ISU assistant makes return after rocky departure
By Andy Hamilton
Iowa City Press-Citizen
Tim Hartung left a trail of hard feelings behind in April when he exited the Iowa wrestling program.
He comes back to Iowa City on Sunday with a different job, a different team and a slightly different outlook.
Hartung, who spent two seasons as an assistant coach for the Hawkeyes under Jim Zalesky, returns to Carver-Hawkeye Arena as one of Cael Sanderson’s Iowa State assistants.
“It’s been a lot easier here, “Hartung said during a phone interview Thursday night. “With what was going on at the time at Iowa when I was with Jim there, it’s like a breath of fresh air to be in a program where there’s nothing but support. The excitement is there, everybody’s behind you and we’re moving forward and trying to win titles.
“It was really a situation where I didn’t feel like that was the case in Iowa City. Everyone was peeking around corners it seemed like, over everyone’s shoulder, and that’s not fun. It’s just different, and I’m sure it’s different over there now, too. It’s probably back on the positive looking forward to the new deal.”
The new deal at Iowa is the Tom Brands show, which began in April after the Hawkeyes released Zalesky and provided no promise of future employment to his staff.
Hartung’s job uncertainty lasted a matter of hours. The same day Zalesky was let go, Iowa State announced Sanderson, a 2004 Olympic gold medalist, would take over for coach Bobby Douglas.
Less than a week later, the Cyclones hired Hartung, Sanderson’s training partner for the Athens games.
“I always think ahead and he was on top of my wish list, “said Sanderson, whose staff also includes his brother, Cody, and former Northern Iowa All-American Dylan Long. “But at the time, with him being at Iowa, that would’ve been a tough move for him just because of the big rivalry, obviously.”
Hartung, 31, crossed rivalry lines to get to Iowa. He was a two-time NCAA champion at Minnesota and became a rare exception to the assistant hiring pattern at Iowa. The Hawkeyes have rarely hired non-Hawkeyes in recent years, but Zalesky went after Hartung when he overhauled his coaching staff after the 2004 season.
“When I was at Minnesota, I hated (Iowa) for several reasons, “Hartung said in April, “and it’s pretty easy to go back to doing that.”
Hartung said his return to Iowa City for Sunday’s dual between the fourth-ranked Cyclones and No. 8 Hawkeyes won’t be anything out of the ordinary.
“I wasn’t there very long, “he said. “I don’t consider that like a home or anything. For me, it’s like another dual meet. When I go against Minnesota, that feels a little bit more like this is a special thing for me. My situation against Iowa, just because I coached there for a year and a half, I wasn’t there long enough to feel like a part of it, so it’s not a big deal for me. I know it is (a big deal) for the programs, though, and I probably don’t truly understand that rivalry yet, either.”
Hartung said he has maintained a relationship with several of the Iowa wrestlers.
“I’ve talked to some of those guys and stayed in touch with them, and we hardly even talk wrestling, “he said. “I formed some friendships with some of those guys. I’m sure all of those guys are expecting me to come in there trying to win, and they’re going to try to win.”
Hartung worked extensively with Iowa’s upper-weights, and two of Sunday’s most intriguing match-ups feature a pair of his former pupils.
Iowa’s second-ranked Mark Perry Jr. wrestles No. 4 Travis Paulson at 165, and Phil Keddy wrestles Iowa State’s Jake Varner in a bout between freshmen 184-pounders.
What kind of inside information can Hartung give the Cyclones?
“He knows us, our personalities and the way we worked last year and the way we’ve competed on the mat, “Perry said. “He was our coach for two years. But personally, I’m not the same kid I was last year, and it doesn’t really matter. It’s not like (Paulson and I) haven’t seen each other wrestle our whole lives — from high school to competing against each other in college. There are no advantages, it’s just who shows up ready to wrestle.”
Said Keddy: “It helps a little bit, but I don’t think it changes much (more than) just from watching a match.”
Hartung said he knows some of Iowa’s tendencies. But he said most of that information is material the Cyclones gathered from past meetings or from what they’ve seen of the Hawkeyes this season.
“There’s not a lot of secrets, “Hartung said. “A lot of those guys have wrestled each other already, and it’s really just going to come down to who fights the hardest in each match. All the matches are probably going to be pretty close and be battles. When it gets down to the third period and it’s a tight match, you can know everything about the guy, but it’s going to come down to who’s going to fight harder the longest.”
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