From singlet to stripes

Every wrestling match begins with two things — a handshake and a whistle. Throughout the bout, a hand goes up, three fingers lifted to indicate a takedown. A face lies next to the action, looking for two shoulder blades to make simultaneous contact with the mat. A hand slaps the surface, and a winner is crowned. Another handshake is followed by an arm raised in triumph.

Though the crowd has come to see the wrestlers, none of it would exist without the men and women in stripes.

Just as wrestlers prepare for their meets through practice and conditioning, officials prepare by studying the rules, staying in shape and preparing their iconic uniform.

At the 2026 IHSAA State Wrestling Tournament, the Iowa Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association will honor Creston’s John Walters with a Lifetime Service to Officiating award as he is in his 49th year as a wrestling official.

The beginning

In 1974, Walters stepped into the state tournament for the first time, at the time held at Betts Auditorium. He was a sophomore at Creston High School. Since that day, he has been to every state tournament.

As a senior, Walters broke his elbow at sectionals, ending his wrestling career. But his love for the sport never wavered. So he looked to a different part of wrestling — officiating.

“I love wrestling and I thought I can do this, and I want to be a part of it,” Walters said. “I knew the rules pretty well from the beginning. I’m pretty technical about moves and the rules.”

Right away, Walters found a mentor in Gary Wimmer, a former assistant wrestling coach at Mount Ayr and an referee who officiated at the state tournament at least once.

“I got my tips from him right off the bat,” Walters said. “He said just make sure everyone knows what you’re awarding the points for. Don’t rush it. He thought I did a really good job right off the bat, but he wanted me to get my signals right, don’t rush it and don’t take your eyes on the mat ever.”

Though Walters spent years after high school officiating, he also spent 15 years as a wrestling coach at Creston High School. Once he finished coaching, he was ready to give his all to officiating.

Progressing

“There are five levels of officials,” Walters said. “The quickest you can get there is six years.”

In order to increase levels, an official must get a certain number of recommendations and participate in a number of tournaments.

“You don’t get it by paying for it,” Walters said.

He made it his mission to make the top level with the ultimate goal of reffing the state tournament. Though he never did officiate at state, he’s been at the highest level for 29 years and reffed at sectionals and districts for many years.

As he has improved, Walters has always prioritized following the rules closely and correcting his mistakes immediately.

Through his time, he’s been at the forefront of historic matches. One that sticks out to him was when Nodaway Valley’s Mario Galanakis faced off against Jesse Sundell from Ogden at sectionals. At the time, Sundell was a senior who had never lost a match in high school and was a defending three-time state champion.

When the two faced off at sectionals for the first time Galanakis’s junior year, it was Walters behind the whistle.

The match was tied with less than a minute to wrestle. Walters awarded Galanakis a takedown and was the only official in Iowa to raise the arm of Sundell’s opponent.

It wasn’t his only memorable match. He reffed TJ Sebolt of Centerville’s 200th win, a quick pin. Sebolt went on to be a four-time state champion.

Though those guys stick out as some of the most accomplished wrestlers Walters has officiated, he said matches at every level of skill can be exciting.

“It doesn’t matter whether it’s a four-time state champ or a JV match,” Walters said.

Change

Through the past 49 years, wrestling has changed in ways both large and small. One difference Walters noted is where the wrestlers begin.

“Now the guys start 3 feet apart from each other. They used to have one foot on the 10-foot circle and one outside the 10-foot. Then it was one foot on the 10-foot circle and one inside,” Walters explained. “Now it’s 3 feet where you could lean over and touch foreheads.”

Jim Bruck of Harlan has been officiating since 1997 when he stopped coaching. Over the years, Bruck and Walters have worked many tournaments together, including the Harlan Tournament that Walters has officiated every year since the mid 90s.

Both Walters and Bruck appreciate some of the changes that have been made in the 40 years they’ve known each other.

One change was moving from needing two points of contact inside to stay inbounds switching to needing just one point. This is especially helpful when an official is trying to watch for a pin on the outskirts.

“I still try to corral them to stay inside so they don’t get to that circle,” Walters said. “Sometimes you can’t help it. I call out of bounds about one-third as much as I used to. The wrestling gets to continue.”

The other change has come very recently as takedowns switched from two points to three and nearfalls went to one point per second from two to four seconds.

“The scores add up really fast,” Walters said. “Near falls are four points in four seconds. You see big leads and the other guy comes back. It can look like a one-sided match and change quickly.”

Present

Though not as sharp and active as he was nearly five decades ago, Walters still officiates locally. His goal is to ref next year in order to make it to 50 years.

“It’s been quite the journey, and I do have the goal to ref 50 years,” he said.

His former teammate, assistant coach and fellow official Craig Taylor said Walters is an excellent official.

“You couldn’t ask for anybody better,” Taylor said. “If you ever had a question, he knows the rules book inside and out, probably better than anybody.”

As many officials are ready to hang up the stripes, Walters is involved in teaching the younger generations how to be great officials.

“He started really young and I started way back too,” Taylor said. “He’s really trying to get young kids. He’s really super about helping others. He’s a perfect role model.”

Walters will be honored before the championship matches Saturday.