There is, it could probably be confidently said, no sport in which Iowa preps have gone on to find as much success at the college and international levels, as wrestling. Iowa High schools began organizing wrestling teams in the 1910s, and in 1921 Iowa State University (which was also the site for the first college championship meet), began hosting an annual tournament open to all high schools in the state. The University of Iowa followed suit the next year, and from 1922 to 1924 two events with the designation of "state meet" were held each year. The University of Iowa event was not held in 1925, and beginning with the in 1925-26 school year, the IHSAA began holding its own state meet. The initial IHSAA meet crowned individual champions in nine weight classes, as well as a team champion, based on points. Though Marshalltown won the first event, the sport would be dominated by teams from the northeast and north central parts of the state for the next several decades. Of the 50 team state titles handed out from 1926 to 1966, only three went to schools south of Iowa's fourth tier of counties, with all but one of these being east of Fort Dodge. 

Beginning with the 1956-57 school year, the wrestling tournament was split into two classes. Competition was split once again in 1969, into three classes. The number of weight classes was also growing during these years, increasing to 10 in 1931, 11 in 1948, and 12 in 1960 (1966 for smaller schools). Beginning with the 1972 meet, the number of placewinners earning medals increased from four to six per weight class, and in 1980 a 13th weight class, super-heavyweight (which initially had no weight limit) was added. In 2001, a 14th weight class was added; and in 2003, the number of placewinners was increased to 8 per weight class per classification. The growth in the size of Iowa boys over the years is also evident when comparing the weight class list of the initial tournament to the one in use today. Three of nine initial weight classes (85, 95, 105) are below the smallest weight class used today (106), while the number of weight classes above 158 increased from just one in the initial meet (Heavyweight) to six today. 

Two other notable changes took place in the organization of Iowa high school wrestling during the 1980s. First, the IHSAA began allowing schools to share sports without consolidating high schools and for the 1983-84 school year. There would be 15 shared programs that season, while in later years many more of the small schools across the state utilized that option. The second change came with the 1986-87 school year, when state-sponsored duals competition was organized for the first time. Prior to this, team state championships in wrestling had always been determined by points being awarded to teams based on the finishes of their individual wrestlers in each of the weight class tournaments. Since 1987, two team championships have been awarded for each class every year, one for recording the highest team score at the traditional state meet and another for winning the state duals tournament. This page records only traditional tournament winners. Duals tournament winners can be found on another page, while both traditional and duals championships are recorded on each of the team pages on this site.