Mike Allen has died...

[MitchLL]

For those long time fans, Mike Allen, a terrific high school and college official who reffed tons of Hawkeye matches over the years, has died at age 74.

Hall of Fame official who did a tremendous job of communicating with wrestlers during matches.

Tremendous loss to the wrestling community.

 

[WildTurk]

Prayer's for Mike's family!

 

[tigerhawk2015]

He was the best referee in the game for a long time and a good guy also. Sad news.

 

[Iron Doc]

I am SORRY to hear this!

 

[TailgateTom]

Damn, that’s too bad 😭

 

[texas twister]

That is sad news. He was my favorite ref. He knew how to call stalling.

 

[Coach Mac B]

Gotta say he was one of my favorites too. Very fair and very good.

 

[Bones Malone]

Warm thoughts and prayers for his family and friends in the Waterloo community. Mike was a great advocate for wrestling and such an iconic figure. We’ve felt his presence missing in the sport for a while now. Please rest in peace🙏.

 

[lilhwkgld]

Mr. Allen was my favorite official when I competed in the late 90's-early 00's. I always felt that I would get a fair shake when he was calling my matches. One of the few officials that if a call was made I disagreed with, once I calmed down I knew it was the right one and to work harder to get better. I also loved how he would interact with anyone in a positive way. Peace to his family.

 

[MitchLL]

Gotta say he was one of my favorites too. Very fair and very good.

At Nattys, he was the "anti Freddie Ambrose".😁

 

[burk11]

My sincere condolences to Mike Allen's family. Watched Mike call many matches at the annual Midlands tournaments, and the Big Ten tournaments. Always admired his officiating and his match management. Mike's passing is a tragic loss for the wrestling community.

 

[SPOONER]

.

(Edited. Props to Hawky42 for taking his words back.)

Mike was universally respected. After his retirement he famously wore colorful suits when working the NCAAs and he could pull it off because he’s Mike Effing Allen. May he RIP.

 

[horraybeer]

I had the privilege to meet and talk too. Awesome dude, wish everyone (iron, msu) would take a page from his book....

 

[SPOONER]

Post deleted.
I am sorry as it is a bad taste after a death. He was in poor health for a while from what I read this morning, very unfortunately, may he be in a better place.
I also heard he was close to many wrestling people especially in the Waterloo area. A lot who were Cyclones and Hawkeyes.

So I agree, Spooner.

You are the man. Good on you. I will edit my post to remove your comments and give you props.

 

[Fan In Black]

sad news. rest in peace.

 

[Inthecircle]

That is sad news. He was my favorite ref. He knew how to call stalling.

Mike was a helluva an official and an awesome man. He made sure the wrestlers he officiated worked hard for 6 or 7 minutes. Personally, he warned me for stalling in my conference finals match from the top. “Top man, you’re hanging on and not working for the fall!” This was in 1978. The call caught my attention and I was pissed. In the end I got a two point near fall and won the match 6-5. Thanks for the stall warning Mike.

Before coaches had bricks and there was replay review, I saw him consulting with officials to try and get the calls correct, before, during and after matches. He was instrumental in making wrestling a better sport.

Deep condolences and prayers for the family of Mike Allen.

 

[oldhawk56]

I Miss the neon green suit

 

[Inthecircle]

I Miss the neon green suit

I was partial to the purple suit.

 

[sabula]

I was partial to the purple suit.

My favorite was a light blue one I'd seen him wear.

 

[lookleft goright]

If, he dies peacefully and had a life well lived, then it is a beautiful extension of his life here on Earth. From what I saw, he was a class act and had a life well lived. I hope he went in peace.

 

[shobart]

I imagine that Mike's funeral will be a packed house. That says about all that anyone needs to know about him.

Blessings to his family and those closest to him.

 

[merr6267]

Like many of you I watched Mike referee a lot of matches. Great at match control and fair calls. Nobody was gonna intimidate him.

I'll never forget what was the most puzzling ankleband/wrist band thing I ever saw, though.

This would have been the early 2000's at Carver and Iowa was wrestling MSU. MSU was wearing their solid green singlets, and by some twisted logic, Mike had Iowa wearing the green ankle band. There were a lot of momentarily angry Iowa fans when the green wrist went up for 2 as the Iowa guy got a takedown. Technically, green was supposed to be the "home" signal, but it was awfully rare to see that actually happen.

Next story was from about 6 years ago. My former HS team was volunteering at the Gable Museum in Waterloo (We're from West Michigan) and the boys (and a few girls) were doing sidewalk trimming and other outside chores and Mike randomly pulls up in his beautiful blue Corvette and ended up giving a nice talk to the team and told stories with Chick Yagla for a while. Very nice guy. He also gave an Air Force challenge coin to one of our boys who was committed to the Academy football team.

 

[iowa_native]

Just another small story. I remember when Mike first refereed one of our dual meets when I was in high school (sometime in the 90s). Our coaches informed us beforehand that he wasn't afraid to call stalling. A true statement for sure, and something I appreciated as a wrestler--I didn't know him personally, but for whatever reason, I always wanted to rise to the occasion when he was on the call. In my experience, it's a rare quality, and I appreciate the impact it made on me.

 

[Spoons]

He was by far the best ref in the game. Nobody close! He was a great man as well. Prayers to his family as well.

 

[shobart]

Personal stories shared here are very cool! Hope he gets some type of mention at Nationals this year. Assume that he does, but if not, that would be a huge whiff imho.