DES MOINES – The Ewing family of Fort Dodge accounted for plenty of state wrestling medals and had a hand in a couple of state team championships in the 1980s.

Now the family has an Iowa High School Hall of Famer.

Dave Ewing, a captain of the 1980 Dodger state title team and a two-time individual state runner-up, was inducted into the Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame during ceremonies before Saturday night’s finals at Wells Fargo Arena.

“It’s an awesome feeling,” Ewing said before the ceremonies. “I can’t put it into words when I start to think about all the coaches, wrestlers, managers, cheerleaders and parents that I was around for 30 years. They are all a huge part of this and I want to keep them close in my heart.

“I really want to thank my wife and my kids. They probably made many more sacrifices than I did.”

Ewing cut his teeth under Don Miller as a prep and went on to earn All-America honors at Iowa State. After college, he followed Miller into the coach ranks and eventually took over as head coach at Ankeny.

“Dave Ewing was a great wrestler for us,” said Miller, who coached the 1980 and 1985 state title teams. “He was very instrumental in making the other kids see how hard work pays off.

“When one of my old wrestlers achieves the success he did, it’s like a father looking at a son; you couldn’t be any prouder, win or lose. But Dave was a winner.”

Ewing had 354 dual meet victories in 26 years as coach of the Hawks and coached 105 state qualifiers and 32 state medalists. Among those were four state champions.

He also coached four teams into the dual state tournament. Like Miller, Ewing has passed on his passion for coaching as 15 of his former athletes are high school wrestling coaches.

“I feel so amazed when I see those kids continue to give back to the sport. That’s awesome to see,” Ewing said.

Ewing, who retired in 2013, was a five-time district coach of the year and was named Class 3A coach of the year his final season at the helm.

He was also inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame that year.

In high school, Ewing was second at 145 pounds in both the 1979 and 1980 state tournaments. He won 85 matches at Iowa State and was Big 8 conference runner-up and third at the NCAA tournament in 1985.

“My heart is in Fort Dodge. I wore read on my lapel for Don Miller, Hans Goettsch, Jerry Einwalter and Fort Dodge wrestling,” said Ewing. “Without that program, I wouldn’t be here today. I looked up to all the ones that went before me.”

He served as a graduate assistant at Iowa State and was an assistant coach at Ankeny for two years before taking over as head coach.

“Ankeny was just the right fit at the right time,” Ewing added.

Ewing’s uncles, Dick Black and Dave Church, were state champions at Fort Dodge. He and his four brothers all wrestled at Fort Dodge. Randy, a state champ in 1985, and Ronnie both went on to coach high school wrestling. Both were on the 1985 state championship team.

Ewing coached his son, Zachary, and his nephew, Topher, at Ankeny. He and his wife Dianna also have a daughter, Jessica.

Ewing is the ninth man from Fort Dodge to be inducted into the Wrestling Hall of Fame.