It’s not often a referee receives a standing ovation, but Le Roy farmer Wilfred Lehmann is not just any referee.
During last month’s state championship tournament, the Kansas State High School Activities recognized Lehmann as one of only two referees with 60 years of experience patrolling the Wheat State’s baselines and sidelines, which he still does when not cultivating crops.
“I’m still refereeing, just not varsity,” said Lehmann, who continues refereeing junior varsity and middle school contests. “They like to run and gun. Keeping up with them is tough. If you can’t play it, then refereeing is always a good second choice.”
Like many referees, Lehmann began his officiating career after a successful athletic career. It began at Le Roy High School, now Southern Coffey County High School, where he saw success in basketball and track. He parlayed that success into a multi-sport scholarship at Allen Community College.
When not running, Lehmann officiated intra-mural games in his free time. He still remembers ACC’s T.C. Brown clanging a hammer against a skillet to signify the end of a period during a game.
“That’s how he kept time,” Lehmann said. “I worked those intramural games for a dollar a ballgame,” Lehmann said.
Lehmann transferred to Kansas State University, where he continued his track career specializing in distance running.
Lehmann was overjoyed with the opportunities that provided him, including traveling the country.
“I just lived on a farm, and we never went anywhere,” Lehmann said. “It was great. I saw a lot of the country and places I’d never been before.”
It was at this point Lehmann experienced the first of many athletic evolutions over his lifetime and by far the most impactful overall — integration.
Growing up in Le Roy, Lehmann said his interactions with people of color did not require a state or federal decree.
It came from the necessity of peaceful, rural living. However, occasionally, reality pierced through his wanderlust as a D-1 college athlete.
“I didn’t realize how they were treated,” Lehmann said. “A javelin thrower from Independence rode down with us for a meet. This was 1963. When we were in Oklahoma at a restaurant, we had to go to a back room because they were with us. That night, we were going to stay in a motel and stopped at two or three motels and they would not let us sleep there.”
With no professional avenue for distance running, Lehmann returned to the family farm after college.
Lehmann’s involvement with athletics, however, was not over. In 1965, he registered as an official for KSHSAA and over time, he developed a rapport with its officials, coaches and athletes. 
While officiating state basketball and football contests, Lehmann saw some of the greatest athletes ever to move through high school sports, as well as the area junior college system. Among them were University of Kansas and NBA 7-1 center Greg Dreiling as well as K-State and NBA forward Mitch Richmond. He even officiated the Harlem Globetrotters when they came to town in the 1980s. Like players before a big game, Lehmann said referees get nervous, too.
