IOWA CITY, Iowa - Former University of Iowa All-American Ryan Morningstar has been appointed to the Iowa wrestling staff as a full-time assistant coach. The announcement was made today by head coach Tom Brands.

“I’m excited to welcome Ryan Morningstar to the coaching staff,” said Brands. “He obviously has strong ties to the Iowa program and I have no doubt he takes a tremendous amount of pride in Hawkeye wrestling. I know he gained some valuable experience in the coaching ranks last season and I think, once again, he’s going to be a tremendous asset to our program.”

Morningstar joins the Iowa staff after serving as an assistant coach at Wisconsin for one season. He joined the Badger staff following a collegiate career that included four NCAA appearances (2007-10) as a Hawkeye. He earned All-America honors in 2009 and 2010, and was a member of three NCAA championship teams (2008-10).

“I couldn’t be more excited to come home and work for my mentors,” said Morningstar. “The University of Iowa is a special place and I’m really looking forward to rejoining the wrestling program and getting to work.”

Morningstar placed third at the NCAA championships and was a Big Ten runner-up at 165 pounds in 2009. He suffered a knee injury during his senior season (2010) but still went on to place seventh at the NCAAs and fourth at the Big Ten championships. That same year he was named Iowa’s Big Ten Sportsmanship Award winner and won the Mike McGivern Award, which is given annually to the team’s most courageous wrestler.