'This is our guy': As head coach of DWU women's wrestling, John Lynch is building a family-minded program
Dec. 13—EDITOR'S NOTE — This story is the second in a periodic series on the creation of the Dakota Wesleyan women's wrestling program.
MITCHELL — As soon as he arrived in Mitchell, John Lynch made his case for the job.
Lynch showed up to his interview for the Dakota Wesleyan women's wrestling head coaching position prepared. He was in a suit and tie, he had copies of his resumes printed out and showcased a unique passion for wrestling.
"Just right away, I was in awe," said DWU wrestler Madeleine Sargent, who sat in on the interview, of Lynch. "I was like, 'This is our guy. ... This will be him.' And just the way he's so passionate about wrestling. You knew it immediately in the interview."
Sargent got her wish when the Tigers decided to name Lynch as the first head coach in program history on Feb. 4 earlier this year. He wasn't just the first head coach in DWU women's wrestling history, but he was also the first head coach in South Dakota collegiate women's wrestling history.
"It's a little daunting to start a program from scratch," Lynch said. "But we love the opportunity to be here and get this going."
Growing up in western Kansas, Lynch started wrestling at 11 years old, and was a three-time state qualifier at Lakin High School in Lakin, Kansas, and was a one-time runner up. He went on to wrestle in college where he was an NJCAA national qualifier at Pratt Community College in Pratt, Kansas, before he went to the Great Plains Athletic Conference and qualified for nationals twice at Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa.
From there, he started as an assistant coach at Northwestern in 2014-15, coaching eight national qualifiers during his time at NWC. He then moved on to another assistant position at Washington High School in Cherokee, Iowa, in 2020-21, where he coached a state qualifier.
But his journey to Mitchell really started in his living room.
"I have two little girls ... and I was just kind of sitting with my wife one day and we were playing with the girls. And I always tell people I think it was God telling me, 'John, you have two girls for a reason. You want to rethink what you're doing here,'" Lynch recalled. "I just kind of had a moment, like an epiphany. It was like, you know, man, I've done a lot of freestyle wrestling in my day. I could probably coach a women's team as well."
The rest started to fall into place. Lynch found the posting for the job at Dakota Wesleyan and then the interview followed.
"When we got John (Lynch) on campus, we really felt he fit the mold that we were looking for," DWU Athletic Director Jon Hart said. "He had a pretty strong background in wrestling already, and he was familiar with the area, which was a huge selling point, too. ... He knows the (Great Plains Athletic Conference) and he knows the women's wrestling world. He had a genuine pitch about him that we felt would really fit and align in the women's wrestling world."
Once he was offered the job, Lynch said the family aspect of finding a new job also started coming together, further solidifying to him that this was the right move. From finding a house to a daycare to a job for his wife, things seemed to be lining up perfectly for Lynch and his family to come to the Mount Rushmore State.
"Things really felt like this is where we were being called and this is where we were meant to be," Lynch said.
And while he moved his family to Mitchell, he was also looking to build a family in Mitchell with the wrestling program.
His wrestling family — as he calls it — at DWU is one he says he bases in faith, and it's something he tells recruits, too. It's evident at practice, which ends as the team circles up, joins hands and says a prayer together to close the session out.
And on top of that, he even integrates his family into the wrestling team. His four-year-old daughter Diana often shows up to practices, interacting with the team. At one practice, she had thrown a bunch of balls onto the mat and when it was time to put them away, Sargent raced her to clean them up in a playful competition to see who could pick up more.
"He has asked me to babysit, and I love his two little girls," Sargent said. "There are times where we're doing hard workouts and all of a sudden Diana comes running in and you kind of forget that you're here to do something else. It's like you're doing this for your family. ...
"There are times where Diana will jump on my back and I'll do the backpack carry while I'm running with her and it's just a great family feel."
The Tigers are just at the dawn of their program. They've competed in just two events so far but have four more on the schedule this season. And while the team is up and running, there's still more foundation to be laid.
Lynch is on the metaphorical recruiting trail nearly every day, sending emails and watching film. There are also other administrative duties that go into building a program, such as trying to set up tournaments, team-bonding activities or even just going to meetings.
"My goal is to build a sustained team here at Dakota Wesleyan that can be competitive. But we also want to help grow girls wrestling in South Dakota," Lynch said.
"We want to be able to have club opportunities or do clinics and camps and things like that, where we're helping grow girls wrestling, because that's really the mission is to get more opportunities for everybody who wants to compete in our sport, because we think it's the best sport on the planet."
