Iowa State wrestling coach Kevin Dresser addressed media members Monday during the first stop of the 2023 Tailgate Tour, and spoke about the gambling situation inside his program.
Dresser said he believes it’s a witch hunt.
“We’re in a wait-and-see mode right now,” Dresser said. “I think we’re going to see what we’ve got here and we’re still sorting it out right now. To be quite honest, there’s a part of me that kind of thinks – and I’m usually one that says what I think – there’s part of me that thinks there’s a little bit of a witch hunt. I also know that there’s rules and if they didn’t follow the rules, there will be some penalties.”
Dresser told media members that he’s looking at the situation in a big picture and will cross bridges when they can.
“I know it’s a lightning rod, right now, and we’ve got to get it sorted out,” Dresser said. “At the end of the day, will there be some guys that sit out a little bit? Yeah, there probably will be. But, I also look at it in the big scheme of things – these guys didn’t assault anybody. These guys didn’t get a drunk driving.”
The allegations also come across to Dresser as another unfair standard that athletes in this spot are held to – one that he is passionate about.
“It’s kind of another example of division 1 athletes being held to another standard than the normal college student. The frustrating part to me sometimes is that it sure would be nice if our athletes sometimes could just be college students, because you can tell I’ve got mixed emotions about it. But, we’ll deal with it when it comes along and hey – we get a lot of things thrown at us. They threw NIL at us, they threw (the) transfer portal at us. They just keep throwing shit at us and we figure it out, so we’ll figure it out.”
His full comments can be seen below:
