Iowa High School Athletic Association

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, bowling, cross country, football, golf, soccer, swimming & diving, tennis, track & field, and wrestling.

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

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- Tom Keating
*Assistant Director- Brett Nanninga
*Assistant Director- Todd Tharp
*Assistant Director- Jared Chizek
*Assistant Director Chad Elsberry
*Director of Officials- Lewis Curtis
*Communications Director- Chris Cuellar

Board of control

*Chairperson: Greg Darling, Humboldt, 2021
*Vice-Chairperson: Dr. Rod Earleywine, Sergeant Bluff-Luton, 2020
*Treasurer: Barb Schwamman, Osage, 2010
*Greg Dockum, Johnston, IASB, 2021
*Brent Cook, Dubuque, Senior, 2022
*Paula Wright, Oskaloosa, 2019
*Scott Kibby, Iowa City, Liberty, 2023
*Dave Wiebers, Denison-Schleswig, 2023
*Dr. Ryan Wise, ex-officio, Department of Education

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.
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Classification guidelines

*4A- Largest 48 schools
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*3A- Next 64 largest schools
*2A- Next 96 largest schools
*1A- Remaining (138) 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 96 largest schools*
*1A- Remaining (155) 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 2014-15 school year, there were 97 schools in 2A basketball, even though regulations call for 96''

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 two 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.

Bowling

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

State Champions

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 lower 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 (136)

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, following remain the same for the 2021 and 2022 football seasons.

*5A- Largest 36 schools by enrollment
*4A- Next Largest 36
*3A- Next Largest 36
*2A- Next Largest 48
*1A- Next Largest 48
*A- Remaining 11 player schools (56)
*8-player- Option for schools with an enrollment of 120 or less (72)

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. 8-Player started having postseason in 2000, the previous two years were regular season due to low number of teams.

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''

State Champions

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.

Soccer

Classification guidelines

*3A- Largest 36 schools (initiated in 2011)
*2A- Next Largest 48 schools
*1A- Remaining schools

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 in 1998 and 3 classes starting in 2011. From 1994–2000, there was also a fall State Championship tournament that crowned a single champion. Winners of both tournaments are considered State Champions.

Swimming & diving

Classification guidelines

State Champions

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. With a 10-point tiebreaker in the 3rd in most cases.

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)

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
*4 × 100 meter relay
*4 × 200 meter relay
*4 × 400 meter relay
*4 × 800 meter relay
* 800 meter sprint Medley relay
*1600 meter distance Medley relay
*4 × 110 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 – recent champ – Justin Portillo
*113 pounds – recent champ – Josh Portillo
*120 pounds – recent champ – Brook Stephens
*126 pounds – recent champ – Cain Johanns
*132 pounds – recent champ – Joel Haberman
*138 pounds – recent champ – Reno Chiri
*145 pounds – recent champ – Kollyn Buch
*152 pounds – recent champ -
*160 pounds – recent champ – Mason Christe
*170 pounds – recent champ – Tim Riggins
*182 pounds – recent champ – Chance Turner
*195 pounds – recent champ – Jacob Dykes
*220 pounds – recent champ – Dedric Kettwick
*285 pounds – recent champ – Spencer Trenary

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.

Broadcasting

Prior to 2016, championship events in football, basketball and wrestling were carried across the state of Iowa on a network made up of local television stations. Beginning with the 2016 football championships, IHSAA reached a deal with NBCUniversal-owned Comcast SportsNet Chicago to become the exclusive provider of these sports, making them available across CSN's footprint consisting of Iowa, Illinois and Indiana via television, online and the NBC Sports mobile app.

References

{{Iowa High School Athletic Conferences

High school sports associations in the United States