Upper Iowa University Athletics

Larry Wibke, class of 1960, was a letter winner in basketball and a three-time letter winner in baseball at UIU. In his senior season, Wibke finished with a .440 batting average before playing semi-pro ball for several years.

Following graduation from UIU, Wiebke began teaching physical education at Van Horne High School, which is now Benton Community. He coached the 1962 Van Horne girls’ basketball team to the state championship, finishing with a record of 28-3. He coached girls’ basketball at Benton for eight seasons, compiling a record of 156-39. In 1970, he was selected to coach the all-star girls’ squad at the Spirit Lake Coaches school.

For 24 seasons Wibke was at the helm of the softball teams at Van Horne and Benton. During that span, he established a record of 650-213 with eight teams qualifying for the state tournament. His win-loss record is seventh best on the all-time list of prep softball coaches in the state. Furthermore, his 1964 and 1969 teams placed third at the summer tournament, while the 1975 team placed 11th.

In 1991, Wiebke was inducted into the Softball Coaches Hall of Fame by the Iowa Athletic Coaches Association. Benton Community has honored him with a Larry Wiebke Invitational Softball Tournament.

He has conducted girls’ basketball clinics throughout Iowa and has presented lectures at clinics and schools on both basketball and softball.

Wiebke served as athletic director at Benton from 1972 until 1986. In 1979, he earned his master’s degree in administration from the University of Northern Iowa.

He is a member of the N.E.A. and the I.S.E.A., and served on the executive committee as district director and state secretary of the Iowa High School Athletic Directors Association.