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NEWS - Iowa State adds women's wrestling, Dresser moved to director of men's/women's programs, Metcalf elevated to head coach

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Tanner Lafever

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Plenty of news going on out in Ames today in the wrestling world - all of which ties back to the Hawkeyes in one way or another lol.

Here's the link to the ongoing announcement if you're so inclined:



Iowa State Adds Women's Wrestling As 18th Varsity Program - Iowa State Athletics
Kevin Dresser Named ISU’S Director Of Men’s and Women’s Wrestling - Iowa State Athletics
Brent Metcalf Named Head Coach Of ISU Men’s Wrestling Team - Iowa State Athletics
Alli St. John Named First Head Coach Of ISU Women's Wrestling Program - Iowa State Athletics
 
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TheREALSpooner

TheREALSpooner

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Kudos to them for adding women’s wrestling.

Congrats to Brent! Good guy. Seems about the right level for him… A good but not elite program.

I just do not get the sensibility of Dresser’s position. Fairly costly $$$ for them to spend on a non revenue sport in a time where they will not be able to fully fund revenue sharing.
 
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grapplefan

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TheREALSpooner said:
Kudos to them for adding women’s wrestling.

Congrats to Brent! Good guy. Seems about the right level for him… A good but not elite program.

I just do not get the sensibility of Dresser’s position. Fairly costly $$$ for them to spend on a non revenue sport in a time where they will not be able to fully fund revenue sharing.
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Yeah, I thought that they were hurting for money. Adding another sport right now is gutsy. I wish them well.
 
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stuclone

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I am excited for Womens wrestling and to add another sport to the CyHawk rivalry. Also happy that Brent is our coach, although I am not sure how I would've reacted had you told me that 16 years ago.
 
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Sullivan

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TheREALSpooner said:
Kudos to them for adding women’s wrestling.

Congrats to Brent! Good guy. Seems about the right level for him… A good but not elite program.

I just do not get the sensibility of Dresser’s position. Fairly costly $$$ for them to spend on a non revenue sport in a time where they will not be able to fully fund revenue sharing.
Click to expand...

Dresser's contract runs until 2029. They can either pay him to do something or nothing.

If I was to guess, Dresser will then retire at the end of his current contract.

@bnicolls
 
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mac119

mac119

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So does this mean Metcalf was really being courted by others then (and they didn't want to lose him)? Otherwise, the timing is really weird. Glad they got the women's program going though. I hope they have success and they are consistently the second best in the country.
 
TheGreatDivider101

TheGreatDivider101

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mac119 said:
So does this mean Metcalf was really being courted by others then (and they didn't want to lose him)? Otherwise, the timing is really weird. Glad they got the women's program going though. I hope they have success and they are consistently the second best in the country.
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Seems that this has been in the works for awhile.

www.flowrestling.org

Iowa State's Kevin Dresser On New Director Of Wrestling Role

Kevin Dresser breaks down his new role as Iowa State's director of wrestling and how he will oversee two programs.
www.flowrestling.org www.flowrestling.org
 
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Anon1750896976

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mac119 said:
So does this mean Metcalf was really being courted by others then (and they didn't want to lose him)? Otherwise, the timing is really weird. Glad they got the women's program going though. I hope they have success and they are consistently the second best in the country.
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If they are consistently the second best team in the country that means they’re beating Iowa every year. We don’t want that.
 
TheREALSpooner

TheREALSpooner

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Anon1750896976 said:
If they are consistently the second best team in the country that means they’re beating Iowa every year. We don’t want that.
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Do you know what “consistently” means? Iowa has won 2 national team titles in 3 attempts.

Once there are a few more teams, loopholes for eligibility will be closed and teams like McKendree will not be as strong.
 
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chipackhawk

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TheREALSpooner said:
Kudos to them for adding women’s wrestling.

Congrats to Brent! Good guy. Seems about the right level for him… A good but not elite program.

I just do not get the sensibility of Dresser’s position. Fairly costly $$$ for them to spend on a non revenue sport in a time where they will not be able to fully fund revenue sharing.
Click to expand...
So on the Spooner rating scale - Metcalf + or - Schwab? I'm curious to know what each's ceiling will be with their respective programs and if they should ever aspire to anything greater.
 
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Darkkiller175

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TheREALSpooner said:
Do you know what “consistently” means? Iowa has won 2 national team titles in 3 attempts.

Once there are a few more teams, loopholes for eligibility will be closed and teams like McKendree will not be as strong.
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McKendree was a powerhouse program long before Iowa started its program. Especially with losing North Central to the D3 split, they are not going anywhere soon. It will take more than a few teams adding it to box them out when many programs currently adding D1 women's wrestling are like Delaware State.
 
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Tanner Lafever

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TheREALSpooner said:
Do you know what “consistently” means? Iowa has won 2 national team titles in 3 attempts.

Once there are a few more teams, loopholes for eligibility will be closed and teams like McKendree will not be as strong.
Click to expand...
Idk if anything will be done about some of the international loopholes McKendree has (legally) jumped through thus far - but the proposed five-for-five eligibility rule could actually be what hurts them more.

They've had some seriously old athletes on the roster in recent years - and project to have the same in 2026-27.
 
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Obviously Oblivious

Obviously Oblivious

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I assumed it was a forgone conclusion that it would be women’s wrestling that would be added at ISU when they announced they were dropping women’s gymnastics. Good choice IMO.
 
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TheREALSpooner

TheREALSpooner

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Darkkiller175 said:
McKendree was a powerhouse program long before Iowa started its program. Especially with losing North Central to the D3 split, they are not going anywhere soon. It will take more than a few teams adding it to box them out when many programs currently adding D1 women's wrestling are like Delaware State.
Click to expand...

I don’t care how long they will be a power. D1 schools will start pushing for standard regs and it will happen. It will harm them considerably.
 
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Libertylover

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Sullivan said:
Dresser's contract runs until 2029. They can either pay him to do something or nothing.

If I was to guess, Dresser will then retire at the end of his current contract.

@bnicolls
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So are they going to be paying two head coach salaries until Dressers contract runs out after 2029? Wasn’t Dresser pretty highly paid? Didn’t Brent agree to a low ball salary in exchange for the opportunity to prove himself as a head coach? Maybe he has a goal of going back to Michigan some day and take over their program.
 
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AndreTheHawk

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Libertylover said:
So are they going to be paying two head coach salaries until Dressers contract runs out after 2029? Wasn’t Dresser pretty highly paid? Didn’t Brent agree to a low ball salary in exchange for the opportunity to prove himself as a head coach? Maybe he has a goal of going back to Michigan some day and take over their program.
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IIRC, and maybe I don't, but my recollection is Metcalf and St. John got SIGNIFICANT assistant money back when they signed on with ISU.
 
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