Iowa Wrestling: Moriah Stickley named Director of Operations

On Monday afternoon Tom Brands announced that Moriah Stickley would be joining the staff as the new Director of Operations.

The position was recently vacated in April, by Luke Eustice, who was with the program for 14 years. Eustice has gone on to pursue other professional opportunities and we wish him the best of luck.

As for Stickley, she’s an Iowa Alum graduating in 2019 with a degree in Health and Human Physiology. On top of that she’s been a manager for the Hawkeye wrestling team since 2015 with an additional several years in an assistant administrative role with the Hawkeye Wrestling Club.

Almost one year ago on July 5, 2018, her twin brother Eli was tragically killed in a car accident. Eli was an NCAA qualifier with Wisconsin and was traveling to Iowa to celebrate the upcoming surprise engagement between Moriah and Alex Marinelli. I can only imagine how difficult this past year has been for Moriah, Alex, and their respective families as they have learned to cope with the tragic loss of a brother and a friend. KJ Pilcher from The Gazette wrote an amazing article about Alex and Moriah, I highly recommend y’all read it immediately.

…But if anything shows me that Iowa Hawkeye wrestling is a family and takes care of their own, it’s this. She is qualified, experienced, and a perfect fit for this important position, but it’s also a feel-good story when feel-good stories seemingly do not make enough headway in today’s news. I’m so very happy for her that she’s able to stay with this program and continue to lead the way for Hawkeye wrestling.

Furthermore, I’m interested to see what impact this hiring has for the future of women’s wrestling on the university level. I know that’s something the Brands Bros have been pushing for, but with the addition of Stickley, I’m hoping that initiative will be cranked up a notch or four.

On behalf of Black Heart Gold Pants and the entire Hawkeye wrestling community, “Congratulations, Moriah!!!”

PS- I’ve had an incredibly busy, stressful, and stupid couple of months that has kept me away from the two things I love most: Hawkeye wrestling and BHGP. We have A LOT we need to catch up on, including all the freestyle news surrounding the HWC. So please, chime away in the comments and we’ll start the dialog immediately.