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Kevin Dresser enters his sixth season at the helm of the Virginia Tech wrestling program, a program that he has headed toward the upper echelon of the college game.
In four of his first five seasons, he’s had a wrestler win an ACC title and twice has had a wrestler named Most Outstanding Wrestler at the ACC Championships. In 2007, it was Jon Bonilla-Bowman who won the ACC title at 157 pounds and, in 2009, Matt Epperly came out of nowhere to win the 165-pound class and advance to the NCAA Championships.
In 2008-09, his team broke all sorts of school records, including dual meet wins (20) and NCAA qualifiers (8). Tech also had upset road wins against No. 17 Michigan and No. 6 Central Michigan. In 2009-10, he coached four ACC champions and helped lead Chris Diaz to an All-American finish at Nationals.
Last year may have been the program’s finest as Dresser led the team to a runner-up finish at the prestigious NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals after upsets of Oklahoma State and Wisconsin. That propelled the Hokies’ into the national scene as they went on to finish sixth in the country in the dual meet poll. Three wrestlers won ACC titles and seven qualified for the NCAA Championships.
His recruiting has taken off, and the Hokies have had five-consecutive top-11 national recruiting classes under his direction, including the ninth-best class in the country last year according to WIN.
Dresser is a familiar name in the New River Valley as he was the head coach at Christiansburg High School for 10 seasons, winning the Group AA state title five times and claiming second place three times. Prior to his stint in Christiansburg, he led Grundy High School to eight titles in as many years.
A native of Humboldt, Iowa, Dresser was a two-time high school state champion at Humboldt High School. In 2009, Dresser was inducted into the Iowa High School Athletic Association Wrestling Hall of Fame.
He graduated from the University of Iowa, where he won a national title in 1986 at 142 pounds. Dresser was a two-time All-American (placing fourth in 1985 at 142 pounds), as well as a two-time Big Ten champion. For his performance in 1986, he received the Mike Howard Award, given to the most valuable wrestler for the Hawkeyes.
Dresser earned his B.S. in general studies from Iowa in 1986. He and his wife, Penny, have three children: Emma (13), Anna (11) and Jack (9). Penny Dresser is a native of Blacksburg, and the family resides in Riner.
