Ken Dawes

Ken wrestled at Ridley High School, graduating in 1968. He then served in the United States Marine Corps for 10 years until his discharge in 1977. He is retired from PECO, Pennsylvania ’s largest electric and natural gas utility, where he was a Design Engineer. 

Ken started officiating a year after he returned from the military. His high school coach, Carl Snellenbacher, asked Ken to assist him, but Ken’s job responsibilities and schedule interfered with that, so Coach Snellenbacher encouraged Ken to become a referee. It was great advice, as Ken went on to an outstanding career as a wrestling official before retiring from active officiating in 2017. 

Ken spent 41 Years in the Southeastern Officials Chapter as a high school referee. In his career, he worked 6 PIAA Individual State Tournaments, and 4 PIAA Team Duals State Championships. He was an NCAA and an Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Official for 38 years. He appeared in 35 MAC, Centennial Championships and Ohio Division 3 National Qualifiers.  He worked in 6 East Coast Conference Championships & 14 EIWA Division 1 National Qualifiers. He officiated 16 Division 3 National Championships, with 5 more as the head official, NCAA evaluator, and supervisor of officials.  Additionally, Ken has worked in 6 Division 1 National Championships.  He continues as the Division III coordinator of officials for regional and championships.

Ken has been inducted into the District 1 Hall of Fame, the Southeastern Wrestling Hall of Fame, and in 2018, he was inducted into the EIWA/NCAA Eastern Officials Association Hall of Fame.

Ken remains active as an NCAA evaluator for all collegiate divisions, and he is an evaluator and mentor for the District 1 Southeast Chapter. He is highly respected for his hard work to develop consistent officials. He also serves as an NCAA & Big Ten Video Replay Official.

Away from the mats, Ken is the coordinator of Honor Flight Philadelphia, for World War II, Korean War, and Vietnam War Veterans. He remains very active in other Military Veterans Organizations. 

Ken and his wife Joanne reside in Glen Mills and have 2 children, Julie Shannon and Cory.


Awards:

Year
2021
Award
Lifetime Service to Wrestling
Chapter/Region
Pennsylvania

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