FAYETTE, Iowa - Upper Iowa head women's wrestling coach Jay Tiedemann has announced the addition of Bentley Hills to the staff as a graduate assistant.
"I'm very excited to welcome Bentley back to Upper Iowa and our women's wrestling program!" Tiedemann said. "She displayed tremendous work ethic & leadership as a student-athlete here, and I believe she has great potential as a coach. Bentley's previous experience coaching wrestling will be a phenomenal asset within our wrestling room and on the recruiting trail."
Hills has previous coaching experience at Beat the Streets Chicago and at Oak Park and River Forest High School in Illinois. She hopes to use that experience in this new role.
"Being a women's wrestling coach means serving as a role model and advocate for athletes in a sport that continues to grow and create opportunities for women," Hills said. "It's about helping young women build confidence, discipline and belief in themselves both on and off the mat. Women's wrestling has experienced incredible growth, and I want to play a role in helping athletes take advantage of those opportunities. To me, coaching isn't just about winning matches; it's about helping athletes become stronger, more confident individuals and making a lasting impact on their lives."
She has competed for the Peacocks for the last two seasons at 103 pounds. Before her Peacock career, Hills spent two seasons competing for Carthage College in Wisconsin.
"My goal is to continue creating a strong team culture and program that consistently develops successful student-athletes," Hills said. "I think I can impact the team by bringing energy and accountability. Having recently been a college athlete myself, I understand the challenges student-athletes face and can connect with them on that level."
The opportunity to return to the program where she competed, while continuing to learn under Tiedemann and help the next generation of Peacocks, made it an easy decision.
"I wanted to come back to UIU because I believe in the direction of this program, and I wanted the opportunity to give back to a place that invested so much into me," Hills said. "Having Coach Tiedemann here was a big part of that decision because of the way he develops his athletes on and off the mat. I felt like this was the best place for me to continue growing as a coach while helping the next generation of female wrestlers succeed."
