NIAA

NIAA Hall of Fame adds 14 members, including 2 from Elko county

Wells Combined School

April 17, 2024

Elko Daily Free Press

The Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association, the non-profit governing body of high school sports in the Silver State, will induct 14 Northern Nevadans to its Hall of Fame this summer, including two from Elko County.

Leon Reyes taught math and coached football, basketball and track and field at Elko High. He died in December 2021.

The 14 individuals set to be inducted June 13 as the 30th class are Artis Brandt, Timi Brown, Steve Clausen, Ward Coates (posthumously), John Dibble, Mitchell Domagala, Richard Kaufmann, Warren Mills, Jonas Prida, Leoncio Reyes (posthumously), George Smith (posthumously), Robert Sullivan, Janel Wells (Chandler) and Matt Williams.

They secured a special place in the history of Nevada high school athletics through their contributions, the NIAA said.

The Class of 2024 features, generally, two athletic administrators/directors, five athletes, six coaches and one official. A handful of individuals are being inducted for their excellence in a combination of categories, including as contributors. 

Among the 2024 inductees from Elko County are:

  • Coates, who died in July 2010, served Wells High School as a teacher, coach, athletic director and vice principal over the course of 32 years before retiring in 2001. He coached football as a JV head, varsity assistant and varsity head from 1974-1993. He led the boys and girls track & field teams from 1984-1995. Coates guided the Leopards to two league titles and two other state runner-up finishes on the gridiron. Coates led his girls’ teams to four state titles and two runner-up places, and his boys’ teams to three state crowns and a pair of runner-up trophies around the oval. He was named a Coach of the Year multiple times in both sports.  

  • Reyes was a centerpiece of the Elko High School and Northeastern Nevada Officials Association communities for 50 years until his passing in December 2021. Reyes taught math and coached football, boys and girls basketball, and track & field for the Indians from 1971-2021. He was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame in 2007 and the Northern Nevada Track and Cross Country Coaches Association’s Hall of Fame in 2008. Reyes worked every sport possible as an official, and he served as Commissioner for the NENOA for more than two decades. He also developed the area’s first athletic training program, helping students and citizens learn how to provide care for athletes.