Every athletic program has a goal of establishing a culture. A good culture gets high-level recruits, improves facilities, and keeps fans excited about your sport. And Iowa women’s wrestling head coach has done just that.
Inheriting the first Power 5 Division I women’s wrestling program is a lot to take in for a first-year head coach, especially with that program being as historic as the University of Iowa’s. But it seems like Chun is already on the path to building that culture in just one season.
In year one of the Chun era, the Hawkeyes did just about as well as anyone would expect, going 16-0 in dual competitions and winning the team 2024 National Collegiate Women’s Wrestling Championships.
Iowa also had six individuals win at the 2024 NCWWC and 12 All-Americans named at the end of the season.
Pretty impressive for year one.
But what defines a culture is not one year of success. What defines a culture is the ability to continue to display greatness year in and year out — showing people across the country that your program expects to have those levels of success every season.
Chun’s definition of culture is simple. It’s the constant reinforcement of the fans and supporters of the program. They are the ones that make the women want to compete for something bigger than themselves.
“The fans are amazing,” Chun said. “I don’t know any other place where over 8,000 people come to women’s wrestling at our first home dual meet or a quad. That was special.”
Outside of the fans and supporters, players and coaches have established their own culture for the team — culture that has athletes who are beneficial to the team on and off the mat.
Second-year Kylie Welker expressed the team has so many “genuine human beings” and credits Chun for putting it all together. Welker said Chun’s ability to bring in athletes who are both good recruits and good people is one reason why the team has seen so much success.
“You put a bunch of great people in the same room, and you are going to make each other better,” Welker said. “I’m sure everybody sees that, and I think it has a lot to do with bringing in some good recruits.”
This new culture around the program has helped Chun bring in a handful of talented recruits. From four-time Iowa high school state champion Naomi Simon to two-time Iowa high school state Champion Kiara Djoumessi, Chun has established a level of excellence that is heard by recruits everywhere.
One of the more prominent additions to the team has been the 2024 Paris Olympic silver medalist Kennedy Blades.
The third-year transfer described the culture she saw as immediately competitive, saying athletes show love to each other off the mat. But when competing, no punches are held back.
“It’s such an easy switch, and no one has any tension here,” Blades said. “We are all just here to get better, and honestly, whoever is the best comes on top. At the end of the day, we aren’t competing against one another. We are competing against the whole nation.”