Terry Dowd has been coaching boxing at Iowa State for more than 28 years. During his tenure, he has coached 23 national champions and trained 43 All-Americans. But perhaps the most impressive statistic is that every student he has ever coached left Ames with a diploma.

“You will graduate – that’s the main thing. We teach people to box, and make sure they’ve got grades,” Dowd said. “When you leave here, you won’t be a professional athlete – you’ll be a professional person.”

Although Dowd, who is also a Vietnam War veteran and stroke survivor, has a great passion for boxing, he knows staying focused in the classroom should be his students’ No. 1 priority.

“You’re here to graduate – boxing is secondary,” he said. “You need a 2.50 grade point average to work out and a 3.00 to compete, so there’s no dummies walking around here.”

Every boxer has respect and care for their teammates and coach. Dowd’s approach toward boxing goes far beyond the physical aspect of the sport; he takes time to check up on his team’s well-being before the start of every practice in the basement of State Gym.

“You treat people like you want to be treated,” Dowd said. “You need to make sure that everybody is doing OK, because this is more than just a team – we’re a family.”

Most of their boxers returned from last year’s team that finished fifth in the nation, which gives everyone great expectations for the upcoming year.

“Since everybody who fought last year is back, our fighters have gained some experience,” said Brett Welling, a former Golden Gloves champion who boxes at 175 pounds “We’re just going to train, work hard, keep at it and see where the season takes us.”

Ben Marcov, who boxes in the heavyweight division, placed fourth at the national tournament last year after breaking a bone in his right hand less than a minute into the match for third place.

Dowd has high hopes for Marcov and believes he has the potential to be a national champion. Marcov has taken Dowd’s belief in him seriously and is trying to do everything he can to earn an edge to put him over the top.

“I definitely want to be quicker this year and be better conditioned than all of the other fighters,” Marcov said. “Most of them have height on me even though I’m 6’3″, so I’m going to try to change up my game a little bit to work a little more inside fighting.”

Notable returnees joining Marcov this season include brothers Ryan and Devin Hanssen, Nick Nelson and Chris Meyers.

All placed at the Golden Gloves or national tournament last year. The team also returns Welling and Ryan Allen, a two time All-American.

“Last year we weren’t quite experienced enough because we didn’t have enough prep time, but this year we retain a lot of the same guys,” Marcov said.

“It should be fun, we have some great expectations and we’re hoping to bust out and have a great season.”