Ali & Derek St. John - Wrestling’s Power Couple Ignites Iowa State :: Ep 27

Associate head coach Derek St. John and Iowa State’s inaugural women’s head coach Alli St. John sit down on the Full Tilt Podcast to talk about building a D1 wrestling powerhouse on both the men’s and women’s sides.

They dive into Alli’s journey from three-sport Illinois athlete to world silver medalist and trailblazing college coach, Derek’s path from Iowa state champ to NCAA champion and top-tier D1 coach, and how the Iowa State Regional Training Center is developing future world and Olympic medalists.

From the explosion of girls’ wrestling at Fargo, to recruiting entire wrestling families, to the lasting impact of legends like Terry Steiner, Nate Carr, and the late Mark Ryland, this episode is a deep look at where wrestling is right now—and where it’s going.

Timed highlights:

00:00 – Opening ad read: Hatch and Custom Community, Full Tilt intro, and setting up the “power couple” episode

03:10 – Alli and Derek’s roles at Iowa State and Derek’s recent Glen Brand Hall of Fame induction

08:20 – How the Iowa State women’s wrestling program came to life after gymnastics was dropped

12:45 – Women’s wrestling boom at Fargo and how the depth and level have exploded

18:05 – Alli’s path: three-sport athlete in Carbondale, IL, wrestling mostly boys, and qualifying for boys’ state

24:30 – Choosing King University over Oklahoma City, building a powerhouse team with future world and Olympic medalists

30:40 – WCWA explained and how the women’s college landscape has evolved into NAIA and NCAA divisions

36:00 – What it felt like wrestling in boys’ brackets with future stars like Tony Ramos, Ellis Coleman, and Zain Richards