All-Americans under Kevin Dresser

Sophomore Jarrett Degen became Kevin Dresser’s first Cyclone All-American | Nic Ryder photo

History has officially been made as Kevin Dresser has now coached his first (and second) wrestler to the podium since taking over as head coach of the Iowa State wrestling program. Sophomore Jarrett Degen holds the honor of Dresser’s first Cyclone All-American, and he was later joined by Willie Miklus.

It’s almost fitting that Degen was the first wrestler to earn a top eight finish for Dresser given his history with this staff. Degen originally attended Virginia Tech as a true freshman and followed Dresser to Iowa State months after he took his new position in Ames. A year ago Degen became Dresser’s first NCAA qualifier as head coach of the Cyclones and finished one win shy of All-America status.

We will also take a moment to appreciate the career of Willie Miklus, who may only be a one-time All-American as a Cyclone, but he capped off his career with podium finish number four. Prior to his transfer to Iowa State Miklus was a three-time All-American and MAC Champion for Missouri.

Three time All-American
Devin Carter^ (133/141) 5, 2, 3
Nick Brascetta^ (149/157) 8, 4, 3
Ty Walz^ (285) 7, 4, 4

Two time All-American
Joey Dance^ (125) 4, 5
Solomon Chishko^ (141/149) 6, 6
Peter Yates^ (165) 5, 4
Zach Epperly^ (174) 7, 3
Jared Haught^ (197) 6, 4

One time All-American
Jarrod Garnett^ (125) 6
Chris Diaz^ (141) 8
Zach Neibert^ (141) 8
Jarrett Degen* (149) 7
Sal Mastriani^ (157) 8
David McFadden^ (165) 6
Chris Penny^ (197) 6
Willie Miklus+ (197) 6

*Wrestler is still active
^Wrestler earned All-American honors at Virginia Tech
+Miklus was a three-time All-American at Missouri prior to transferring to Iowa State

After a two year drought, Dresser places two new faced on ISU’s All-American list, and one of those wrestler will have two more opportunities to continue to build upon this year’s success. Degen is Iowa State’s first All-American at 149 pounds since Billy Maldonado took sixth back in 2002.