Class of 2020

Lena-Winslow High School

Kevin Milder began his wrestling career in Clinton, Iowa at an early age. He continued to wrestle through his high school years wrestling under Hall of Fame coach Bob Lueders. Kevin competed in football, wrestling, and track during his high school career at Clinton. After high school, he attended the University of Northern Iowa where he graduated in 1993 with a degree in physical education.

In the fall of 1994, Kevin accepted a teaching position at Lena-Winslow High School. He became the head wrestling coach in his first year and has continued to lead the Lena-Winslow / Stockton wrestling program for the last 26 years. During his coaching career, Kevin has coached 62 state qualifiers, 36 state place winners and 9 individual state champions. He has guided the Lena-Winslow / Stockton program to two State Championships in 2017 and 2019, and a State Runner-up in 2012. His teams have won over 450 dual meets, have won conference 8 times, and have won 5 regional championships. Kevin has also been an assistant football coach at Lena-Winslow High School for 24 years helping the Panthers win 4 State Championships as their defensive coordinator.

Kevin has been named the IWCOA Coach of the Year twice, (2012/2017) and he was named IHSA Coach of the Year in 2018. He was named the NWCA Region 4 Coach of the Year in 2017 and NWCA Illinois Coach of the Year in 2012. Kevin has served as an honorary coach for the Illinois vs. Indiana Classic Duals twice and coached the North squad in the Senior I-80 All-Star dual. He currently serves on the IHSA Wrestling Advisory Committee.

Kevin has been very fortunate to work with many great assistant coaches including Scott Stich, Steve Brown, Jered Staver, Jared Hermann, and Josh Oates. He has been very blessed to work with the supportive communities of Lena-Winslow and Stockton.

Kevin would like to thank his wife Kim, and his children Noah and Ally for their support. He would also like to thank his former high school wrestling coaches Ken Wilkins and the late Bob Lueders, and his former teammate Dan Knight for the things they have done to help him become successful in the sport of wrestling.