Get Ready for the 2026 IHSAA Boys Wrestling Championships
Iowa PBS is bringing you the best in girls and boys high school sports this year, and it continues with the boys wrestling championships this week on Saturday, February 21. If you're new to the sport, we caught up with the Iowa PBS Sports on-air announcers and asked them what to watch for in these exciting matches. Tim Johnson, Shawn Kenney and Jim Miller will serve as on-air announcers for the boys wrestling championships this year.
Tim Johnson is a former high school wrestling coach. He served as the Director of Wrestling at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, and is known as the “Voice of College Wrestling” for Iowa PBS, ESPN and the Big Ten Network.
Shawn Kenney has been a commentator for ESPN since 2008 covering a number of college sports, including football, basketball, baseball and tennis, as well as the NCAA and ACC Wrestling Championships.
Jim Miller is a former high school and college wrestling coach and recruiter. He is a 10-time NCAA Division III champion coach and five-time National Coach of the Year.
Insights From Tim Johnson
What to watch for:
- Can Southeast Polk, Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont, and Don Bosco add to their recent state dual meet championships?
- Will Fort Dodge's Dreshaun Ross show everyone why he is considered the top heavyweight wrestler in the nation by waltzing through the field for his fourth straight title?
- Will any dark horse teams or individuals shock the wrestling world with the tournament of their lives and an upset for the ages?
Why I love being an announcer for boys wrestling:
I am looking forward to calling the state tournament for the first time in more than 20 years after covering it from 1987 to 2002. I love the “three-ring circus,” electric atmosphere and entertainment value of the sold-out arena, viewed in nearly every community in Iowa on Iowa PBS on this particular Saturday night each year. As I often say, this is the day farmers in Iowa finish their chores early and families gather around the TV to cheer on hometown favorites and wrestlers from their part of the state.
The Iowa high school state wrestling tournament runs deep in my veins. I wrestled in the state tournament representing my small town of Morning Sun, as well as coached in the tournament representing Mount Vernon High School. Before high school, I was the elementary kid whose dad took him to the state tournaments to watch his Morning Sun Tiger heroes. This is my 40th year of broadcasting wrestling on TV. I have called more than 500 college wrestling meets, and I did 16 Iowa state tournaments in a row. This will be my 17th.
Insights From Jim Miller
What to watch for:
- There will always be upsets, and this year will be no exception. Will we see Blake Fox from Osage and Dreshaun Ross of Fort Dodge win their fourth state titles?
- Classes 3A and 1A have heavy favorites in Southeast Polk and Don Bosco, but anything can happen at the state tournament. Can Don Bosco break the all-time record of six state champions on the same team? They currently have seven athletes ranked first in their weight classes.
- Class 2A will be a dogfight from the first round on, with several teams in pursuit of Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont and Clarion-Goldfield-Dows.
Why I love being an announcer for boys wrestling:
I love the Iowa state tournament. It is one of the best shows in the nation. I was a coach in Iowa for 37 years. Seven of those years, I coached high school wrestling, and I was excited and nervous every year I took my athletes to the state tournament. The remaining 30 years were spent as a college coach, and there will be dozens of college coaches at Casey’s Center this year recruiting.
Insights from Shawn Kenney
The Iowa High School Athletic Association State Wrestling Championships is one of the most decorated and respected tournaments across the entire country. The discipline, dedication and toughness of the sport resonate with so many Iowans, and the support this state shows these athletes is unmatched. I'm honored to work alongside a couple of legends of the sport in our state with both Tim Johnson and Jim Miller in the broadcast booth on Iowa PBS.
Watch All the Action Live This Friday
The 2026 IHSAA Boys Wrestling Championships will air on Iowa PBS on Saturday, February 21 beginning at 5:30 p.m. Each dual will be broadcast on statewide Iowa PBS and livestreamed on iowapbs.org and YouTube. Special recognitions will be livestreamed only beginning at 5:10 p.m.
If you can't get enough of Iowa PBS's wrestling coverage, check out our playlist of archival wrestling content.
Consider making a donation to the Friends of Iowa PBS Foundation to help ensure Iowa PBS can continue to cover Iowa high school sports and broadcast it all across the state.