July/Aug 2025 (Volume 17, Issue 4)

 

By Michael Swanger

 

One would think that Bernie Saggau must have known his legacy of serving young Iowans—particularly their high school athletic experiences—was firmly in hand. But for a man who preferred to sit in the cheap seats and avoid publicity, he couldn’t help himself one last time on May 3 when he decided to honor the Class of 2025 at his alma mater, Buena Vista University. That’s when he purchased a BVU alumni stainless steel mug for each member of the class and included a note within it, welcoming each student to the BVU alumni family and reminding them of the importance of serving others and their alma mater. Seven days later, Saggau died at the age of 96.

 

“How remarkable that Bernie Saggau, in the final week of his life, was still thinking about our students and the ways in which he could work with others to encourage, direct, and motivate them to share and to lead. He continued to live out our motto, ‘Education for Service,’ to benefit others,” said BVU President Brian A. Lenzmeier, in an online statement.

 

Saggau touched the lives of generations of young Iowans, whether or not they realized it, by serving as the “longest-tenured and most impactful executive director in the history of the Iowa High School Athletic Association,” according to the IHSAA’s website. Saggau’s leadership helped Iowa become a national leader for school activities during his IHSAA career from 1963 to 2005. He was named its chief executive in 1967 and was renowned for his steady and firm style of leadership, sometimes making difficult decisions.

 

“He really personifies ‘the iron fist in a velvet glove’—very benign—and always with the kids’ best interests at heart,” said Carol Greta, the Iowa Department of Education’s representative on the IHSAA Board of Control in 2004 for the 2005 book, “Bernie Saggau & the Iowa Boys.”

 

 

During his 38 years at the helm of the IHSAA, Saggau transformed Iowa’s high school athletic landscape. He created the high school football playoffs in 1972; he made Iowa the first state in the nation to utilize the three-point shot in basketball in 1982; and he prioritized student-athlete health with wellness and substance abuse coordinator positions in 1989 that created the nation’s first wrestling weight management programs. 

 

Additionally, Saggau moved the state wrestling tournament from Waterloo to Des Moines in 1970, regularly drawing sellout crowds and making it the biggest event of its kind in the nation; he implemented classifications systems; allowed wheelchair bound athletes to compete in track; opened the door for soccer; brought back eight-player football; moved state tournaments to Iowa’s best venues; and in 2005 he realized years of hard work with the opening of the Iowa Hall of Pride in downtown Des Moines. (Unfortunately, the museum closed in 2022, but continues as the virtual platform “Achieve” on the IHSAA’s website.)

 

Saggau, who was born on May 18, 1928, and raised in Denison, was a four-sport athlete in high school. He went on to play multiple sports at BVU, graduating in 1949. After college he worked as a teacher, coach, official, school administrator and in private business before joining the IHSAA. He devoted nearly two decades of his career officiating NCAA Division I football and was a prolific guest speaker. 

 

In addition to improving the fields of play, Saggau emphasized the importance of sportsmanship and citizenry. In 2003, the IHSAA began having officials at basketball games meet with the coaches at center court before each game to read a “Sportsmanship Statement,” a practice that is now included in meetings for football, baseball, soccer, wrestling and swimming contests. Each spring, since 1989, the IHSAA Board of Control presents The Bernie Saggau Award to an outstanding citizen-athlete of the senior class of every Iowa high school. 

 

Over the years, Saggau accumulated a number of awards, and served on many boards. His motivation was to encourage students to participate in school activities so that they would become productive adults.

 

“It’s not the winning that’s important,” he once said. “It’s the wanting to win that’s important.”

 

TO READ MORE FASCINATING STORIES ABOUT IOWA HISTORY, subscribe to Iowa History Journal. You can also purchase back issues at the store.