WIN Magazine Coaches Corner: TJ Moen Developing the Next Generation of Iowa Wrestlers

TJ Moen fell in love with coaching wrestling just by being a big brother.

The two-time NJCAA All-American (NIACC) and 2012 NAIA third-place finisher, who was an integral part of Grand View’s first national championship team, was mentoring his younger brother, Austin, who was still in high school at the time. That is when the older Moen, who had originally planned to become a personal trainer, had an epiphany.

“My senior year of college I was coaching and helping him (Austin), and the more I coached him, the more I fell in love with coaching. I realized my goal of becoming a personal trainer all came back to coaching people anyhow.”

Moen was head coach at Saydel High School in Des Moines, where he had won two state titles as a prep star, from 2013-14 before pursuing the college ranks, serving as head assistant coach at Campbellsville from 2014-16 before returning to Grand View to serve as an assistant from 2016-18.

“Right out of college, I still had that mindset and wasn’t quite finding it at the high school level,” Moen said. “A very select few kids wanted to be there in that way. I wanted to coach kids who wanted to be the best and wanted to do it full time.”

After coaching Viking WC at Grand View for two years, Moen set out to start his own club, Moen Wrestling Academy, in 2019 while still working full time. He got laid off during the COVID-19 pandemic, however, which is when he really dove in headfirst as a full-time club coach.

“I went all in on the club, and it has been amazing,” Moen said. “I want to take kids to the US Open, develop state champs and Fargo All-Americans, and more. It doesn’t come easy, though. You have to have a process in place and trust it. The kids and parents have to trust it. Everybody wants quick results, but you got to put the work in time in and time out.”

As MWA has evolved in recent years, Moen secured a three-mat facility in downtown Des Moines as the club’s main location. Replete with a large training space, gym, bathroom, showers, and two coaches’ offices, Moen believes it is one of the premier club facilities in the state of Iowa.

He also believes MWA is well on its way to becoming one of the premier clubs in the state from a wrestling standpoint, as his sights are set on long-term development.

“We are always reaching to be the best in our room,” Moen said. “We are still working to be one of the best clubs in the state. It is a healthy thing to have so many great clubs. Between Immortal, Big Game, Sebolt, etc., we are always pushing our kids to be the best and feed off each other.”

Above all else, Moen wants to instill a love for the sport in his club kids, and part of that recipe is making sure they are having fun through the process.

“You got to make it fun for them,” he said. “We wrestle hard; we want to push the kids. You can make it fun for them and still be hard. Don’t be a drill sergeant on them. Let them know if they did a really nice job or if there is something they need to work on. Make it rewarding.

Moen also spoke on some refinements he and his coaching staff have discussed and implemented over the course of the journey in hopes of better serving the kids and families.

“Use encouraging words,” he said. “We want a significant number of kids enjoying practice and wanting to be there. We have lightened up on hard practices and the way we are wording the things we say. We don’t want our kids to wrestle out of fear. They should wrestle out of respect but not fear.”

Part of that process involves looping in the parents, Moen contends. He is a big believer in providing open communication with parents.

“Parents have a huge hand in the growth of a kid. We have got to have a mutual understanding and learn how each kid learns because every kid is different. They are not robots.”

Moen often draws insight by looking back on his own career. As someone who didn’t achieve much success in the first few years of his career, he says, parents need to be reminded that the long-term development goal overshadows the youth trophies and medals.

“Tell the parents to be positive and don’t worry about if their kids aren’t winning every local tournament.”

The endgame, Moen asserts, is becoming disciplined, respectful humans. Among two of his biggest goals for his student-athletes? Getting their degrees and giving back to the community.

“We just want these kids to learn good character and be supportive human beings. If they decide to wrestle, please give back to the community someday.”

As Moen, fully entrenched in the club coaching scene now seven years in, approaches his daily tasks, he always has former legendary Grand View head coach Nick Mitchell’s teachings at the forefront of his mind.

“He instilled a championship lifestyle in us,” Moen said. “He taught us to be the first one to practice. Be 20 minutes early. Make sure you’re giving maximum attitude and effort. Get what you need out of every practice. He would instill little things inside our head and make us question ourselves and whether we were giving our best in all areas.”

TJ Moen is now trying to pass those same lessons on to the next generation of young wrestlers in Iowa.