Building a wrestling program, making it a success and then sustaining it is a task few coaches achieve. David Ripley did just that and took it a step further by doing it for over three decades.

While also coaching at Lamont for two years and a year as an assistant coach, Ripley built the Riceville program from the ground up starting in 1966. In the 33 years at Riceville, Ripley’s teams won the state dual and team championships in 1994 while also placing second to Lisbon in the 1980 state tournament. In 1987 his squad placed second to Lisbon in the first-ever dual meet championship. His 1980 team included three wrestlers bringing home individual state titles. His 1994 squad was ranked 16th in the nation by USA Today.

Ripley coached seven state champions, 95 individual state qualifiers and 51 individual state place-winners while compiling a dual meet record of 319-90-1 (333-102-1 overall). His Wildcats won 24 Corn Bowl Conference championships, 17 sectional titles, and eight district championships. His squads never had a losing season with his 1970 and 1994 teams going unbeaten. Five other squads had one loss on the season and 12 other teams had two losses on the season.

While Ripley insists the program was never about himself, he was honored many times. He was named Class 2A Coach of the Year in 1970 and Class A Coach of the Year in 1994. Ripley is a member of the Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame, the Iowa Wrestling Coaches and Officials Hall of Fame and the Upper Iowa Hall of Fame.