Matt Diehl

Matt Diehl served as head wrestling coach at Central College in Pella, Iowa for the past seven years.  Diehl took the program over with four wrestlers and has built up the numbers to forty-five this year.  He has coached 14 All-Americans as well as 4 Scholar All-Americans as an assistant & head coach.  Although he has stepped down from the head coach position he still serves as a volunteer assistant in the program.  A 1987 Central graduate, Diehl served as Central's assistant coach from 1991-1996.  He then took a leave of absence in 1996-1997 to pursue a master's degree in exercise and sport science at the University of Wis.-LaCrosse, where he also served as assistant wrestling coach.  Prior to returning to Central in 1991, Diehl was head coach at Iowa Falls High School for two years and was a junior high coach in Audubon for one year.  Diehl, an Osceola native, was a two-time NCAA Div. III qualifier at 118 pounds, earning all-American honors and winning an Iowa Conference title in 1987, helping the Dutch place eighth in the nation.  Diehl also works in the Student Support Services office serving as program coordinator helping students on Central's campus.  He resides in Pella with his wife, Cathy, and four children, Emalea, Jacob, Benjamin and Josiah.

Donald Jenkins

Donald Jenkins has taught and coached in southwest Iowa for the past 33 years.  He has taught in grades sixth through senior high.  He describes himself as a year round coach that can be found enjoying the outdoors when not in that capacity.  He is a member of the Iowa Girls Coaches Association and is very active at clinics throughout the state.  He received his masters degree from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.  Don and his wife Nancy (chemistry teacher and coach) have 4 children.

Michael Kavars

Michael has been a teacher/coach/activities director/principal for the past 35 years.  During his tenure, he has coached at all levels from 7th grade to varsity in all sports with the exception of swimming and soccer.  Mike has coached students and teams to the state playoffs in tennis and boys basketball.  In a two year period of time his boys basketball team went 52-2 finishing as state runner up and state champions.  Mike was voted the state coach of the year in 1989 and was inducted into the IHSAA basketball Hall of Fame in 1995.

Tom Keating

Tom serves as the Athletic Director at Wahlert High School, a position he took over in 1997.  He has spent 25 years in education, 22 of those at Wahlert where he taught psychology for 20 years and has been the head volleyball coach since 1983.  His volleyball teams have won nine state championships and he has sent over 25 players to Division 1 programs.  He was a national coach of the year finalist in 2001 and 2002.  He is the chairman of the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union's Volleyball Advisory Board.  He is a member of the IGHSAU Hall of Fame jury.  He is a member of the Iowa High School Athletic Association's Hall of Pride Committee.  He also serves as the volleyball sport president for the Iowa Girls Coaches Association.  He is the director of the IGCA Volleyball All-Star event and heads up the IGCA All-State selection committee.  As athletic director, Tom oversees 18 sports which include varsity, j.v., sophomore and freshmen levels.  These teams compete in the large school class in Iowa.  Wahlert is a member of the Mississippi Valley Conference.  Tom is a native of Philadelphia, PA.  He came to Iowa to attend Simpson College where he earned a B.A. in Psychology and competed in Basketball and Tennis.  He earned his Master's degree from Loras College in Dubuque.  Tom and his wife Jodi are the parents of Kevin (a senior at Wahlert), Tim (a freshman at Wahlert) and Ryan (2 1/2).

Neil Phipps

Neil earned his BA and Masters from UNI.  Since that time, he has been in education teaching social studies, physical education and health.  His coaching has included head, assistant, and middle school positions in football, wrestling, and track.  During this time, Neil has helped coach over 25 champion or runner-up finishes in conference, district and state competition.  His 1986 Aurelia team was the state runner-up in Class A Football.  The 2002 NU High Girls Track Team earned a state championship.  He has been Northwest Iowa Football Coach of the Year, State and District Track Coach of the Year and coached in the Shrine football game.  Neil and Jodi have three grown children:  Jamie, Taylor and Kelly.

Mark Tiby

Mark is a graduate of Woodbine High School and received his B.S. from Dana College and M.A. from Viterbo University. Mark is currently the Executive Secretary of the Iowa Girls' Coaches Association. Mark was a 2001 winner of the National Distinguished Service Award from the National High School Athletic Coaches Association. He was National Chairman for girls basketball for that group, also serving on the Board of Directors from 1994-2000. Mark has coached and taught at Earlham (1977-1982) and Urbandale (1992 - Present).