Tommy Birch

tbirch@dmreg.com

Kevin Dresser took over a Virginia Tech wrestling program that was 1-16 in duals the season before he arrived. Within three seasons, he had the Hokies at 20-2 in duals, and they have remained among the nation's elite wrestling programs in the half-decade since.

His challenge at Iowa State University is nearly a carbon copy of what he encountered in 2006.

Dresser, a Humboldt native and an All-American under Dan Gable at the University of Iowa, accepted Iowa State's offer to take over its program Monday. The 54-year-old will replace Kevin Jackson, whose Cyclones have bottomed out this season. Jackson, a legendary wrestler at Iowa State, will take on an administrative role within the ISU athletic department.

Dresser was believed to have informed the team at about 2:45 p.m. and Virginia Tech and Iowa State confirmed the hiring with releases at 3 p.m. Virginia Tech will have an interim coach handle coaching duties there the rest of the year.

“I am thrilled to have the opportunity to lead one of the nation’s most storied and accomplished college wrestling programs at Iowa State,” Dresser said in a statement. “Growing up in Iowa, I admired the sellout crowds at Hilton Coliseum and watching championship coaches like Dr. Harold Nichols and Jim Gibbons and countless All-America Cyclones."

Dresser now gets his shot to join the group of greats as he tries to rebuild the Cyclones into a national title contender again. Iowa State showed a strong commitment to the program in its pursuit of Dresser. Dresser and Iowa State agreed to a seven-year deal worth a total of $2.25 million in guaranteed salary plus incentives. His base salary for next year is $300,000. His hiring is pending a background check.

“I believe this hire will be viewed someday as a very historic one for Iowa State wrestling,” Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard said in a statement. “Kevin is joining our team because he wants to restore Iowa State to its historic place — one that includes eight NCAA Championships — on the national wrestling landscape. He shares our vision that it has been far too long since we won our last team championship (1987) and fully expects to build our program into a national title contender."

In Dresser, the Cyclones landed a coach with plenty of ties to the state and a track record of success. And they need all the help they can get — Iowa State closed out its regular season Sunday with a 1-12 duals record and has fallen out of the national spotlight.

Dresser, meanwhile, has guided the Hokies to seven 15-win seasons, four straight top-10 finishes and a 160-51 dual meet record. The culmination came during the 2015-16 season when the Hokies finished fourth at the NCAA Wrestling Championships. Dresser earned National Wrestling Coaches Association national Coach of the Year honors for that season.

Dresser took over for Tom Brands, who left Virginia Tech after two seasons to coach Iowa. The Hokies went 16-4 in Brand’s first year but slumped to 1-16 in his second season as he redshirted his top young talents. His departure to Iowa depleted the Virginia Tech roster, which saw top talents like Brent Metcalf follow him to Iowa City.

Dresser's first head coaching job was at Grundy High School in Virginia, where he guided the team to eight state titles. Gable recommended Dresser for his first job. Gable, who used Dresser to help mentor younger wrestlers once he got older, saw some leadership abilities in him early on.

"He's pretty organized and he seems to be a leader in getting things accomplished — getting things done," Gable said.

Dresser went on to Christiansburg (Va.) High School, where he won five state championships before taking over the Virginia Tech program. His breakout season came in his third year with the Hokies, when they went 20-2 in the 2008-09 season.

During his tenure, Dresser has coached 13 wrestlers that won 20 All-American honors and led the Hokies to two ACC tournament titles and three dual meet titles. He’s been named ACC Coach of the Year the last four years.

"He likes to win, and he finds ways to win," Gable said.

The hiring returns Dresser to his home state. He's a two-time high school state champion from Humboldt and a member of the Iowa High School Athletic Association's Wrestling Hall of Fame. He was also a two-time All-American at the University of Iowa, where he won the 1986 national title at 142 pounds.

The Hokies are ranked fifth this season, with an 18-1 dual meet record.

Over the years, Dresser developed a reputation as a tireless recruiter and an innovative thinker. Six of his classes have ranked among the top 11, nationally — including the 2013 group that was No. 2, according to InterMat.

Old Dominion coach Steve Martin said Dresser will dig up detailed information on recruits so he knows how to approach them. Martin said that once Dresser zeros in on a recruit, he won't give up. Martin found that out when he and Dresser both fought for Jesse Dong. Dong ended up at Virginia Tech.

"We just kept going back and forth and back and forth," Martin said. "If it's a recruiting battle, he just keeps going back and forth until somebody quits."

His outside-the-box thinking helped him build big crowds at all of his stops. During his high school coaching days, Dresser helped schedule a Virginia Tech dual to take place after his team competed. At Virginia Tech, his team sometimes wrestled at the school's Moss Arts Center on campus.

"He's always been a great freaking master at innovating the sport — coming up with great ideas," Martin said.

Dresser will have to still sell himself to recruits and Iowa State wrestling to fans who have watched the program slip out of the national title conversation.

The Cyclones, winners of eight national titles, haven’t won one since 1987. The program has struggled to sustain success since Cael Sanderson left for Penn State in 2009. Sanderson, who went undefeated in his Iowa State collegiate wrestling career, coached the Cyclones to three top-five finishes in the NCAAs, including a second-place finish during the 2006-07 season.

Jackson's best season at Iowa State came during his first year at the program's helm, in 2009-10, when ISU finished third nationally. They haven’t cracked the top 10 since.

Now, it’s Dresser’s turn to try to lead the Cyclones back to glory.

Prying him away from Virginia Tech wasn't easy. Virginia Tech tried keeping Dresser by offering to extend his contract at the conclusion of the season. Dresser said in a statement Sunday that he planned to mull it over and make an announcement Monday.

The opportunity to return to his home state and the financial incentives Iowa State offered were ultimately too much to turn down. Dresser's contract at Virginia Tech was scheduled to run through June 30, 2019. He was scheduled to make $150,000 plus a $75,000 retention bonus in 2016-17.

It wasn't enough to keep Dresser from returning to Iowa, though. Dresser, who still has family in Iowa, was impressed by Iowa State's commitment to wrestling.

"The administrative commitment, both facilities and operating budget — along with a devoted and knowledgeable fan base — make Iowa State one of those few programs in the nation that has the foundation to compete for elite national status annually," Dresser said.