Javier Maldonado

AMES — Former Little Rock associate head coach Javier Maldonado has been added to the Iowa State men’s wrestling staff as an assistant coach, new head coach Brent Metcalf announced.

Maldonado, Little Rock’s first assistant coach after the program’s creation in 2019, joins the Cyclones after seven seasons in Arkansas.

“My primary goal when building out this coaching staff was to find good people who will develop well-rounded young men, and I believe Javier fits that mold perfectly,” Metcalf said. “He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience at multiple levels of wrestling and his ability to recruit and develop athletes is top notch. I’m excited for him to get to Ames and help us reach the next level.”

Maldonado helped head coach Neil Erisman start the Little Rock wrestling program from scratch in 2019. It took just six seasons for Little Rock, the lone NCAA Division I wrestling program in Arkansas, to win its first Pac-12 team title in 2025.

“I am honored to be named an assistant coach at Iowa State University,” Maldonado said. “I look forward to serving such a storied wrestling program and supporting coach Brent Metcalf in any way I can.

“My family and I are excited to join the Iowa State family and continue building on the foundation Kevin Dresser established. I believe strongly in the vision coach Metcalf and coach (Derek) St. John have for this program, and I am confident we will help take Cyclone wrestling to the next level.”

Prior to Little Rock, Maldonado spent four seasons (2015-19) as the head coach at Southeastern University in Lakeland, Fla., where he started the program and posted a 41-31 dual meet record.

Before coaching at Southeastern, Maldonado worked for five seasons as an assistant coach at his alma mater Osceola High School (Fla.). As a team, Osceola finished in the top five in the state’s Class 3A rankings four times.

He also previously served as an assistant coach at Las Cruces High School in New Mexico and as a graduate assistant at Chattanooga.

Maldonado was a three-time NCAA qualifier and three-time Southern Conference champion at 125 pounds during his collegiate career at Chattanooga. He captured conference titles in 2006, 2007 and 2008, going 79-31 during his career with the Mocs. He was a three-time NCWA Scholar All-American and All-Southern Conference Academic Team member.

Maldonado was a two-time Florida state champion at Osceola High School.