Last week Iowa State University announced they would begin sponsoring a women’s program, with the team’s first official season slated for 2027-28. In conjunction with the announcement of the women’s team, Athletic Director Jamie Pollard announced that form USA Wrestling standout Alli St. John would lead the program as head coach.
St. John was a highly accomplished college athlete herself, having competed for King University where she was a four-time national finalist, winning two titles. She went on to be a presence on USA Wrestling’s World Team, making six Senior teams and winning silver medals at the World Championships in 2016 and 2017.
During the press conference St. John said she had a set budget, and the number of assistants will depend on she decides to allocate her pool. That means we could see the Cyclones fund two or three assistants.
With the prestige of a program like Iowa State, a number of coaches would likely be interesting in joining St. John’s staff. Here are a few names we think could be on the candidates list:
Jake Kadel
Currently a head coach at William Penn, there is no question that Kadel has done a phenomenal job building programs on limited resources. He first started at Iowa Wesleyan, and when that school closed he took over the William Penn job.
At William Penn he has built the Statesmen into the second best team in the NAIA division, behind powerhouse Life University in Georgia. While a move to Iowa State would mean Kadel would no longer be the head of his own program, he would still bring in a wealth of experience and he has already shown to be an excellent recruiter at the college level.
Emma Cochran
Cochran currently serves as Simpson College’s Associate Head Coach and certainly has a bright future that could include being a head coach (perhaps even near future). The Storm are coming off a strong season where they crowned two All-Americans at the first-ever NCAA tournament, and one of those wrestlers went on to win U23 Nationals just over a month later.
Like Kadel, Cochran would be an excellent hire to bring in a coach that already has some experience and someone that has managed to recruit very well despite being at a lower division.
St. John also has a connection with Cochran in the fact that the one season she coached at Grand View was the same season Cochran was the Heart Conference Tournament Outstanding Wrestler in 2022.
Felicity Taylor
Drawing on the Big Game Wrestling Club connection – today Taylor is a full-time resident athlete for Big Game and is a current Senior World Team member. St. John is a former Big Game Wrestling Coach herself. Unlike the men it’s not uncommon for a college coaching staff member to also still be a competitive athlete on the U.S. Senior circuit.
Taylor might not be able to offer the coaching background like Kadel or Cochran, but could be an excellent training partner for wrestlers on the roster. It could also be a potential benefit for Taylor as she would presumably have access to more training partners as she continues to pursue her Senior World aspirations.
Megan Black-Campion
Sticking with the theme of former Iowa high school greats, Black-Campion has done some college coaching at William Penn, and she was also teammates with St. John during the 2013-14 college season when the two were All-Americans for King University.
Julia Salata-Vargas
Another former teammate from King University, Salata-Vargas is currently serving as the Director of Operations for Princeton. Both St. John and Salata-Vargas were national champion wrestlers, and Salata-Vargas is a well respected name. Bringing her in would be a slam dunk hire.
Haley Augello
Another former King University teammate and fellow Illinois native, Augello is currently a coach at Izzy Martinez’s club, Izzy Style Wrestling. St. John and Augello were also teammates on USA Wrestling’s 2017 World team, and Augello was a 2016 Olympian.