Sanderson lures Iowa assistant to Iowa State
By Andy Hamilton
Iowa City Press-Citizen
Tim Hartung has found another reason to dislike Iowa wrestling — he’s back on the opposite side of a rivalry with the Hawkeyes.
The former Minnesota wrestler who spent the past two seasons at Iowa as Jim Zalesky’s second assistant has agreed to join Cael Sanderson’s coaching staff at Iowa State.
Hartung and Sanderson formed a bond in recent years that was strengthened during preparation for the 2004 Olympics. Sanderson selected Hartung as his training partner when the former Cyclone won freestyle gold.
“I’m not looking forward to moving, that’s the worst part of the whole thing, “Hartung said. “But I’m really excited about it. It’s a better situation for me. It’s going to be another start. I went from Minnesota to down here where the rivalry’s pretty big, and now I’m moving across the state where the rivalry’s pretty big.”
The Iowa-Iowa State rivalry might be a little bigger to Hartung next season. His decision to leave the Hawkeyes comes less than a week after a shake-up inside Iowa’s program. Zalesky was fired after nine seasons as the Hawkeye head coach and his assistants weren’t assured of a spot on his replacement’s staff.
“It didn’t devastate me, necessarily, “Hartung said. “It was shocking. I didn’t see it coming. But I’m young, I don’t have a family yet, so it’s going to be an easy move for me. I’m excited about the opportunities I’m going to have (at Iowa State).”
Sanderson, 26, was introduced as Iowa State’s head coach Friday. He called his former Olympic training partner a day later.
The 30-year-old who won two NCAA individual titles at Minnesota was brought to Iowa when Zalesky overhauled his coaching staff during the summer of 2004.
“I don’t think they gave this staff a chance from the beginning, “Hartung said. “Anybody knows it takes longer than a year and a half to change things around. And if they weren’t going to give us a true chance to do that, they shouldn’t have allowed people’s lives to be affected by it. That’s how I feel. When I was at Minnesota, I hated this program for several reasons competition-wise and it’s pretty easy to go back to doing that.
“Outside of that, I met a lot of great people here. Just like any place, wrestling people in general are great people. More than anything, the hardest thing is leaving these guys who I built a relationship with. I hope those friendships continue, and I’m sure they will.”
Hartung said he received numerous calls during the past week about potential job opportunities. He said he didn’t immediately rule out the possibility of latching on with the new Iowa regime.
“But the more I got to thinking about it, I’m not sure the situation’s going to change with a new coach — just the situation in this building, “Hartung said while sitting at his desk inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena. “I don’t feel like, at any point, the administration on the third floor was behind Jim, which means behind us as a staff.
“And the dissention that goes on with a lot of things — you can’t really point fingers at one person — but I didn’t feel like this was a very organized administration as far as this program goes. I’m not sure just getting a new head coach in here is going to change that. Either you’re organized or you’re not.”
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