Four Panthers join Hall of Fame

Four greats of Creston’s wrestling past were honored Saturday night at the eighth annual Creston Wrestling Hall of Fame induction banquet.

Steve Harvey (class of 1972), Dan Hayes (class of 1974), Randy Marlin (class of 1986) and Andrew Hayes (class of 2000) were the 2024 inductees celebrated by a large crowd at Creston Eagles Club.

The Creston Wrestling Hall of Fame Committee also presented $300 scholarships for post-high school education to Will Bolinger (Iowa State University), Milo Staver (Southwestern Community College), Jagger Luther (SWCC), Carson Rieck (Iowa State), Max Chapman (South Dakota State University), Christian Ahrens (Morningside University), Quentin Fuller (Wayne State University), Savannah Sistad (Simpson College), Austin Evans (Iowa State) and Brandon Briley (SWCC). Recipients must have been involved in the Creston wrestling program for four years.

There was also recognition of the Panther teams of 1964, 1974, 1984, 1994, 2004 and 2014, with representatives from each of those teams in attendance. Current head coaches Cody Downing of the boys team and Maggie Arnold of the girls team also gave a brief outlook on the 2024-25 season. Downing said a squad of 32 will begin practices this week from a team that graduated several seniors from the state dual tournament champions. Arnold has a squad of 12 set to begin action this week, including returning state qualifiers Evy Marlin and Zoey Vandevender.

STEVE HARVEY

Steve Harvey’s son, Shawn, introduced his father for the Hall of Fame induction and spoke of his “never quit attitude” and how he was a man of action, not just words.

Steve Harvey was Creston’s first state finalist, finishing as state runner-up at 138 pounds as a senior in 1972. He missed out on state qualifying as a junior by a 2-1 decision, taking third in the district. He won the first of his two Hawkeye & tournament titles as a freshman and a district qualifier.

“Thanks to everyone involved in this event,” Harvey said as he was presented the Hall of Fame jacket from Shawn. “It was great growing up in Creston. I spent the first 20 years of my life here. Thanks to coach (Jerome) Hruska and coach Rich Downing. That 1972 team was a great group of young men. We won every tournament except state. Other teams ere not happy to see us coming.”

Harvey shared a humorous story from his career, thinking he had set a long-lasting school record with a pin in eight seconds in a home meet at Burton R. Jones Junior High. “Then Mike King came up at heavyweight for us and pinned his guy in seven seconds! That was the shortest record ever.”

DAN HAYES

Dan Hayes has been a lifelong Creston wrestling ambassador.

As a competitor, Hayes was a two-time state qualifier including a fourth-place finish as a junior in 1973, and a narrow miss the other two seasons as he nearly became Creston’s first four-time qualifier. Hayes went on to an outstanding career at Southwestern Community College, qualifying twice for the national tournament.

Since then, Hayes has been involved in coaching at all levels of the Creston program as well as coaching numerous offseason groups competing in tournaments throughout Iowa and the nation.

His nephew, former Nodaway Valley and University of Iowa wrestler Mario Galanakis, spoke of his uncle training him and his cousins as youngsters at family gatherings, and taking them to tournaments against top competition. He carried the Iowa flag at the Tulsa AAU Nationals in 2000 as the coach with the most Iowa finalists.

Hayes was in the coaching corner for three AAU national champions — Andrew Hayes, Mario Galanakis and MIchael Mickey.

“People have heard my uncle at every Creston wrestling tournament,” Galanakis said. “He’s the biggest wrestling fan in Creston, maybe the state of Iowa. He’s helped countless people, taking them all over the country. He wants people to succeed. He’s always pushing you to the next level. To be great, you have to think outside the box, and that’s what he did.”

John Walters, a former Panther teammate and fellow Hall of Fame member, noted that Hayes lost a state-qualifying match in the final 15 seconds as a freshman, and suffered a knee injury before districts during an outstanding senior season. He remembered watching Hayes defeat Eagle Grove’s Dave Morgan, who went on to become a three-time state champion and an All-American at Iowa State University.

“I’m going to keep this short,” Hayes said. “My first coach was Dan Stephens, fifth grade. Then had Pat Miller help me, a wrestler from Corning. Then I had Randy Hughes. Then I had Jerome Hruska and Rich Downing. Awesome coaches. Congrats to the other (inductees) tonight. I was on Steve Harvey’s team for two years. Andrew Hayes, I took to AAU nationals and he was a national champion in Tulsa.”

Dan’s two sons, Beau and Boone, were state qualifiers for the Panthers with Boone being the program’s second four-time placewinner. Beau coaches high school wrestling in Minnesota.

RANDY MARLIN

Randy Marlin was a three-time state qualifier and two-time finalist for the Panthers culminating in a state championship at 132 pounds in 1986 as a senior. He wrestled for a time at North Idaho College before being on the U.S. Marine Corps Greco-Roman wrestling team.

His sons had outstanding careers at Creston as well. Jake became southwest Iowa’s first four-time state champion and Trevor was a three-time state qualifier. Jake was also a junior college national runner-up at North Iowa. Older daughter Chloe was a wrestling manager and daughter Evy is currently a state qualifying wrestler on the Creston girls team.

Dan Stephens, one of Marlin’s high school coaches and a 2020 Hall of Fame inductee, praised Marlin’s wrestling ability and how much his family has given to the sport. Former Panthers Juwan Parrish and foreign-exchange student Peter Nagy also lived with the Marlins.

“Randy was a fierce competitor,” Stephens said. “When the whistle blew, he was moving forward. Constant pressure, and he flowed so well from move to move. He had that ability to get out of a tough spot. He came from behind in a lot of matches. Since then, he’s given so much back to Creston wrestling.”

Marlin was gracious in accepting the Hall of Fame honor.

“Creston wrestling has helped me way more than I’ve given it,” Marlin said. “Special people, and a special place.”

ANDREW HAYES

Hayes had the unique history of winning back-to-back state championships in 1999 and 2000 under two different head coaches. Rich Downing was his coach during his junior year march to the title at 152 pounds with a 41-3 record. Assistant coach Darrell Frain succeeded Downing the next year as Hayes upset undefeated senior Paul Bradley of South Tama for the title at 160 pounds. Bradley went on to become a two-time All-American for the University of Iowa Hawkeyes at 184 pounds.

“I remember sitting in the front row, behind Dan McCool of the Des Moines Register, when Andrew was going to wrestle Bradley in the finals,” Downing said. “McCool said, ‘I think Andrew has bitten off too much this time. Bradley has been wrestling all over the world.’ I said I don’t know about that, I think my money’s on Andrew.”

Hayes won a 4-3 decision, riding out Bradley throughout the third period and helping the Panthers to a fourth-place team finish, the program’s highest at the time since the 1975 runner-up team.

Frain called Hayes “one of the toughest kids I ever coached” and a terrific scrambler.

“When Andrew wrestled Bradley, he turned it into a brawl and took care of business,” Frain said. “When I put the (gold) medal around his neck, I told him he’d always be my first state champ.”

In accepting the honor, Hayes expressed thanks to Downing and Frain and his other coaches and teammates during his career. He said wrestling for Creston has a unique wrestling environment.

Downing said Hayes was an entertaining wrestler.

“A lot of people came to the meets to watch Andrew wrestle,” Downing said.

“The fans help a lot,” Hayes said.

Honored teams

1963-64 — Bob Decklever and Rich Downing were state qualifiers for Creston, competing in the large class (2A) in the state’s two-class system. Decklever became Creston’s first state placewinner, finishing fourth under new coach Dave Jensen. Jensen had been a national runner-up at Iowa State Teachers College (now University of Northern Iowa).

1973-74 — The Panthers went 12-0 in duals but suffered adversity the death of team member Mike Abel in a tobogganing accident. The Panthers nearly earned their first team trophy finishing fourth under coaches Jerome Hruska and Rich Downing.

1983-84 — Dan Stephens coached the team that had a 9-3 record and the Hawkeye Eight dual championship. Jeff Weeks placed third in the state tournament. Other state qualifiers were Randy Marlin and Kelly Luther.

1993-94 — The team coached by Rich Downing set a school record for wins with a 13-4 dual record, and placed seventh at the state tournament. Class 2A districts were held in Creston for the first time. Ryan Kinsella, Jake Hayes, Kasey Downing and Matt Chapman qualified for state. Kinsella and Hayes were runners-up and Downing placed fifth.

2003-04 — The team coached by Darrell Frain went 21-4 in duals, won five tournaments and placed third in Class 2A at the state tournament in addition to qualifying for the state dual tournament. Creston was the John J Harris Invitational champion for the first time in 30 years. Daniel Scarberry won the 140-pound state title. Boone Hayes and Chris Downing each placed third. Other state qualifiers were Tyler Linderman, Matt Williamson, Luke Baker Stoney Stuart and Blake Miller.

2013-14 — Coach Frain’s team went 17-2 as the Hawkeye Ten champion, sent seven wrestlers to state and placed fourth in the state dual tournament. The Panthers were 14-0 in the regular season and won seven tournaments. Freshman Chase Shiltz was the state runner-up at 145 pounds. Senior Trevor Frain was sixth at 170 pounds and his season included 18 pins in under a minute. Sophomore Seth Maitlen was eighth in the state at 195 pounds. Other state qualifiers were Kruz Adamson, Joey Huntington, Tayler Pettit and Adam Baker.