William Penn head women’s wrestling coach Jake Kadel poses for a portrait on Oct. 15, 2025, at William Penn University in Oskaloosa, Iowa. © Cody Scanlan/The Register / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
AMES – Alli St. John made her first move in building out the Iowa State’s women’s wrestling staff.
The Cyclones announced on Monday the addition of Jake Kadel as an assistant coach, bringing in a name that has quietly built one of the more successful NAIA programs over the last few seasons.
Kadel comes to Ames after three seasons as the head women’s wrestling coach at William Penn, where he turned the program into a national contender in a short amount of time. After inheriting a team that finished 33rd nationally, Kadel led the Statesmen to back-to-back fourth-place finishes before closing his tenure with a national runner-up finish this past season.
In three seasons, Kadel coached nine national champions, 18 All-Americans and helped 33 wrestlers qualify for the national tournament. His teams also found success in the classroom, something St. John has emphasized as she begins building this program from the ground up.
Before William Penn, Kadel spent time at Iowa Wesleyan, working with both the men’s and women’s programs and eventually serving as head coach for both during the 2022-23 season. That year, the women’s team placed seventh nationally with five All-Americans and a national champion.
There’s a clear trend across his stops: build quickly, develop talent and produce results.
Kadel’s Iowa roots matter here, too.
A native of New London and a former University of Iowa wrestler, he brings built-in Iowa ties. That familiarity with the landscape, along with his track record of developing talent, should translate well on the recruiting trail as Iowa State continues to build.
For Iowa State, this feels like a strong and intentional first addition to the staff.
St. John didn’t just need someone who understands wrestling. She needed someone who has already done the work of building a program, managing a roster and developing athletes over multiple years. Kadel checks those boxes.
Pairing St. John’s vision and wrestling experience with Kadel’s track record gives the Cyclones a solid starting point as they continue to shape the roster and identity of the program.
In news release from Iowa State women’s wrestling, St. John had to say this about his Kadel:
“I am excited to have Jake join our program as an assistant coach,” St. John said. “He brings a wealth of wrestling knowledge, experience building a women’s program and recruiting acumen with him to Ames, and he was one of the first people I had in mind when I started to build out my staff. What he was able to build at William Penn was amazing and his athletes saw great success on the mat and in the classroom.”
Kadel quick hits:
- Led William Penn to three straight NAIA top-five finishes, including a national runner-up finish in 2025-26
- Coached nine national champions and 18 All-Americans in three seasons
- Guided 33 national qualifiers and 13 conference champions
- Helped produce 24 NAIA Scholar-Athletes
- Iowa Hawkeye wrestler (four-time letterwinner, 2011-16), 28-20 career record
- His Iowa high school wrestling career record, 189-13 at New London High School. His high school campaign includes: four-time state placer, four-time conference, sectional, and district champion. Ranked sixth in the state of Iowa in career wins.
