Former ISU national champion Nate Gallick has joined the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga wrestling team as an assistant coach.

Gallick, the 141-pound 2006 NCAA champion, will join Mocs’ head coach Chris Bono’s staff. Bono, also a former Cyclone NCAA champion and coach, coached Gallick during his collegiate career.

The Mocs qualified nine wrestlers for the NCAA Tournament last year and tied the program best with a 21st-place finish.

“Nate is going to be a tremendous fit for our program,” Bono said in a press release. “I’ve never heard anybody say a bad word about him. He’s done a great job working with the athletes at Iowa State. He’s still competing and has a chance to make the world and Olympic team and that’s great for our program to bring in someone of his caliber.

“I coached Nate at Iowa State, and we come from the same system. Nate’s an excellent instructor, an excellent technician and a real student of the game.”

Gallick trained with this year’s ISU wrestling team as a member of the Cyclone Wrestling Club to prepare for freestyle competition. He won the 60 kg division at the U.S. Nationals in April, but suffered a stress fracture in his foot during the tournament.

Because of his injury, Gallick was given an time extension for his wrestle-off with Hawkeye Mike Zadick for a spot on the U.S. World Team. The two will wrestle on Aug. 16. The location of that match has yet to be decided.

Gallick has won three straight matches against Zadick.

“Nate wants to be a college coach and he needs to get experience in a full-time coaching role,” ISU coach Cael Sanderson said in a press release. “It was a difficult decision for him. We wish him nothing but the best in the future. He is going to be a figure on the national wrestling scene for an extended time.”

Gallick said that the decision to leave was a difficult one to make. He leaves behind his brother, Nick, a redshirt sophomore for the Cyclones.

“I feel that I have a lot to offer Coach Bono and the program,” Gallick said. “I think I can help Coach Bono continue to make the strides he made with the program in his first season. Plus, he is going to allow me to continue to train.”