Iowa State adds women’s wrestling, Alli St. John to coach
Ames, Iowa - April 16, 2026 Women’s Wrestling Announcement Press Conference | Iowa State Athletics/Jeff Spaur Iowa State announced Thursday the addition of women’s wrestling as its 18th varsity sport, with the program scheduled to begin competition during the 2027-28 academic year. The team is the first varsity sport added at the university since soccer in 1996. Iowa State will be the 12th school in the state of Iowa to have an NCAA women’s wrestling program.
The Cyclones will be only the second Power Four institution to feature a varsity women’s wrestling program, joining the University of Iowa. The university appointed Alli St. John, a two-time World Wrestling Championships silver medalist, as the program’s first head coach.
St. John, who has spent the last three years with the Cyclone Regional Training Center, was a two-time women’s college national champion at King University. “I am incredibly honored and grateful for the opportunity to be the first head coach of women’s wrestling at Iowa State University,” St.
John said. “This is a historic moment not only for Iowa State University, but for the sport of wrestling, too. Iowa State has a rich wrestling tradition, and I’m excited to expand that legacy on the women’s side as we work to build a premier program in Ames that produces not only NCAA champions, but World and Olympic champions as well.
” The program will support a roster of 30 student-athletes with 10 scholarship equivalents, matching the scholarship limit of the men’s team. Official competitions will be held in Hilton Coliseum, with practice facilities in Beyer Hall. The university also announced a major restructuring of its wrestling leadership, naming long-time men’s head coach Kevin Dresser as the Director of Wrestling.