Iowa State University head wrestling coach Kevin Dresser was the featured speaker at the Rotary Club of Jefferson regular meeting yesterday. Dresser’s Cyclones have finished higher each year at the NCAA Tournament since he took the reins. The Humboldt, IA native was a two-time Iowa high school State Champion, and a two-time National Champion in college as an Iowa Hawkeye. He spent 11 seasons at Virginia Tech before moving to Ames.

The coach said he enjoys getting out and speaking to groups like Rotary Clubs, and he told the gathering his late Father was a Rotarian in Humboldt.

When Dresser started at ISU, Penn State was the dominant collegiate wrestling team, but the Iowa Hawkeyes won the NCAA Tournament last March and with all 10 starters back, the Hawkeyes appear to be the team to beat again. The coach said, “I like having the number one team in the nation close to you. Hopefully, it keeps my guys sharp and they can see firsthand a lot closer to Iowa City than they can to State College. We need to get competitive in that rivalry.”

The Cyclones were thirteenth in the 2021 NCAA tournament and had an individual National Champion in freshman David Carr, son of three-time ISU NCAA champion Nate Carr from the 1980’s.