Iowa wrestling taps Jacob Warner as new assistant coach

Iowa wrestling will bring in a familiar face to fill out its coaching staff, tapping five-time NCAA All-American Jacob Warner to join as an assistant coach. The Hawkeye wrestling program announced the decision on April 10. He replaces Bobby Telford, who took a position outside of wrestling after the 2025-26 season ended.

With Warner's hire, all four official coaching positions at Iowa are held by former Hawkeye wrestlers — head coach Tom Brands, associate head coach Terry Brands, assistant coach Ryan Morningstar and Warner. (Telford also wrestled for the Hawkeyes. ) While Warner does not have official coaching experience, being in the Hawkeye Wrestling Club allowed him to help sharpen athletes still competing in the college ranks.

Warner has been credited by several wrestlers in the program for helping their development, none bigger than national champion Stephen Buchanan . "Jacob knows what it takes to compete at the highest level, both on and off the mat," Tom Brands said in a release. "He represents everything Iowa wrestling stands for.

His toughness, discipline and relentless work ethic will be a tremendous asset to our staff and our student-athletes. " As a wrestler, Warner had a career record of 97-28 in a Hawkeye singlet. He took seventh at the NCAA Championships in 2019 as a redshirt freshman, earned All-American honors for the canceled 2020 NCAA Championships, then was fourth in 2021, an NCAA runner-up in 2022 and finished his career in fifth place in 2023.