Randy Peterson

rpeterson@dmreg.com

AMES, Ia. — Mike Zadick was hanging out alone in his Montana cabin after his fallout with Iowa wrestling coach Tom Brands. He made a curl bar out of the axel of an abandoned agricultural machine. He built a bed with spare wood. He built a cabinet for his clothes. The sauna he built is a work in progress — and he promises that someday it’ll be finished.

He volunteered to help the area high school's wrestling program. His closest neighbor was miles away.

He was a mountain man, of sorts, this 149-pound three-time college All-American and ex-Olympian — and he still has the deep, black beard that hangs well below his chin as proof.

He hunted. He fished. He hiked. He was the ultimate “Survivor” candidate until Kevin Dresser lured him to be an assistant at Virginia Tech, where the Hokies were a national powerhouse.

And Dresser's done it again, this time luring him to join the Iowa State wrestling staff he was assembling.

A former Hawkeye becoming another former Hawkeye’s associate head coach for their former rival, in Iowa State ... and that’s just the beginning. Dresser introduced two more assistants Tuesday — Derek St. John and Brent Metcalf. Both also are former Iowa wrestlers, and before you jump on me for mentioning Iowa wrestling in this Cyclone-related space — uh, Dresser brought it up first.

“The elephant in the room — we’ve got three guys that grew up wearing Black and Gold,” Dresser said at a press conference that included as many wrestling fans as reporters. “That’s the elephant in the room, right?

“We’ve got three guys that look pretty dah-gone-good in Cardinal and Gold right now.”

Iowa this. Iowa that. Beat the Hawks for the first time since 2004 and all’s great with the world, right?

“People talk about getting this rivalry back in the state. It’s really not about that for me,” Zadick said. “I know it is for a lot of people, but ... I’m not worried about Iowa. I’m worried about Penn State right now.

“We’re looking farther than just across the street. Penn State — that’s the team, if you’re looking at motivating our team right now and who we have to beat.”

That’s not meant as disrespect to Iowa, although there’s clearly some history that will make next season’s Iowa State-Iowa dual, which is in Ames, a must-attend event.

“It’ll be exciting,” Dresser, a Humboldt native, said after the press conference. “I grew up watching Iowa State. No matter how anybody wants to say it’s going to be like any other match — it isn’t. It’s going to be different. There’s going to be more hype. There will be more buzz. Everybody in Iowa will want to see that match.

“On the schedule, it all means the same, but the reality of it ... it’s different.”

People tell me that Dresser and Brands don’t exchange Christmas cards — and that’s Ok. This is wrestling, not a cruise on The Love Boat. Dudes throw other dudes to the mat. They’d rather flatten you than anything else.

What did the Brands Brothers say in their congratulatory note to Zadick after becoming Dresser’s top assistant? Zadick, you'll recall, was on Brands’ coaching staff for 10 seasons.

[Insert very long pause here.]

“Are you serious?” he responded to my question.

[More pause.]

“I haven’t talked to them since I left the program in June 2012,” Zadick said.

What happened?

“I’m not going to go there,” Zadick said. “Just had a difference of philosophy. I’m not going to elaborate.”

That’s when Zadick headed to the mountains. It’s around the time he started growing his famous beard.

“I figured I’d shave it someday ... I just haven’t yet,” he said. “When I got to Virginia Tech, the administration there actually said, 'Don’t shave it' — they liked it; they weren’t afraid of it. When I got here, (athletics director Jamie Pollard) laughed at it — and kind of liked it, too. I might shave it in a week; I might not.

“Everybody has made it to be a big deal. It became a Twitter — it had its own following (@zadicksbeard). Someday I’ll shave, I’m sure.”

Everybody’s making a big deal out of the Iowa connections, too. That’s OK, but it may be a bit shortsighted.

Iowa State sent a message that the program could be back among the nation’s elite after it hired Dresser six weeks ago.

Dresser emphasized that message with the staff he introduced Tuesday.

Randy Peterson,senior sports reporter, has been with the Register for parts of five decades. Randy writes opinion and analysis of Iowa State football and basketball. You can reach Randy at rpeterson@dmreg.com or on Twitter at @RandyPete.