UPDATE: Jackson announces new assistant coaches
Iowa State head wrestling coach, Kevin Jackson (center), poses with his two new assistant coaches, Chris Bono, left, and Yero Washington, right, in the wrestling room in Lied Recreation Center on Thursday, June 4, 2009. Photo: Laurel Scott/Iowa State Daily
June 3, 2009
Updated with more information and quotes from Bono, Washington and Jackson.
A homecoming for one and a dramatic change of scenery for another have completed wrestling coach Kevin Jackson’s staff and put yet another piece of the championship puzzle into place.
Jackson introduced Chris Bono and Yero Washington as his new assistant coaches during a press conference on Thursday.
Bono, an ISU graduate and former assistant coach at Iowa State from 1998 to 2005, will make his return to the Cyclone team after three years as head coach at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga.
“It’s a dream come true to get back here,” Bono said. “This is home for me.”
Jackson said it is “unbelievable” that Bono left a head coaching position to come back to Iowa State.
“It shows his passion, his love and his warmth to be part of a national championship program,” Jackson said.
Bono also brings three Southern Conference Coach of the Year awards to Iowa State, but said he feels his experience will blend with Jackson’s rather than overshadow it.
“I think we’ll complement each other and get this team better,” Bono said.
Washington makes his way to the Cyclones after coaching at Colombia University in New York for a decade. Jackson said he chose to bring him in because of his experience with coaching at the competitive Ivy League level and his east coast to west coast connection.
“Bringing him in is a great addition,” Jackson said. “He has a wealth of knowledge and experience.”
Washington will be working with the lightweight wrestlers. Due to his recent activity in wrestling, he will be able to coach directly on the mat as well as off of it.
“I still wrestle quite a bit with the guys so I’m hands-on,” Washington said.
Nate Gallick, a 2006 ISU graduate, will also join fellow Cyclones Jackson and Bono as a volunteer assistant coach, thus making the connection among coaches that much closer.
“We’re a tight-knit group, we’re all Iowa Staters,” Bono said.
Jackson and his new assistants will begin recruiting for the upcoming season next week.
