Jake Varner gets a takedown at the Freestyle World Cup in LA (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com)Jake Varner, 2012 Olympic gold medal-winning wrestler and two-time NCAA champ for Iowa State, will be reuniting with his former college coach by joining Cael Sanderson's staff as a volunteer assistant coach at Penn State, Jim Carlson of PennLive.com -- website for the Patriot-News -- reported Monday.
Varner will replace Frank Molinaro, who had served as volunteer coach last season, and will be wrestling for Team USA in freestyle at the 2016 Rio Olympics on Sunday, Aug. 21 at 65 kilograms/143 pounds.
Molinaro has committed to training for the next four years in men's freestyle.
"He's (Molinaro) just so confident right now and wrestling so well, he's going to do a great job," said Nittany Lions head coach Cael Sanderson. "His future's set; he still wants to coach when he's done. He has a chance to win world and Olympic medals the next four years and that's what he wants to focus on."
"Varner's kind of wrapping things up and he's a like-minded guy,'' Sanderson told PennLive.com. "Really great in the corner, really understands the sport and what it takes to win. He's a guy who's gotten the most out of his abilities and probably the most extremely loyal as much as any guy I've ever coached, and has done everything I've asked him to do.
"I think that's why he's an Olympic champion, not because he did what we told him to do but more the attitude that he'll do what it takes to be successful. He's not going to try to rationalize doing something easier or different or skipping any corners.''
"Varner loves to compete and he has a great attitude and a tough guy and competitor. He's a four-time NCAA finalist, a World and Olympic medalist. That's pretty good, I guess, right?'' Sanderson asked rhetorically.
If anyone would know Varner's mat credentials, it would be Cael Sanderson. Varner, a two-time California high school state champ, wrestled for Sanderson for three seasons at Iowa State before Cael left the Cyclones to take the head coaching job at Penn State. Varner stayed in Ames to complete his collegiate career with Kevin Jackson who is still at the helm at Iowa State.
As a Cyclone, Jacob Stephen Varner earned back-to-back NCAA Division I titles at 197 pounds in 2009 and 2010, after being a two-time finalist at 184 pounds the previous two years. The Bakersfield, California native was a two-time titlist at the Big 12 conference championships. Varner was also twice crowned champ at the Midlands Classic post-Christmastime tournament at Northwestern University. He completed his collegiate career with a 132-10 overall record.
Varner's freestyle mat career is also one of accomplishment, capped off by winning the gold medal at the 2012 Olympics at 97 kilograms/212 pounds. That same year Varner also earned gold at the 2012 Pan American Games. The year before, Varner brought home bronze from the 2011 World Championships in Istanbul.
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