Northern Officials Association
Lake County, Illinois

Norman Geske Memorial Scholarship Overview

The Norman Geske Memorial Scholarship is given in honor of Norman Geske who was a widely respected referee of high school football, lived in Buffalo Grove and served for many years as principal of Joyce Kilmore Elementary School.

Norman officiated for thirty-five years. In addition to officiating numerous state championship games at the high school level, including Buffalo Grove's championship final against St. Rita in 1978, Mr. Geske was an avid teacher of other officials as well as a nationally respected expert in football rules.

As a result of his prominence in high school football, Mr. Geske was the first official elected to the high school athletic Hall of Fame in 1982.

The many officials whom he influenced have established the scholarship in his memory. Each spring, a scholarship in his name is presented to a deserving senior football player by the athletic department of Buffalo Grove High School.

1989 started the $1000 award. ($400/$500 before)

Norman Geske Memorial Scholarship

Year

Recipient

School

1985

Mark Gibbs

 

1986

Tim Drevline

 

1987

Chad Dobrei

 

1988

Scott Bagby

 

1989

Robert Fleming

 

1990

Anthony Kuch

 

1991

Chris Lewis

 

1992

Matthew Burns

 

1993

Brad Jaehn

 

1994

Kyle Gurley

University of Wisconsin

1995

Eric Boeche

Concordia College

1996

Andrew Erickson

Dartmouth College

1997

Dan Hoffman

Augustana College

1998

James Fedij

Valparaiso University

1999

Mike Sula

Augustana College

2000

Steven Green

 

2001

Matthew Weber

Augustana College

2002

None Awarded

 

2003

Matthew Erlenbaugh

Carthage College

2004

Jordan Victor

Elmhurst College

2005

Mark Woodsum

Northwestern University

2006

Jeff Harkensee

Illinois State University

2007

Alex Wodka

Dartmouth College

2008

Marc Damisch

Indiana University

2009

John Pischak

Missouri S & T

2010

Mark Zdanewicz

Northern Michigan University

2011

Joe Damisch

Indiana University

2012

Richard Zirngibl

North Central College

2013

Jack Asquini

Augustana College

2014

Andrew Apel

Illinois Wesleyan University

2015

Tom McSorley

Augustana College

2016

Nolan Fortman

Valparaiso University

2017

Jack Pontarelli

University of Wisconsin-Lacrosse

2018

Tommy Konwent

Harper College

2019

  Carter Gledhill Concordia University

2020

 Tyler Oddo Vanderbilt University

2021

 Ian Luyando Aurora University

2022

 None Awarded  

2023

 Gavin Lee Aurora University
2024 Matthew Maradkel University of Illinois Urbana- Champaign

 

Hall of Fame Topics