Iowa High School Athletic Association

The Iowa High School Athletic Association 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, 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.

WWW iahsaa.org

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 (as of July 2024)

Executive Director- Tom Keating
Assistant Director- Jared Chizek
Assistant Director Chad Elsberry
Assistant Director- Todd Tharp
Assistant Director- Andy Umthun
Director of Officials- Lewis Curtis
Communications Director- Chris Cuellar

Board of control (as of July 2024)

Chairperson: Dr. Andy Crozier, Central Lee, 2024
Vice-chairperson: Amanda Whaley, West Branch, IASB, 2024
Treasurer: Derin Durflinger, 2026
Dave Wiebers, Denison-Schleswig, 2028
Steve Pettit, Southeast Polk, 2028
Barb Schwamman, Osage, 2027
Dr. Rod Earleywine, Sioux City, 2025
Brent Cook, Dubuque, Senior, 2027
Eric St. Clair, ex-officio, Department of Education

Member Schools

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 96 largest schools
1A- Remaining schools

State Champions

Summer Tournament

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

Spring Tournament

The Spring Tournament was held every summer from 1928 to 1972, and is the oldest of the 3 state tournaments. In the 4 years prior to 1928, 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 to 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 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.

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 Ames	Cedar Rapids, Washington Grinnell

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. The standard format for team scoring, per NFHS guidelines, is to sum the places of the 5 highest placing runners among qualifying teams 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

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
8-player- Option for schools with an enrollment of 120 or less

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.

Year	8-player	A	1A	2A	3A	4A	5A
1972			Radcliffe	Sioux Center	Harlan	Cedar Rapids, Jefferson	-
1973			Dexfield	Britt	Le Mars	Davenport, Central	-
1974			AvoHa	Mount Vernon	Decorah	Davenport, West	-
1975			Glidden-Ralston	Hudson	Urbandale	Bishop Heelan Catholic, Sioux City	-
1976			BCL	Central Lyon	Columbus Catholic, Waterloo	Davenport, Central	-
1977			Manilla	Central Lyon	Emmetsburg	Davenport, West	-
1978			Eastwood	Sibley	Regis Catholic, Cedar Rapids	Mason City	-
1979			Treynor	Sigourney	Emmetsburg	Dubuque, Hempstead	-
1980			Woodbury Central	Roland-Story	Marion	Newton	-
1981		Paullina	Dike	Roland-Story	Prairie, Cedar Rapids	Bettendorf	-
1982		Lone Tree	Pekin	LaSalle Catholic, Cedar Rapids	Harlan	Bishop Heelan Catholic, Sioux City	-
1983		Sutherland	Pekin	LaSalle Catholic, Cedar Rapids	Harlan	Davenport, Central	-
1984		Schleswig	Pocahontas	Grundy Center	Harlan	Sioux City, East	-
1985		Paton-Churdan	Center Point	Bishop Garrigan Catholic, Algona	Pleasant Valley	Linn-Mar	-
1986		Paton-Churdan	Lynnville-Sully	Wapsie Valley	Columbus Catholic, Waterloo	Cedar Falls	-
1987		GMG	Grundy Center	Wapsie Valley	Decorah	Bettendorf	-
1988		Schleswig	Grundy Center	Solon	Decorah	Bettendorf	-
1989		Laurens-Marathon	West Branch	Emmetsburg	Decorah	Linn-Mar	-
1990		Logan-Magnolia	Southern Cal	Emmetsburg	Waverly-Shell Rock	Linn-Mar	-
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	Iowa City, City High	-
1994		West Bend-Mallard	Hudson	Mount Vernon	Spencer	Iowa City, City High	-
1995		Gehlen Catholic, Le Mars	Denver	Sigourney/Keota	Harlan	Iowa City, West	-
1996		Guthrie Center	West Hancock	Iowa Falls	Oskaloosa	Iowa City, City High	-
1997		West Central	Wapsie Valley	Emmetsburg	Harlan	Ankeny	-
1998	Elk Horn-Kimballton	West Bend-Mallard	Pekin	West Lyon	Harlan	Iowa City, West	-
1999	Elk Horn-Kimballton	West Bend-Mallard	West Marshall	West Lyon	New Hampton	Iowa City, West	-
2000	Adair-Casey	Hubbard-Radcliffe	Southern Cal	Emmetsburg	Clear Lake	Dowling Catholic, West Des Moines	-
2001	Adair-Casey	Fredericksburg	Aplington-Parkersburg	Sigourney/Keota	Epworth, Western Dubuque	Dowling Catholic, West Des Moines	-
2002	Sentral	Manning	Akron-Westfield	Emmetsburg	Atlantic	Valley, West Des Moines	-
2003	Sentral	Treynor	Eldora-New Providence	Emmetsburg	Harlan	Valley, West Des Moines	-
2004	St. Mary Catholic, Remsen	West Bend-Mallard	St. Albert Catholic, Council Bluffs	Columbus Catholic, Waterloo	Harlan	Bettendorf	-
2005	Glidden-Ralston	North Mahaska	Regina Catholic, Iowa City	Sigourney/Keota	Harlan	Valley, West Des Moines	-
2006	Northeast Hamilton	IKM	St. Albert Catholic, Council Bluffs	Central Lyon/George-Little Rock	Humboldt	Xavier Catholic, Cedar Rapids	-
2007	Stanton	Wapsie Valley	St. Albert Catholic, Council Bluffs	Solon	Keokuk	Bettendorf	-
2008	Lenox	Southern Cal	Emmetsburg	Solon	Bishop Heelan Catholic, Sioux City	Valley, West Des Moines	-
2009	Armstrong-Ringsted	Southern Cal	St. Albert Catholic, Council Bluffs	Solon	Harlan	Iowa City, City High	-
2010	Lenox	North Tama	West Lyon	Regina Catholic, Iowa City	Solon	Dowling Catholic, West Des Moines	-
2011	Fremont-Mills	Lisbon	Saint Ansgar	Regina Catholic, Iowa City	Union	Valley, West Des Moines	-
2012	Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn	Wapsie Valley	Regina Catholic, Iowa City	Spirit Lake	Decorah	Ankeny	-
2013	Don Bosco Catholic, Gibertville	West Lyon	Regina Catholic, Iowa City	Kuemper Catholic, Carroll	Bishop Heelan Catholic, Sioux City	Dowling Catholic, West Des Moines	-
2014	Newell-Fonda	Logan-Magnolia	Regina Catholic, Iowa City	North Fayette Valley	Pella	Dowling Catholic, West Des Moines	-
2015	Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn	Gladbrook-Reinbeck	Regina Catholic, Iowa City	Spirit Lake	Pella	Dowling Catholic, West Des Moines	-
2016	Don Bosco Catholic, Gilbertsville	Gladbrook-Reinbeck	Western Christian, Hull	Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley	Pella	Dowling Catholic, West Des Moines	-
2017	Don Bosco Catholic, Gilbertsville	West Sioux	Van Meter	Waukon	Xavier Catholic, Cedar Rapids	Dowling Catholic, West Des Moines	-
2018	New London	Hudson	West Sioux	PCM	Xavier Catholic, Cedar Rapids	Dowling Catholic, West Des Moines	-
2019	Don Bosco Catholic, Gilbertville	West Hancock	West Lyon	OABCIG	Epworth, Western Dubuque	Dowling Catholic, West Des Moines	-
2020	St. Mary Catholic, Remsen	Regina Catholic, Iowa City	OABCIG	Waukon	North Scott	Ankeny	-
2021	CAM	West Hancock	Van Meter	Southeast Valley	Harlan	Lewis Central	Southeast Polk
2022	St. Mary Catholic, Remsen	Grundy Center	Van Meter	Central Lyon/George-Little Rock	Harlan	Xavier Catholic, Cedar Rapids	Southeast Polk
2023	Bishop Garrigan Catholic, Algona	West Hancock	Grundy Center	Van Meter	Williamsburg	Lewis Central	Southeast Polk
2024	St. Mary Catholic, Remsen	Tri-Center	Grundy Center	West Lyon	Wahlert Catholic, Dubuque	North Polk	Southeast Polk
2025	Bishop Garrigan Catholic, Algona	MMCRU, Marcus	West Lyon	Kuemper Catholic, Carroll	Nevada	Xavier Catholic, Cedar Rapids	Dowling Catholic, West Des Moines

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 – Largest 48 schools*
3A – Next 64
2A – Next 96
1A – Remaining schools

*''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.

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

Soccer

Classification guidelines

3A- Largest 36 schools
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 to 2000, there was also a fall State Championship tournament that crowned a single champion. Winners of both tournaments are considered State Champions.

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

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 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
1983–present – two team championships awarded, one in each of 2 classes

Year	2A	1A
1983	Cedar Rapids, Washington	Camanche
1984	Dubuque, Hempstead	Camanche
1985	Valley, West Des Moines	Camanche
1986	Valley, West Des Moines	Camanche
1987	Cedar Rapids, Washington	Denison
1988	Linn-Mar	Camanche
1989	Wahlert Catholic, Dubuque	Camanche
1990	Cedar Rapids, Washington	Camanche
1991	Waterloo, West	Maharishi, Fairfield
1992	Dowling Catholic, West Des Moines	Camanche
1993	Valley, West Des Moines	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	Maharishi, Fairfield
2000	Des Moines, Roosevelt	Maharishi, Fairfield
2001	Dowling Catholic, West Des Moines	Knoxville
2002	Des Moines, Roosevelt	Maharishi, Fairfield
2003	Ankeny	Red Oak
2004	Bettendorf	Wahlert Catholic, Dubuque
2005	Iowa City, West	Wahlert Catholic, Dubuque
2006	Iowa City, West	Wahlert Catholic, Dubuque
2007	Davenport, Central	Wahlert Catholic, Dubuque
2008	Cedar Rapids, Kennedy	Wahlert Catholic, Dubuque
2009	Des Moines, Roosevelt	Wahlert Catholic, Dubuque
2010	Valley, West Des Moines	Columbus Catholic, Waterloo
2011	Ames	Wahlert Catholic, Dubuque
2012	Iowa City, West	Assumption Catholic, Davenport
2013	Iowa City, West	St. Edmond Catholic, Fort Dodge
2014	Iowa City, West	Maharishi, Fairfield
2015	Linn-Mar, Marion	Decorah
2016	Iowa City, West	Wahlert Catholic, Dubuque
2017	Iowa City, West	Xavier Catholic, Cedar Rapids
2018	Linn-Mar, Marion	Wahlert Catholic, Dubuque
2019	Iowa City, West	Xavier Catholic, Cedar Rapids
2021	Waukee	Xavier Catholic, Cedar Rapids
2022	Iowa City, West	Xavier Catholic, Cedar Rapids
2023	Iowa City, West	Xavier Catholic, Cedar Rapids
2024	Waukee, Northwest	Wahlert Catholic, Dubuque
2025	Waukee Northwest	Xavier Catholic

Track & Field

Iowa's official track season is currently outdoors. There was also an indoor State Track Meet from 1926 to 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 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 schools

Weight classifications

106 pounds
113 pounds
120 pounds
126 pounds
132 pounds
138 pounds
144 pounds
150 pounds
157 pounds
165 pounds
175 pounds
190 pounds
215 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 and Iowa State University held open state tournaments that were not supervised nor sanctioned by the IHSAA.

Broadcasting

Iowa High School Sports Network (IHSSN)

Since 2005, the Iowa High School Sports Network has broadcast numerous Iowa High School state tournaments. In September 2024, the Iowa High School Sports Network released its broadcast map with its network on the following stations: Des Moines KDSM Fox 17.1; Omaha & Council Bluffs NPTM 42.2 ; Sioux City NPTH 44.2 ; Rochester, Minnesota, & Mason City KXLT Fox 47.1 or MeTV 47.2; Cedar Rapids KFXA 28.1; and Moline, Illinois, & Quad Cities WQAD MyTV 8.3.

Prior to 2016

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 in 2016

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.