Heskett leaving associate AD position at WVU

Joe Heskett (Photo/Mark Aikman)

Joe Heskett, NCAA champion wrestler at Iowa State and World Championships fifth-place finisher who went on to serve as head wrestling coach at Army West Point, will be leaving his administrative position at West Virginia University next month.

Heskett told InterMat he would be stepping away from his job as Associate Athletics Director for Sports Performance at WVU in Morgantown, a position he's held for three years, effective June 30.

"This summer I will be leaving my senior level athletics administration post at West Virginia University," Heskett posted on his Facebook page this past week. "It's time to lead, network, collaborate, and change lives from a different angle. My time at WVU has been amazing, but life has prepared me for this transition. I will be both intentional and strategic in my next career move. It is time for me to be an unrestricted free agent..."

Joe Heskett

Heskett has been on a trajectory of success in sports for more than two decades. The Ohio native was a three-time state champion wrestler at Walsh-Jesuit High School who then headed west to Iowa State, where he was a three-time Big 8 champ, four-time NCAA All-American, and NCAA 165-pound titlewinner in 2002. Among Heskett's achievements in freestyle wrestling: Cadet World Championships bronze medalist, Pan Am Games silver medalist, and fifth-place finisher at the World Championships. After going into sudden cardiac arrest five days after the Worlds ' a medical emergency caused by a rare, at-the-time undetected condition which nearly took his life -- Heskett focused on coaching ... first, as an assistant coach and chief recruiter at Cal Poly, then Ohio State, then taking the helm of the wrestling program at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point for four years before accepting the position at WVU in July 2014.

"I've loved everything I've done, but I've always wanted to do more," Heskett said in an interview with InterMat. "As a coach, I loved having a positive impact on my wrestlers. When I became an associate AD, I wanted to influence more athletes."

"I want to lead, to innovate. To be an agent of change. To do that ' to go outside the box ' I need to go out on my own, partnering with others."

"For more than 20 years ago, I've been wired to look at things from a leadership lens."

"With my background, I've decided the time is right to go out on my own now."

Joe Heskett earned a spot on the 2007 U.S. World Team by defeating Casey Cunningham in the finals of the U.S. World Team Trials (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com)

Looking at Joe Heskett's resume, this makes sense. He has his bachelor's in speech communications from Iowa State, a Master's in educational leadership from Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, and is completing work on his doctorate in Coaching and Teaching Education at West Virginia University, with an emphasis on student-athlete preparedness for life after sport. His professional coaching career also reflects a passion for acquiring leadership skills and sharing them with others, first as an assistant coach responsible for recruitment at one of nation's top wrestling programs, Ohio State ... then as head wrestling coach at West Point, which Heskett described as "the greatest leadership institution in the world."

Back in 2009, Heskett created h Leadership, which allows him the opportunity to "follow his passion to teach, coach, consult, and develop others," according to the website. Heskett describes himself as h Leadership's Chief Visionary Officer, "dedicated to revolutionizing sport through leadership and life skills."

The website goes on to state, "Joe will be the first to admit that h Leadership is not about him, it is about a team. It has been with great intent and through the combination of both faith and preparation, that a world class team of leadership professionals has been assembled to help you achieve your desired results."

"I have a passion to do what I seek to do," Heskett told InterMat. "Connecting the dots of what I've already done, and go beyond that."

Joe Heskett, pictured with Mike Duroe, competed in Real Pro Wrestling (Photo/Danielle Hobeika)

Heskett seeks to prepare young athletes ' and their parents, coaches and mentors -- to make wise decisions regarding their sports careers, with an eye to life once those careers have ended.

"People focus so much about preparing for the mat, but we must have more intent for preparing beyond the mat," said Heskett.

Heskett shared a story about observations he made on his own nearly two decades ago as a highly-recruited 17-year-old mat champ from a nationally-respected prep powerhouse. He had been offered a full-ride scholarship at a major college wrestling program ... but noted that "some guys from my school did not make it past their first year" at that university.

"That got me to start thinking about the culture of some programs."

Instead of accepting that scholarship, Heskett chose another school -- Iowa State -- for his academic and athletic college career. And, that realization about some of his former high school teammates got Joe Heskett on a journey of analyzing the culture in sports programs ... and what can be done about it.

What is meant by the phrase "the culture of some programs"?

In some situations, it's a win-at-all-costs culture that overlooks the needs of the individual student-athlete. Or, for some high school wrestlers and other sports stars, it can be a mismatch between the needs of the student and the goals of the program. Sometimes, the athlete may sign a letter of intent solely on the amount of the offer or the school's won-loss record, without considering other issues such as "will my wrestling style fit with that of the program and its coaching staff" or even if the school offers his/her intended major.

"The real story is the purpose behind sport -- what people don't see, what people can't see," according to Heskett. "I am so passionate about the development of others and although collegiate athletics is magnificent in many ways, it is also a capitalist machine driven by business ideals. I am all for capitalism, but I am a firm believer that a growing gap ' a massive gap -- exists within the collegiate model that permeates all the way down to our youth."

"I want to share with others, using proven leadership principles," said Heskett. "I want to lead, change lives, and make a difference."

"I want to position myself to make a positive impact on the lives of others."

"I'm giving myself time to put this together," the former Cyclone mat star continued. "I'm being very strategic in my thinking. I'm taking my time, using a thoughtful approach, doing due diligence, building a leadership team."

"I believe there's a great team of people who can help me realize this vision."

To learn more, visit the h Leadership website, which includes contact information to get in touch with Joe Heskett.

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Heskett leaving associate AD position at WVU

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