Four Grand Marshals, each with special contributions to the sport for more than a combined 140 years, will lead the annual Grand March of Finalists Saturday night (Feb. 19) before the championship bouts of the 68th Illinois High School Association (IHSA) State Final Individual Wrestling Tournament.

Named Grand Marshals for 2005 are:

• Renny Garshelis, the only wrestling official in Illinois to have officiated both NCAA Division I individual and dual team national championships, and the IHSA Class A and AA individual and dual team state championships.
   
• Larry Gassen, celebrating his 40th year of coaching, initially at Crete-Monee, currently at Downers Grove (North), but best-known for his 35 years as coach at Downers Grove (South).
   
• Morrie Geselter, longtime coach at Park Ridge (Maine East) and Highland Park, and an IHSA and international official for more than 30 years.
   
• Mike Wilkey, a 32-year IHSA official who has worked a total of 24 individual and dual team state finals.

Begun in 1975, the annual March of Finalists is conducted at the State Tournament by the IHSA in conjunction with the Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association (IWCOA) and the Assembly Hall. Each year the grand marshals are honored for their contributions to the sport and to the young men and women who participate in it.

The marshals play an important role in the color and pageantry of the event. They lead the 56 individual finalists and their coaches in a foot-stomping, strobe-flash-popping, breathtaking Grand March around the Assembly Hall arena floor just prior to the championship bouts. The annual crowd in excess of 10,000 is witness to a spectacle of high school athletics seen nowhere else in America.

Here is a closer look at the 2005 Grand Marshals:

Renny Garshelis is the only wrestling official in Illinois to have officiated both NCAA Division I individual and dual team national championships, and the IHSA Class A and AA individual and dual team state championships. This comprises a combined total of 37 collegiate and state championship finals.

Currently, he serves as an IHSA wrestling rules interpreter and IHSA head wrestling clinician. He has served on the IHSA Officials Advisory Committee and supervisor for officials for the IHSA individual and dual team state championships.

A past board member of the IWCOA, Renny was honored as Official of the Year in 1990. Twice he has received Official of the Year from the National Federation Officials Association. He has also been inducted into both the Eastern Illinois University Athletic Hall of Fame (wrestling and soccer) in 1990, and the IWCOA Hall of Fame in 1994. In 2003, Renny was the IHSA Honorary Referee for the Boys Track and Field State Meet.

Renny started the complete wrestling program for all levels from elementary through high school varsity for the Charleston Community School District and on two separate occasions Renny served as the head varsity coach. He was elected as the first President for the Illinois Association for Blind Athletes, and coached the Illinois blind wrestlers at the national championships held in Seattle, Washington.

Larry Gassen started his wrestling career at Downers Grove North High School where he played football and wrestled for "Hall of Fame" coach Bill Walker. He continued his athletics at Illinois State University where he played football, lettered for three years and served as captain his senior year, when he was also was voted MVP.

Larry has just completed his 40th year as a high school wrestling coach, two years at Crete Monee, 35 years at Downers Grove South and three years at Downers Grove North. Larry has served 27 years as an assistant coach and 13 years as a head coach. As the varsity coach, his teams won 162 dual meets, two regional championships, had 25 individual regional champions, 6 sectional champions, 16 state qualifiers, six all state wrestlers and one State Champion. Larry was also a high school football coach for 20 years.

Larry is a lifetime member of the IWCOA and serves on the Executive Board, where he has been treasurer for 12 years. Larry has worked at nine state dual team tournaments and the last four state individual tournaments. He was voted as the IWCOA "Man of the Year" in 1993 and was voted into the IWCOA Hall of Fame in 1995.

Morrie Geselter has coached and officiated in Illinois for the past 38 years. Morrie started coaching in 1967 at East Maine Junior High School with Hall of Famer Ron Silverstein. He moved to Maine East High School in 1970, where he was later named head coach in 1980. Under his guidance, Glenn Olson went on to win the State Championship the same year. Morrie gave up the head coaching position after only one year when he was moved into administration, and it was not until 1995 was he once again able to take on the task, this time at Highland Park High School. Morrie retired from teaching in 2000, left Highland Park, and returned home to Maine East in 2002. In the past 38 years Morrie has coached three state champions, three Olympians, four World Team members, three NCAA champions, 168 Jr. Greco All-Americans, and 23 Jr. Greco National Champions. His teams have won eight Individual Jr. Greco national championships, and placed five times in the Greco national dual meet tournaments.

An international official for more than 30 years, Morrie has officiated in five countries and holds an exceptional rating in the United States. He has worked the Olympic trials, and every national championship USA Wrestling has held since 1972. In his 38 years as an IHSA official, Morrie has officiated individual and team regional tournaments. He has officiated NCAA duals and the Midlands Tournament at Northwestern University.

One of Morrie's highest honors was being named the head coach of the World Cadet teams in 1993 and 1995. Morrie was inducted into the Illinois Coaches and Officials Hall of Fame in 1993.

Mike Wilkey has been an IHSA official for 32 years. His first wrestling state finals assignment came in 1985. He has worked three wrestling state finals where both the individual and dual team formats were competed. Since 1989, he has worked an additional 13 individual state finals and eight dual team state finals, including being the Head Official in 2002 and at the upcoming 2005 dual team state finals.

Mike was elected in the Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association Hall of Fame in 1997 and was the IWCOA Official of the Year in 2000. He has worked eight IKWF state finals, two IWF state finals and eight IESA state finals.

Mike was on the IESA Wrestling Advisory Committee for two years and was honored as a 2003 Grand Marshal at the IESA State Finals. Also in 2003, he became the 23rd person in IHSA history to work state finals in three sports, having worked four boys soccer state finals and one girls soccer state final in addition to his wrestling experience. Currently Mike serves on the IHSA Officials Advisory Committee representing the sport of wrestling, is one of the IHSA's certified wrestling clinicians and is the current President of the Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association.