Iowa State has made a major leadership transition in its wrestling program through the introduction of Brent Metcalf as the new wrestling head coach, and UNI’s Doug Schwab couldn’t hold back his welcoming jab that has the fans buzzing.
Iowa sports have recently made major transitions within their programs, including a varsity wrestling program. Longtime men’s wrestling head coach Kevin Dresser recently stepped down from his role, prompting the committee to elect Metcalf, the former two-time NCAA champion, who spent his last few seasons as an assistant under Dresser.
Schwab just completed his 16th season as the Panthers’ head coach in the 2025-26 season and took a quirky jab at his old mate, Metcalf. Schwab took to this social media and said:
“Looking forward to future battles between our programs, it was so much easier to pick on Dresser’s old a**.”
Fans online have shown excitement for the buildup to the upcoming season that will not only see on-mat wrestling action but also an intense historical coaching rivalry.
Both Schwab and Metcalf were stars during their prime wrestling tenure at the University of Iowa and served together on the Virginia Tech coaching staff before permanently moving over to Iowa.
Brent Metcalf Talks About Iowa State Adding Women’s Wrestling
Iowa recently added their Varisty Women’s wrestling program after discontiuing their Women’s gymnastics program, which garnered backlash. Brent Metcalf, however, spoke with extreme optimism during a recent interview when asked about his take on the new program.
He highlighted that the origins were dry, but a great shift in the mindset has now made it possible for women to dream of competing on the mat and thinking big.
“What’s really cool is it’s back, and back then it was still kinda fringey and was just getting to be acceptable, but today I’ve got a daughter for whom it’s an amazing opportunity like you can go out, you can be strong, you can be fierce, and learn all the important lessons that wrestling teaches you, and you can do that all in an empowering way,” he said (3:35).
He also spoke of how important it is to get the American audience interested more in freestyle rather than folkstyle, which would really amplify wrestling to new heights.
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