By Hawk Fanatic

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Former Iowa four-time All-America heavyweight wrestler Tony Cassioppi has been promoted to associate head coach for the Wisconsin wrestling team.

Badger head coach Chris Bono, who wrestled for Iowa State, made the announcement on Monday.

“Promoting Tony to associate head coach is absolutely the right move,” said Bono. “He brings a wealth of knowledge to the team and how he connects with the student-athletes has been unbelievable. We are so grateful that Tony is with us, and his future is extremely bright.”

Cassioppi had been an assistant coach for the Badgers since 2024. He is also an assistant coach with the Wisconsin Regional Training Center.

A native of Roscoe, Illinois, Cassioppi advanced to the national tournament semifinals twice and placing third at 285 pounds for his highest finish in 2021 while helping Iowa win its 24th NCAA title as a team. He earned NCAA All-America honors in 2019, 2021 and 2022, while earning NWCA All-America honors in 2020 (due to the COVID pandemic).

Cassioppi never finished lower than third at the Big Ten Championships, earning automatic qualifications each of the four years he competed for the Hawkeyes. Overall, Cassioppi completed his wrestling career at Iowa with a 90-17 record, including 58 bonus-point victories with 40 pins.

Wisconsin wrestling has had a Hawkeye influence and connection for a significant part of the past three decades with former Iowa three-time national champion and Cedar Rapids native Barry Davis having served as the Wisconsin head coach form 1994 to 2018.