Joe Colon gets his hand raised after winning a bronze medal at the 2018 World Championships (Photo/Larry Slater)AMES, Iowa - The Cyclone Regional Training Center and Director, Kevin Dresser, are excited to announce the addition of an Iowa wrestling legend. Joe Colon has joined up with the C-RTC as a resident athlete in Ames.
"It is very exciting for us to add Joe to our program," Dresser said. "He is one of the top lightweights in the entire world right now. He made great improvements these past four years with Coach Steiner at Fresno State, and we are going to try to build off of that moving forward. Joe's got a lot left in his tank, so we will be fortunate to have him in Ames for a good bit."
"Joe brings toughness and a professional-athlete attitude with him. It will be great for our younger athletes to experience that on a day to day basis. Joe will relocate to Ames later this month and we are very excited that he is joining the Cyclone RTC."
"I'm looking forward to following my Olympic dream in Ames with the Cyclone RTC," Colon said. "I'm excited to be back in my home state! It's where my wrestling journey first began. I want to thank Coach Dresser and the rest of his staff for this opportunity."
Colon joins the Cyclone Wrestling program after a four-year coaching stint at Fresno State. He is currently a member of the US National team at 61 kilograms and is ranked No. 20 in the world.
In Senior Level competition, Colon is as decorated in accomplishments as they come. In 2018, Colon made the United States World Team and brought home a world bronze medal for the US at 61 kilograms. That year, he also claimed Gold at the Pan-American Championships, the U.S. Open and was a member of the Men's Freestyle World Cup team that brought home the team title.
Colon is a Dave Schultz Memorial International and Bill Farrell International Champion, and has won the Pan American Championship on two occasions.
Most recently, Colon was the runner-up at Final X (2019) and earned a spot on the U.S. National Team. He took eighth at the 2019 Ivan Yarygin Gran Prix, fifth at the 2019 Dan Kolov International and finished second at the 2020 Matteo Pellicone International.
The Clear Lake, Iowa, native compiled a 62-6 overall mark in his two seasons competing for UNI. He went 27-4 as a redshirt sophomore in 2011-12, advancing to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championships before falling in the blood round.
After sitting out the 2012-13 season, Colon came back as a senior in 2013-14 and went 35-2 overall, finishing his career first in Panther program history in career winning percentage (.911). His senior season winning percentage of .946 ranked third-best for a single-season in UNI history. He finished his career a perfect 24-0 in duals.
Colon began his collegiate career at Iowa Central Community College in Fort Dodge. He won the 2010 NJCAA national championship at 125 pounds. He was named the NJCAA Tournament Outstanding Wrestler as the Tritons won the national championship.
Colon was an Iowa prep-star out of Clear Lake. Colon was a three-time Iowa High School State Medalist and won titles in 2007 and 2009.
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