoccupied
• Secretary/Treasurer: Steve Oberg
• Member- Mike Billings
• Member- Gary Stumberg
• Member- Deborah R. Menke
• Member- Fred Whipple
• Member- Dennis Presnall
• Member- Gary Ross
• Member- Carol Greta

Baseball

The IHSAA, historically, has had 3 state baseball championships. Currently, there is only one: the Summer State Championship, whose winners are currently recognized as the State Champions. Historically, however, the winners of all 3 tournaments are given credit for State Championships. Iowa was the first State Association in the nation to hold a baseball championship meet in the summer.

Classification guidelines

• 4A- Largest 48 schools
• 3A- Next 64 largest schools
• 2A- Next 128 largest schools
• 1A- Remaining (136) schools

State Champions

Summer Tournament

The summer tournament was first held in 1946, with one classification from 1946-1972. From 1973-1980, there were 2 classifications (1A and 2A), and since 1981 there have been 4 classifications (1A, 2A, 3A, and 4A).

Spring Tournament

The Spring Tournament was held every summer from 1928–1972, and is the oldest of the 3 state tournaments. In the 4 years prior to 1928 (1924–1927), Iowa State College hosted an “invitational state tournament” in the spring that attracted nearly 40 schools, but was unofficial in nature. Unlike the Summer tournament, the Spring tournament never divided into separate classes.

Fall Tournament

The Fall Tournament was held every summer from 1939-1985. Unlike the Summer tournament, the Fall tournament never divided into separate classes. .

Basketball

Classification guidelines

• 4A- Largest 48 schools
• 3A- Next 64 largest schools
• 2A- Next 128 largest schools*
• 1A- Remaining (148) schools

*IHSAA Board policy allows schools to participate in a higher classification than their enrollment places them in a sport with four classes. Schools requesting this placement will remain in higher class for two years. As a result, In the 2006-2007 school year, there were 129 schools in 2A basketball, even though regulations call for 128

State Champions

Timeline

• 1912-1919 - unsupervised, non IHSAA sponsored state championship crowning one state champion.
• 1920-1922 - unsupervised, non IHSAA sponsored state championship crowning two state champions, one in Iowa City and one in Ames.
• 1923 – supervised, IHSAA sponsored state championship crowning one state champion; round robin format
• 1924 – no state champion listed according to IHSAA website
• 1925-1926 - supervised, IHSAA sponsored state championship crowning two state champions in “A” and “B” divisions; round robin format
• 1927-1955 - supervised, IHSAA sponsored state championship crowning one state champion
• 1956-1960 - supervised, IHSAA sponsored state championship crowning two state champions in “A” and “B” divisions
• 1961-1966 - supervised, IHSAA sponsored state championship crowning one state champion
• 1967-1974 - supervised, IHSAA sponsored state championship crowning three state champions in “1A” and “2A” classes
• 1975-1984 - supervised, IHSAA sponsored state championship crowning three state champions in “1A”, “2A”, and “3A” classes.
• 1985-1992 supervised, IHSAA sponsored state championship crowning four state champions in “A”, “1A”, “2A”, and “3A” classes.
• 1993–present - supervised, IHSAA sponsored state championship crowning four state champions in “1A”, “2A”, “3A” and “4A” classes.

Iowa State Basketball Tournament Champions (Pre-IHSAA).

Year	Division/Class	Champion
1912*		Ottumwa
1913*		Davenport
1914*		Cedar Rapids Washington
1915*		Ottumwa
1916*		Cedar Rapids Washington
1917*		Mount Pleasant
1918*		Mount Pleasant
1919*		Fort Dodge
1920*	Iowa City Ames	Davenport Boone
1921*	Iowa City Ames	Davenport Boone
1922*	Iowa City Davenport	Cedar Rapids Washington Grinnell

Bowling

Bowling was first sanctioned by the IHSAA in 2009-2010.

State Champions

Iowa State Bowling Team Champions

Year	1A	2A
2010	Dubuque Wahlert Catholic	Clinton
2011	Epworth, Western Dubuque	Davenport North

Iowa State Bowling Individual Champions

2010	1A 2A	Taylor Mellott Stephen Habel	Red Oak Dubuque Hempstead
2011	1A 2A	Taylor Mellott Tyler Solum	Red Oak Southeast Polk

Cross country

Cross Country was first contested in Iowa in 1922, and is considered a fall sport. It is also the only sport that is jointly sanctioned by the IHSAA and the IGHSAU. The current official distance for cross country meets is 5000m (approximately 3.1 miles). The standard format for team scoring, per NFHS guidelines, is to sum the places of the 5 highest placing runners among qualifying teams (teams must have at least 5 runners to qualify in the context of the team competition) to obtain the team's score. Teams are then ranked with the lowest score winning. Additionally, a team may have up to 7 runners count in placing for team scores, although only the first 5 scores, with the 6th and 7th runners serving to displace and rower the position of runners on other teams.

Classification guidelines

In classifying Cross Country programs, due to the collaboration of the IHSAA and IGHSAU, teams are included in the largest 48, next 64, etc., on the basis of having ‘’either’’ a boys or a girls program, as not all schools have both. This is to avoid a situation where boys and girls from the same school do not compete in the same class.

• 4A- Largest 48 schools
• 3A- Next 64 largest schools
• 2A- Next 72 largest schools
• 1A- Remaining Schools (128)

State Champions

Timeline

• 1922-1929 – unsanctioned, unsupervised State Championship crowning one individual and one team state champion. Race length-2 miles
• 1930-1934 – sanctioned, supervised State Championship crowning one individual and one team state champion. Race length-2 miles
• 1935 – sanctioned, supervised State Championship crowning one individual and one team state champion. Race length-1.9 miles
• 1936 sanctioned, supervised State Championship crowning one individual and two team state champions. Race length-1.9 miles
• 1937-1946 – sanctioned, supervised State Championship crowning three individual and three team state champions. Race length-1.9 miles
• 1947 – sanctioned, supervised State Championship crowning four individual and no team state champions. Race length-1.9 miles
• 1948-1950 – sanctioned, supervised State Championship crowning four individual and four team state champions. Race length-1.9 miles
• 1951-1956 – sanctioned, supervised State Championship crowning four individual and four team state champions. Race length-1.8 miles
• 1957-1963 - sanctioned, supervised State Championship crowning five individual and five team state champions. Race length-1.8 miles
• 1964-1966 – sanctioned, supervised State Championship crowning six individual and six team state champions. Race length-1.8 miles
• 1967-1968 – sanctioned, supervised State Championship crowning six individual and six team state champions. Race length-2.0 miles
• 1969-1975 – sanctioned, supervised State Championship crowning seven individual and seven team state champions. Race length-2.0 miles
• 1976-1980 – sanctioned, supervised State Championship crowning four individual and four team state champions. Race length-2.0 miles
• 1981-1986 – sanctioned, supervised State Championship crowning three individual and three team state champions. Race length-2.0 miles
• 1987-2002 – sanctioned, supervised State Championship crowning three individual and three team state champions. Race length-5000 meters
• 2003–present – sanctioned, supervised State Championship crowning four individual and four team state champions. Race length-5000 meters

Football

Classification guidelines

Football classifications remain the same for 2 years.

• 4A- Enrollment 700 and larger, plus smaller schools from 4A conferences
• 3A- Next Largest 64
• 2A- Next Largest 64
• 1A- Next Largest 64
• A- Remaining 11 player schools
• 8-player- Option for smaller schools. Although there appears to be no specific sizes to participate in 8-player regular season games, schools with enrollments greater than 115 are not eligible for 8-player playoffs

State Champions

Although Different sources claim that certain schools to have been state champions in years prior to 1972, these championships are not apparently recognized by the IHSAA and are not listed on its website, and it is not clear how these championships were determined.

Iowa State Football Championship Game winners

Year	8-player	A	1A	2A	3A	4A
1972			Radcliffe	Sioux Center	Harlan Community	Cedar Rapids Jefferson
1973			Dexfield (Redfield)	Britt	LeMars	Davenport Central
1974			AvoHa (Avoca)	Mount Vernon	Decorah	Davenport West
1975			Glidden-Ralston	Hudson	Urbandale	Sioux City Bishop Heelan
1976			Conrad BCL	Central Lyon	Waterloo Columbus	Davenport Central
1977			Manilla	Central Lyon	Emmetsburg	Davenport West
1978			Eastwood (Correctionville)	Sibley	Cedar Rapids Regis	Mason City
1979			Treynor	Sigourney	Emmetsburg	Dubuque Hempstead
1980			Woodbury Central (Moville)	Roland-Story	Marion	Newton
1981		Paullina	Dike	Roland-Story	Cedar Rapids Prairie	Bettendorf
1982		Lone Tree	Pekin (Packwood)	Cedar Rapids LaSalle	Harlan Community	Sioux City Bishop Heelan
1983		Sutherland	Pekin (Packwood)	Cedar Rapids LaSalle	Harlan Community	Davenport Central
1984		Schleswig	Pocahontas	Grundy Center	Harlan Community	Sioux City East
1985		Paton-Churdan	Center Point	Algona Bishop Garrigan	Pleasant Valley	Linn-Mar (Marion)
1986		Paton-Churdan	Lynnville-Sully	Wapsie Valley	Waterloo Columbus	Cedar Falls
1987		Green Mountain-Garwin	Grundy Center	Wapsie Valley	Decorah	Bettendorf
1988		Schleswig	Grundy Center	Solon	Decorah	Bettendorf
1989		Laurens-Marathon	West Branch	Emmetsburg	Decorah	Linn-Mar (Marion)
1990		Logan-Magnolia	Southern Cal (Lake City)	Emmetsburg	Waverly-Shell Rock	Linn-Mar (Marion)
1991		Madrid	West Branch	Garner-Hayfield	West Delaware	Bettendorf
1992		Bedford	West Branch	North Fayette	Waverly-Shell Rock	Bettendorf
1993		Riceville	Aplington-Parkersburg	Mount Vernon	Harlan Community	Iowa City High
1994		West Bend-Mallard	Hudson	Mount Vernon	Spencer	Iowa City High
1995		LeMars Gehlen	Denver	Sigourney/Keota	Harlan Community	Iowa City West
1996		Guthrie Center	West Hancock	Iowa Falls	Oskaloosa	Iowa City High
1997		West Central (Maynard)	Wapsie Valley	Emmetsburg	Harlan Community	Ankeny
1998		West Bend-Mallard	Pekin (Packwood)	West Lyon (Inwood)	Harlan Community	Iowa City West
1999		West Bend-Mallard	West Marshall	West Lyon (Inwood)	New Hampton	Iowa City West
2000	Adair-Casey	Hubbard-Radcliffe	Southern Cal (Lake City)	Emmetsburg	Clear Lake	Dowling Catholic, West Des Moines
2001	Adair-Casey	Fredericksburg	Aplington-Parkersburg	Sigourney/Keota	Western Dubuque (Epworth)	Dowling Catholic, West Des Moines
2002	Sentral (Fenton)	Manning	Akron-Westfield	Emmetsburg	Atlantic	West Des Moines Valley
2003	Sentral (Fenton)	Treynor	Eldora-New Providence	Emmetsburg	Harlan Community	West Des Moines Valley
2004	Remsen St. Mary’s	West Bend-Mallard	Council Bluffs St. Albert	Waterloo Columbus	Harlan Community	Bettendorf
2005	Glidden-Ralston	North Mahaska	Iowa City Regina	Sigourney/Keota	Harlan Community	West Des Moines Valley
2006	Northeast Hamilton	IKM (Manilla)	Council Bluffs St. Albert	Central Lyon/ George Little Rock	Humboldt	Cedar Rapids Xavier
2007	Stanton	Wapsie Valley	Council Bluffs St. Albert	Solon	Keokuk	Bettendorf
2008	Lenox	Southern Cal (Lake City)	Emmetsburg	Solon	Sioux City Bishop Heelan	West Des Moines Valley
2009	Armstrong-Ringsted	Southern Cal (Lake City)	Council Bluffs St. Albert	Solon	Harlan Community	Iowa City High
2010	Armstrong-Ringsted	North Tama	West Lyon	Iowa City Regina	Solon	Dowling Catholic, West Des Moines
2011	Fremont-Mills, Tabor	Lisbon	Saint Ansgar	Iowa City Regina	Union	West Des Moines Valley

Golf

The standard team scoring format for golf tournaments, per NFHS guidelines, is to add up the scores of 6 players with each player playing 2 rounds of 18 holes. Teams are then ranked according to lowest score.

Classification guidelines

• 4A (fall golf) - Largest 48 schools*
• 3A (spring golf) - Next 64
• 2A (spring golf) - Next 96
• 1A (spring golf) - Remainder (129)

*Plus golf schools that play in 4A conferences that wish to play in the fall. In 2006-2007 there were 52 schools in class 4A

Fall Tournament

In 1940, 1941, and 1986–1993, teams could also participate in a separate Fall Championship. Listed below are the champions of those tournaments. Beginning in 1994, the Fall tournament became simply the 4A championship. Those results are included above.

Iowa State Championship Fall Golf Tournament winners

Year	Champion
1940	Des Moines Roosevelt
1941	Des Moines Roosevelt
1986	Waterloo Columbus
1987	West Des Moines Dowling Catholic
1988	West Des Moines Valley
1989	West Des Moines Dowling Catholic
1990	Cedar Rapids Kennedy
1991	West Des Moines Dowling Catholic
1992	West Des Moines Dowling Catholic
1993	Newton

Soccer

Classification guidelines

• 2A- Largest 48 schools
• 1A- Remaining schools (92)

State Champions

The current State Champion is the winner of the spring tournament that has been held since 1995 and was divided into 2 classes in1998. From 1994-2000, there was also a fall State Championship tournament that crowned a single champion. Winners of both tournaments are considered State Champions.

Iowa State Soccer Fall Tournament winners

Year	Champion
1994	Marquette West Point
1995	Pella Christian
1996	Hull Western Christian
1997	Kalona Iowa Mennonite
1998	Orange City Unity Christian
1999	Orange City Unity Christian
2000	Orange City Unity Christian

Iowa State Soccer Spring Tournament winners

Year	1A champion	2A champion	3A champion
1995	Bettendorf
1996	West Des Moines Valley
1997	West Des Moines Valley
1998	Council Bluffs St. Albert	Urbandale
1999	Waukee	Bettendorf
2000	Nevada	Iowa City West
2001	Waukee	West Des Moines Valley
2002	Davenport Assumption	Urbandale
2003	Davenport Assumption	Iowa City West
2004	Cedar Rapids Xavier	Bettendorf
2005	Cedar Rapids Xavier	Iowa City West
2006	Cedar Rapids Xavier	West Des Moines Valley
2007	Norwalk	Ankeny
2008	Dubuque Wahlert Catholic	West Des Moines Dowling
2009	Iowa City Regina	Spencer	Iowa City West
2010	Iowa City Regina	Cedar Rapids Xavier	Iowa City West
2011	Iowa City Regina	Cedar Rapids Xavier	West Des Moines Dowling Catholic

Swimming & diving

Classification guidelines

All schools compete in a single class in swimming

List of events

• 50 yard freestyle
• 100 yard freestyle
• 200 yard freestyle
• 500 yard freestyle
• 100 yard butterfly
• 100 yard breaststroke
• 100 yard backstroke
• 200 yard individual medley
• 200 yard free relay
• 400 yard free relay
• 200 yard medley relay
• 1 meter springboard diving (discontinued after 1994 state meet)

Tennis

An IHSAA tennis team consists of 6 competitors. Each head-to-head competition is made of 6 singles and 3 doubles, each worth 1 point, and the first team to 5 points is the winner. Both singles and doubles matches are in a best-of-3-sets format.

Classification guidelines

• 2A- Largest 48
• 1A- Remaining (61) schools

State Champions

Timeline

• 1929-1977 - one singles and one doubles championship awarded
• 1978–present - two singles and two doubles championships awarded, one in each of 2 classes (1A and 2A)
• 1983–present - two team championships awarded, one in each of 2 classes (1A and 2A)

Iowa State Tennis Team Champions

Year	2A	1A
1983	Cedar Rapids Washington	Camanche
1984	Dubuque Hempstead	Camanche
1985	West Des Moines Valley	Camanche
1986	West Des Moines Valley	Camanche
1987	Cedar Rapids Washington	Denison
1988	Marion Linn-Marr	Camanche
1989	Dubuque Wahlert	Camanche
1990	Cedar Rapids Washington	Camanche
1991	Waterloo West	Fairfield Maharishi
1992	West Des Moines Dowling Catholic	Camanche
1993	West Des Moines Valley	Keokuk
1994	Cedar Rapids Washington	Pella Christian
1995	Iowa City West	Camanche
1996	Cedar Rapids Washington	Decorah
1997	Urbandale	Decorah
1998	Dubuque Senior	Decorah
1999	Iowa City City High	Fairfield Maharishi
2000	Des Moines Roosevelt	Fairfield Maharishi
2001	West Des Moines Dowling Catholic	Knoxville
2002	Des Moines Roosevelt	Fairfield Maharishi
2003	Ankeny	Red Oak
2004	Bettendorf	Dubuque Wahlert
2005	Iowa City West	Dubuque Wahlert
2006	Iowa City West	Dubuque Wahlert
2007	Davenport Central	Dubuque Wahlert
2008	Cedar Rapids Kennedy	Dubuque Wahlert
2009	Des Moines Roosevelt	Dubuque Wahlert
2010	West Des Moines Valley	Waterloo Columbus Catholic
2011	Ames	Dubuque Wahlert

Track & Field

Iowa's official track season is currently outdoors. There was also an indoor State Track Meet from 1926–1973, and the IHSAA is in the process of collecting and publishing these champions.

Classification guidelines

• 4A- Largest 48 schools
• 3A- Next 64 largest schools
• 2A- Next 96 largest schools
• 1A- Remaining (165) schools

List of events

The following is the current list of official track events according to the IHSAA

Track:

• 100 meter dash
• 200 meter dash
• 400 meter dash
• 800 meter run
• 1600 meter run
• 3200 meter run
• 110 meter hurdles
• 400 meter hurdles
• 4x100 meter relay
• 4x200 meter relay
• 4x400 meter relay
• 4x800 meter relay
• 1600 meter distance Medley relay
• 4x110 meter hurdle shuttle relay

Field:

• High jump
• Long jump
• Discus throw
• Shot put

Wheel Chair:

• 100 meter run wheelchair
• 200 meter run wheelchair
• 400 meter run wheelchair
• Shot put wheelchair

State Champions

State track titles have been given every year since 1906. Since 2003, there has also been wheelchair events at the state meet. A separate wheelchair team championship is also awarded. In 2005, the wheelchair championship has been co-ed.

Wrestling

Classification guidelines

• 3A- Largest 64 schools
• 2A- Next 96 largest schools
• 1A- Remaining (129) schools

Weight classifications

• 106 pounds
• 113 pounds
• 120 pounds
• 126 pounds
• 132 pounds
• 138 pounds
• 145 pounds
• 152 pounds
• 160 pounds
• 170 pounds
• 182 pounds
• 195 pounds
• 220 pounds
• 285 pounds

State Champions

The Iowa High School Athletic Association holds two separate team wrestling championships: the Traditional tournament, which also crowns individual champions, and a Dual Team tournament. The dual team tournament was held at the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids a week after the traditional tournament, until 2012, when it was held the Wednesday before the traditional tournament in Des Moines. This was the subject of much controversy, as several teams sat their state qualifiers for the Dual Team tournament. In 1921-1925, the State University of Iowa (Iowa City) and Iowa State University (Ames) held open state tournaments that were not supervised nor sanctioned by the IHSAA.