Completed Event: Men's Wrestling versus Harold Nichols Cyclone Open on January 18, 2026 , , One Champ
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Men's Wrestling
Harold Nichols Cyclone Open
One Champ
Iowa State University Athletics
Washington Is Here For The Hard Work
12.22.2009 | Men's Wrestling
AMES, Iowa ? He is excited to be coaching alongside an Olympic gold medalist. He also admits it's been a tough grind to be at the level he's at now. Iowa State assistant coach Yero Washington (pronounced yah-ROO) is more than happy to be one of ISU head coach Kevin Jackson's right-hand men.
Washington knows that in the tough college wrestling season, it sometimes boils down to the role that the teachers in the room can play for the Cyclone grapplers.
“I try to help in every aspect of the sport,” Washington said. “I don't think there is one specific thing you can do as a coach. You need to be pretty well-rounded. You have to be a technician and a motivator. A lot of hard work goes into it.”
The Cyclone wrestling faithful might have trouble pronouncing his first name on their initial tries. Similarly, Washington, a native of Berkeley, Calif., had early trouble with the sport of wrestling.
“Someone asked me if I wanted to try wrestling my freshman year of high school,” Washington said. “I thought, ?why not?'. I started it and didn't win a match my first year.”
Washington took his lumps early, but it was nothing a little hard work couldn't fix. He made up for his losses when it counted. In his first ever trip to the California state tournament, Washington, a high school senior, brought home a state title.
“Just out of nowhere, I won the state tournament,” Washington said. “I realized that I might have a future in wrestling.”
The accomplishment is extraordinarily impressive given the fact that the California state wrestling tournament is not separated by classes or divisions.
For someone who went winless in his first season of the sport, Washington's vast improvement was nearly immeasurable. A two-time junior college All-American at Fresno City (Calif.) College, Washington won the California State Junior College Championships in 1995. Washington then transferred to Fresno State, where he was a two-time NCAA All-American (1996, 97), placing sixth and third at 134 pounds.
“After college, I was on the freestyle circuit and I spent a lot of time at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs,” Washington said. “At that point, Kevin (Jackson) was the national team's coach. I got to know him quite a bit. I learned a lot from him and began to know him on a personal level. That is kind of where our relationship formed.”
Washington continued training in freestyle wrestling up until 2004. The coaching bug had bitten him early. Between training stints, Washington had served twice on Columbia's coaching staff (2002-04, 2005-09). Washington had also helped coach high school wrestling during the offseason while in junior college, and he had been on staff at both Fresno City College and Fresno State.
His wrestling journey has taken him from one end of the country to the other, and he's seen the sport of wrestling from nearly every level possible, but Washington is comfortable with his latest stop in Ames to be one of Jackson's assistants.
“My senior year of high school was the year Kevin Jackson won his Olympic gold medal,” Washington said. “I remember seeing his name and all these other names. You have a guy here like (Chris) Bono, who was just a stud high school wrestler. I didn't have success until college and then after. Early on, I could have never imagined being at Iowa State. As I grew older and wrestled, I could see it happening. It became clearer and I knew I could coach at this high of a level.”
An ever-present voice in the back of his head is there, pushing him to eventually be a head coach, but Washington is at ease with his current duty.
“I think most assistant coaches aspire to be a head coach,” Washington said. “I've kind of gone back and forth on it. I really like my role here. I'm pretty content right now in this role. We have an amazing staff. There is a lot of wrestling knowledge here that is helping me become a better coach.”
Washington didn't start out on top. He began his wrestling journey in the middle of the pack. But the Cyclones are lucky to have a coach who knows the importance of hard work.
“We have a strong coaching staff here with a clear vision and a methodical approach,” Washington said. “We want these student-athletes to buy in and believe that we can win team and individual national titles.”
Washington has found his role at Iowa State and that is to build champions.
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