Former Hawkeye wrestler Perry joins Illinois coaching staff

Former University of Iowa four-time All-American and two-time NCAA champion Mark Perry has returned to the Big Ten. After two years on the Cal-Poly staff, Perry was named associate head coach at the University of Illinois, joining former Hawkeye and Illini head coach Jim Heffernan.

"I'm very excited to be at Illinois," Perry said in a report on the Illinois athletics website. "The main thing that drew me here was the vision of Coach Heffernan and Coach (Jeremy) Hunter, which is to win championships both in the Big Ten and nationally. That's where this program is headed and I'm going to do everything I can to help it get there."

Perry, 26, has been highly regarded due to his contributions at Cal Poly, where he went from assistant to co-head coach after one season on Mustangs head coach John Azevedo's staff. Prior to his brief time at cal-Poly, Perry was an assistant to Troy Sunderland at Penn State.

"We are thrilled to have Mark Perry join our staff," Heffernan said in the Illinois athletics online article. "Through the support and resources provided by our administration, we were able to hire the best young coach in college wrestling. In assessing the needs of our program moving forward, I knew the best option was to bring in someone with a new approach, fresh ideas and a lot of fire. Mark's strengths as a coach address all the areas where we need the most improvement. His competitive nature and will to win are very evident and will be contagious. He will be a difference-maker for our program and we are all anxious for him to get started."

Perry had a stellar career for the Hawkeyes, winning 165-pound national titles as a junior and senior in 2007 and 2008. He was a four-time Big Ten finalist, capturing a conference title as a junior. He was a two-time Midlands Championships champion. Perry posted a 96-16 career mark and 17-2 in Big Ten duals. Perry, known for his mat-wrestling ability, had 37 career pins at Iowa.

You can read the story at the

Illinois athletics website.