Iowa State announced the creation of a women’s wrestling program on Thursday, April 16, and Alli St. John as its inaugural coach.
Iowa State athletics director Jamie Pollard announced the news during a press conference at Hilton Coliseum. He also revealed that longtime Iowa State men’s wrestling coach Kevin Dresser is being promoted to director of wrestling for both the men’s and women’s programs, and former assistant coach Brent Metcalf will replace Dresser as Iowa State’s next head coach.
“I look at you, Alli, and I just go, ‘Wow, what a role model for young girls,” Pollard said during the press conference. “You have the credentials [and] the experience to make a difference in the lives of young women using the sport of wrestling to do it.”
The Cyclones women’s wrestling program will begin competition during the 2027-28 season, offering 10 scholarships and fielding a 30-member roster for its inaugural team, according to Iowa State.
“I am truly honored to be named the first head women’s wrestling coach here at Iowa State University,” St. John said. “This is not only a historic moment for our university but for the sport of women’s wrestling.”
Here’s what you need to know about Iowa State’s first women’s wrestling coach
Where is Alli St. John from?
St. John (née Ragan) was born June 16, 1992, and grew up in Carbondale, Illinois. She began wrestling at the age of 5and later attended Carbondale High School, where she wrestled under her father, longtime Terriers coach and Hall of Famer Dennis Ragan.
During her four years of high school wrestling, she compiled a 130-29 record and qualified for the Illinois Boys State Wrestling Tournament in 2007, according to the Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association.
Did Alli St. John wrestle in college?
After high school, she attended King University in Bristol, Tennessee, where she became a two-time women’s college national champion and a four-time finalist in wrestling. She graduated from Kings with a Bachelor of Science degree in 2014.
She earned consecutive silver medals in the 60 kg weight class at the 2016 World Wrestling Championships in Budapest and the 2017 championships in Paris. In 2017, she moved to Iowa City to join the Hawkeye Wrestling Club.
She became the first women’s wrestler inducted into the Glen Brand National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2020 and was also inducted into the Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Hall of Fame in 2024.
Alli St. John’s coaching career
She spent two years coaching women’s wrestling at the Big Game Wrestling Club in North Liberty from 2021 to 2023 and also worked as an assistant coach with Grand View’s women’s team during that time. She earned her master’s degree in sports management from Grand View in 2022.
The following year, she became the director of donor relations for the Cyclone Regional Training Center, according to her LinkedIn profile.
Does Alli St. John have a family?
She and her husband, Derek, the associate head coach for ISU men’s wrestling and a former All-American wrestler at the University of Iowa, married in 2023. Derek has been a coach with Iowa State since 2017.
St. John gave birth to the couple’s first child, Stevie, on November 2, 2024.
How many schools have Division I women’s wrestling programs?
Currently, Delaware State University, the University of Iowa, Kent State University, Lehigh University, Lindenwood University and Presbyterian College all have programs or are in the process of starting one on the Division I level.
Women’s wrestling just completed its first sanctioned season as an NCAA sport, wrapping up with the national championships from March 6-7 in Coralville. The Cyclones are just the second power-conference institution to create a women’s wrestling program, following the University of Iowa, which began official competition during the 2023-24 season.
Register sports reporter Eli McKown contributed to this report.
Cooper Worth is a service/trending reporter for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at cworth@gannett.com or follow him on X @CooperAWorth.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Who is Alli St. John? Learn more about ISU’s women’s wrestling coach
Reporting by Cooper Worth, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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