Former Iowa wrestler Jacob Warner’s title as a temporary assistant coach with the Hawkeyes has been changed and the temporary tag has been shed.
Warner was given the temporary assistant coach title on April 10, but the hiring process is now complete and Warner was officially named an assistant coach, a program spokesperson confirmed to the Register on July 15. Warner fills the void left by Bobby Telford, who took a job outside of wrestling following the 2025-26 season.
In an interview with Register columnist Chad Leistikow in May, head coach Tom Brands said he made just one other phone call when searching for Telford’s replacement, but quickly decided to stay in-house and hire Warner. The five-time NCAA All-American does not have official college coaching experience, but has been coaching and participating with the Hawkeye Wrestling Club following his college wrestling career. With the HWC, he had been in the corner for some current Hawkeyes, including Leister Bowling IV at the U20 World Championships in 2025.
“Very natural to bring him (Warner) back,” Brands said in May. “We’re excited about that.”
Warner had a career record of 97-28 as a Hawkeye. He finished seventh at the NCAA Championships in 2019, earned All-American honors for the canceled 2020 NCAA Championships, took fourth in 2021 at NCAAs, was a runner-up in 2022 and finished his career with a fifth place at NCAAs in 2023. Warner also has experience on the major World stages, winning a bronze medal at the 2016 Cadet World Championships and was on the 2018 Junior World team for the United States.
With Warner now in the fold, the Hawkeyes will hope to improve on a 2025-26 campaign that had a roller coaster regular season and feel-good fourth-place finish at the 2026 NCAA Championships.
Eli McKown covers high school sports and wrestling for the Des Moines Register. Contact him at Emckown@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @EMcKown23.
This article originally appeared on Hawk Central: Iowa wrestling officially hires Jacob Warner as full-time assistant
Reporting by Eli McKown, Des Moines Register / Hawk Central
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Eli McKown, Des Moines Register | USA TODAY Network
