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BLACKSBURG – Derek St. John has been promoted to the role of volunteer assistant coach, head coach Kevin Dresser announced on Tuesday. St. John joined the Hokies’ staff at the beginning of the 2015-16 season and was with the team in their most successful season in program history.

“Now I’ll be able to be matside, be more involved,” said St. John. “That will be good, it will give me more freedom. The biggest change is being able to be in the corner during matches.”

In St. John’s first season at Virginia Tech, the team went undefeated in ACC duals and powered to a program-best fourth place finish at Nationals. Six wrestlers earned All-America honors, with eight qualifying to compete in Madison Square Garden at the National Championship.

“The thing I’m looking most forward to [in the upcoming season] is continuing to build off what was already there,” said St. John. “I’ll have a full year and then some with most of these guys will be extremely positive. We want to continue to build their mindset.”

Tech’s fourth place finish is also the best finish among ACC teams, topping a fifth place finish by UNC in 1982. Tech won the ACC dual meet title for the second season in a row and finished runner up at this year’s conference tournament.

“The best thing about this coaching staff is how much freedom Coach Dresser and Coach Robie give us. They have a lot of trust in what I bring to the table and they want to give me the freedom to do as I feel fit. I think it’s a good give-and-take relationship with the whole staff. It’s an awesome group.”

St. John came to Virginia Tech after one season as an assistant coach at North Dakota State. During that season, the Bison finished 9-4 overall, a perfect 5-0 in Western Wrestling Conference action and 23rd in the NCAA Championship.

St. John, the 2013 NCAA champion at 157 pounds, became the 18th four-time All-American in Iowa history in 2014. He placed fourth at the NCAA Championships as a freshman, second as a sophomore, first as a junior and fifth as a senior, claiming his spot as one of the most decorated Hawkeye wrestlers in history.

The Parnell, Iowa, native concluded his collegiate career with a record of 106-17. St. John was the 2012 Big Ten champion and a two-time Big Ten runner-up at 157 pounds. He posted a record of 31-2 in his national championship campaign of 2012-13, earning Iowa’s Mike Howard Most Valuable Wrestler Award.

St. John was a redshirt on the Iowa team that won the NCAA team title in 2010. He graduated from Iowa in May 2014 with a degree in business studies.

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