Kevin Dresser
Sport: NCAA Wrestling
Teams: University of Iowa
Kevin Dresser, the 2019 National Wrestling Coaches’ Association Coach of the Year, enters his fifth season as the Iowa State head wrestling coach.
Dresser has rebuilt the Cyclone wrestling program from the ground up since his arrival in 2017. His efforts have seen Iowa State climb on the national stage, highlighted most recently by a national championship for 157-pounder David Carr in 2021 – Iowa State’s first individual champion since 2015 (Kyven Gadson). Iowa State, which went 9-3 (4-1 Big 12) in dual action in 2020-21, had two Big 12 champions in Carr and Gremmel and qualified eight wrestlers for the 2021 NCAA Championships. It’s the third season in a row that the Cyclones have qualified eight or more wrestlers for the national tournament – the program’s best streak since 2008-10. Heavyweight Gannon Gremmel also made a run to the podium in St. Louis, finishing fifth to garner All-America honors. The Cyclones finished tied for 13th at the 2021 NCAA Championships.
The 2019-20 season saw new levels of measured success for Dresser and the Cyclones. Prior to the NCAA Championships being canceled due to he COVID-19 outbreak worldwide, ISU qualified nine wrestlers for the national tournament. That marked the first time that the Cardinal and Gold qualified nine or more wrestlers for NCAAs in back-to-back years since the 2009 and 2010 seasons.
For the first time since 2014, ISU produced two individual Big 12 Champions (Ian Parker and David Carr). The Cyclones wrestled to a 10-5 dual record, back-to-back 10-win seasons. ISU went 7-1 in Big 12 duals, securing the best record in the conference, tied with Oklahoma State. Dresser and his staff remain committed to building student-athletes and that showed in 2019-20 as nine Cyclones were named First or Second Team Academic All-Big 12, the most in school history. Parker and Carr also earned NWCA Academic All-America honors.
In his second season as the head man in Ames, Dresser coached Jarrett Degen (Seventh) and Willie Miklus (Sixth) to the podium at the NCAA Championships for his first two All Americans at Iowa State. He also had his first individual champion at the Big 12 Championship in Chase Straw. Dresser was named the 2019 NWCA National Coach of the Year, as well as the 2019 Big 12 Coach of the Year.
In his first season at Iowa State, Dresser took a team that won just one dual in 2016-17 and led them to an 8-10 dual mark. At 149 pounds, Jarrett Degen qualified for the national tournament and wrestled to the round of 12 before being eliminated.
Iowa State Athletics Director Jamie Pollard aimed high during the search with the goal of returning the Cyclone wrestling program to national prominence. Pollard believes Dresser’s championship pedigree as an athlete and coach will be a natural draw to recruits as well as an inspiration to the wrestlers on the current roster.
Dresser compiled a 160-51 dual record at Tech and won ACC dual meet titles in 2015-2016-2017 and league tournament championships in 2013 and 2014 (this year’s ACC tournament is March 4). He has coached 65 NCAA Championship qualifiers, 20 All-Americans and five ACC Most Outstanding Wrestlers. Dresser was named ACC Coach of the Year the last four years in a row and the state of Virginia’s coach of the year five times.
Much of the Hokies’ success can be traced to Dresser and his staff’s recruiting acumen. Six of his classes have ranked among the Top 11 nationally, including the 2013 group that was No. 2 according to InterMat.
Dresser was named Virginia Tech’s coach in 2006-07 after a legendary high school coaching career in Virginia. He led Christiansburg High School (1996-2006) to five state championships and three runner-up finishes in 10 seasons. Before that, he took Grundy High School (1988-96) to eight state titles in as many years. Dresser coached 69 state champions and four of his teams ranked in the Top 10 nationally.
As a competitor, he won two state titles and compiled a 112-11-1 record at Humboldt (Iowa) High School before a distinguished collegiate career at Iowa. The two-time All-American and two-time Big Ten champion won the 1986 NCAA Championship (when he won the Mike Howard Award as Iowa’s MVW) and placed fourth at the national meet in 1985. The Hawkeyes won national titles in each of his five seasons on the roster.
Dresser has been inducted into the Iowa School Athletic Association Wrestling Hall of Fame (2009), the Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame (2014) and the Roanoke Valley Wrestling Hall of Fame (2015). He was also presented a Lifetime Service Award by the Virginia chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2013.
Dresser earned a B.S. degree in general studies from Iowa in 1986. He and his wife, Penny, have three children: Emma, Anna and Jack.
Dresser YEAR-BY-YEAR
Year School Record NCAA
2006-07 Virginia Tech 6-12 T-60th
2007-08 Virginia Tech 7-9 DNP
2008-09 Virginia Tech 20-2 39th
2009-10 Virginia Tech 17-5 24th
2010-11 Virginia Tech 20-4 33rd
2011-12 Virginia Tech 8-6 T-11th
2012-13 Virginia Tech 16-3 10th
2013-14 Virginia Tech 18-5 8th
2014-15 Virginia Tech 14-2 10th
2015-16 Virginia Tech 16-2 4th
2016-17 Virginia Tech 18-1 6th
2017-18 Iowa State 8-10 T45th
2018-19 Iowa State 10-4 16th
2019-20 Iowa State 10-5 N/A
2020-21 Iowa State 9-3 T13th
ISU: Overall (37-22 - .627)
VT: Overall (160-51 - .758)
Career: Overall (197-73 - .730)
PERSONAL PROFILE
Born: Nov. 9, 1962, in Ft. Dodge, Iowa
Hometown: Humboldt, Iowa
Wife: Penny; Children: Emma, Anna and Jack
Alma Mater: University of Iowa (B.S., 1986)
Sport: NCAA Wrestling
Teams: University of Iowa
Kevin Dresser, the 2019 National Wrestling Coaches’ Association Coach of the Year, enters his fifth season as the Iowa State head wrestling coach.
Dresser has rebuilt the Cyclone wrestling program from the ground up since his arrival in 2017. His efforts have seen Iowa State climb on the national stage, highlighted most recently by a national championship for 157-pounder David Carr in 2021 – Iowa State’s first individual champion since 2015 (Kyven Gadson). Iowa State, which went 9-3 (4-1 Big 12) in dual action in 2020-21, had two Big 12 champions in Carr and Gremmel and qualified eight wrestlers for the 2021 NCAA Championships. It’s the third season in a row that the Cyclones have qualified eight or more wrestlers for the national tournament – the program’s best streak since 2008-10. Heavyweight Gannon Gremmel also made a run to the podium in St. Louis, finishing fifth to garner All-America honors. The Cyclones finished tied for 13th at the 2021 NCAA Championships.
The 2019-20 season saw new levels of measured success for Dresser and the Cyclones. Prior to the NCAA Championships being canceled due to he COVID-19 outbreak worldwide, ISU qualified nine wrestlers for the national tournament. That marked the first time that the Cardinal and Gold qualified nine or more wrestlers for NCAAs in back-to-back years since the 2009 and 2010 seasons.
For the first time since 2014, ISU produced two individual Big 12 Champions (Ian Parker and David Carr). The Cyclones wrestled to a 10-5 dual record, back-to-back 10-win seasons. ISU went 7-1 in Big 12 duals, securing the best record in the conference, tied with Oklahoma State. Dresser and his staff remain committed to building student-athletes and that showed in 2019-20 as nine Cyclones were named First or Second Team Academic All-Big 12, the most in school history. Parker and Carr also earned NWCA Academic All-America honors.
In his second season as the head man in Ames, Dresser coached Jarrett Degen (Seventh) and Willie Miklus (Sixth) to the podium at the NCAA Championships for his first two All Americans at Iowa State. He also had his first individual champion at the Big 12 Championship in Chase Straw. Dresser was named the 2019 NWCA National Coach of the Year, as well as the 2019 Big 12 Coach of the Year.
In his first season at Iowa State, Dresser took a team that won just one dual in 2016-17 and led them to an 8-10 dual mark. At 149 pounds, Jarrett Degen qualified for the national tournament and wrestled to the round of 12 before being eliminated.
Iowa State Athletics Director Jamie Pollard aimed high during the search with the goal of returning the Cyclone wrestling program to national prominence. Pollard believes Dresser’s championship pedigree as an athlete and coach will be a natural draw to recruits as well as an inspiration to the wrestlers on the current roster.
Dresser compiled a 160-51 dual record at Tech and won ACC dual meet titles in 2015-2016-2017 and league tournament championships in 2013 and 2014 (this year’s ACC tournament is March 4). He has coached 65 NCAA Championship qualifiers, 20 All-Americans and five ACC Most Outstanding Wrestlers. Dresser was named ACC Coach of the Year the last four years in a row and the state of Virginia’s coach of the year five times.
Much of the Hokies’ success can be traced to Dresser and his staff’s recruiting acumen. Six of his classes have ranked among the Top 11 nationally, including the 2013 group that was No. 2 according to InterMat.
Dresser was named Virginia Tech’s coach in 2006-07 after a legendary high school coaching career in Virginia. He led Christiansburg High School (1996-2006) to five state championships and three runner-up finishes in 10 seasons. Before that, he took Grundy High School (1988-96) to eight state titles in as many years. Dresser coached 69 state champions and four of his teams ranked in the Top 10 nationally.
As a competitor, he won two state titles and compiled a 112-11-1 record at Humboldt (Iowa) High School before a distinguished collegiate career at Iowa. The two-time All-American and two-time Big Ten champion won the 1986 NCAA Championship (when he won the Mike Howard Award as Iowa’s MVW) and placed fourth at the national meet in 1985. The Hawkeyes won national titles in each of his five seasons on the roster.
Dresser has been inducted into the Iowa School Athletic Association Wrestling Hall of Fame (2009), the Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame (2014) and the Roanoke Valley Wrestling Hall of Fame (2015). He was also presented a Lifetime Service Award by the Virginia chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2013.
Dresser earned a B.S. degree in general studies from Iowa in 1986. He and his wife, Penny, have three children: Emma, Anna and Jack.
Dresser YEAR-BY-YEAR
Year School Record NCAA
2006-07 Virginia Tech 6-12 T-60th
2007-08 Virginia Tech 7-9 DNP
2008-09 Virginia Tech 20-2 39th
2009-10 Virginia Tech 17-5 24th
2010-11 Virginia Tech 20-4 33rd
2011-12 Virginia Tech 8-6 T-11th
2012-13 Virginia Tech 16-3 10th
2013-14 Virginia Tech 18-5 8th
2014-15 Virginia Tech 14-2 10th
2015-16 Virginia Tech 16-2 4th
2016-17 Virginia Tech 18-1 6th
2017-18 Iowa State 8-10 T45th
2018-19 Iowa State 10-4 16th
2019-20 Iowa State 10-5 N/A
2020-21 Iowa State 9-3 T13th
ISU: Overall (37-22 - .627)
VT: Overall (160-51 - .758)
Career: Overall (197-73 - .730)
PERSONAL PROFILE
Born: Nov. 9, 1962, in Ft. Dodge, Iowa
Hometown: Humboldt, Iowa
Wife: Penny; Children: Emma, Anna and Jack
Alma Mater: University of Iowa (B.S., 1986)
C4C Champion: 2022
