Kadel Named Women’s Wrestling Coach, Wilcke to Assist Men and Women

Press conference video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QobapFX7JA0

Oskaloosa–William Penn Athletics Director Nik Rule has announced the hiring of Jake Kadel as Head Women’s Wrestling Coach and Cash Wilcke as Assistant Men’s and Women’s Wrestling Coach.

Both Kadel and Wilcke come to WPU from Iowa Wesleyan University and helped the women’s program to a successful 2022-2023 campaign. IWU placed second in this year’s Heart of America Athletic Conference Championship and sent 11 women to the NAIA National Championship. From there, five individuals earned All-America status, including one national champion, as the Tigers placed seventh as a team.

On the men’s side, Iowa Wesleyan had one national qualifier and won three dual meets this year.

“Coach Kadel and Coach Wilcke have done a remarkable job at Iowa Wesleyan; we have admired their progress and the way they have built their program,” Rule said. “They are strong leaders who understand the sport and have an exciting vision for how WPU wrestling can continue to move forward and be great. They expressed a great deal of excitement to keep building on the strong foundation we already have in the program and to build relationships with the members of the team.”

Kadel recently completed his third season with the Tigers’ men’s and women’s squads, joining as an assistant in the 2020-2021 campaign. He was the head coach of both teams during the 2022-2023 season.

“We are extremely excited for the opportunity to continue our wrestling endeavors at William Penn and cannot wait to meet the current team as they are such an important part of the program,” Kadel said. “The support, professionalism, and athletic backing William Penn displays is exciting to be a part of and we believe we can positively impact the team and continue to build on the strong foundation established. We really look forward to meeting the members of the team, connecting with recruits, and getting to work in forming a powerhouse program that is built upon producing hard-working and outstanding young student-athletes.”

A native of New London, Iowa, Kadel is a 2015 graduate of the University of Iowa with a degree in Human Physiology. While at Iowa, he competed for the Hawkeye wrestling program and owned a 23-18 career record.

Kadel has previous coaching experience as an assistant at St. John’s Jesuit High School in Ohio, as an instructor at Hard Drive Performance Center in Cedar Rapids, and as a volunteer at Ubasa Wrestling Academy in North Liberty.

A tremendous prep wrestler, Kadel posted a career mark of 189-13 at New London HS. He was a four-time state placer (twice second and twice third) and four-time conference, sectional, and district champion. At the time, he ranked fifth in the state of Iowa in career wins (189).

Kadel also has his Master’s of Biomedical Science from the University of Toledo in 2019.

Wilcke recently finished his second year as an assistant for both the Iowa Wesleyan men’s and women’s teams.

A 2020 graduate of the University of Iowa with a degree in Sport and Recreation Management (currently finishing his Master’s degree). At Iowa, Wilcke was a three-time national qualifier. He ranked as high as #10 in the nation, won a career-high 23 matches as a senior (63-29 career mark), and claimed titles at the Luther Open and Midlands Championships.

Wilcke excelled as a prep, winning two state titles at OABCIG HS. A four-time conference champion and two-time fourth-place state finisher, he holds school records for takedowns and falls.

Wilcke was also twice a camp counselor for the Iowa Wrestling Camps.

Coach Kadel will replace Tucker Black who stepped down from his post as head women’s wrestling coach last week.

“Coach Black told us upon him stepping down that the program is in a really good spot to take the next steps into the future,” Rule said. “He gave us some feedback on what he believed the program needed and we are confident with this transition that we are taking positive steps to making that happen. We really appreciate Coach Black’s contributions.”