The Southern Minnesota Wrestling Officials Association (SMWOA)

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SMWOA was started almost 35 years ago when a group of wrestling officials led by Duane Silker split away from the Rochester Officials Association to form their own group of officials with a unique link to high school and college wrestling.  

 

This new association called themselves The Wrestling Officials (TWO).  This group was served by some of the state’s premier officials like Pat Dunn, Constantine (Gust) Barbas, Darrell Lande, and John Philo to name just a few.

 

This small group of wrestling talent were mainstays at the Minnesota State Wrestling Tournament and they were unique in developing young talent to fill in when they moved and they did just that.  In 1983 the group changed again and became the Southern Minnesota Wrestling Officials Association led by Rick Rud.  

 

The group had grown from an original group of six officials to over twenty at the time. In 2015, SMWOA underwent further expansion to include the southwest portion of the state led by Cami Snobl. This expansion grew the association footprint to expand to cover all of Southern Minnesota, from the South Dakota to Wisconsin border and the entire Iowa border upward to central Minnesota.  

 

Today the SMWOA maintains a roster of over fifty officials and still maintains the original mandate to train younger officials and grow the wrestling officiating talent in Minnesota.  SMWOA maintains a strong belief in officiating consistency and has created and maintained a strong theory in communicating internally as well as with partner associations throughout the state of MN, IA, and WI.  

 

SMWOA is the head officiating group for The Clash National High School Wrestling Duals team tournament that has become the premiere high school championship tournament in the nation.  The SMWOA style of consistent wrestling officiating in Minnesota is a result of strong and dedicated communications internally and externally among other officials, associations, states and coaches.