University of Wisconsin-Platteville Pioneers

Kittleson coached the Pioneers from May 2021-January 2023. In his first season, Kittleson led the Pioneers to a third place finish at the WIAC Championships and qualified three wrestlers for the 2022 NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships including an All-American in Zach Thompson. His coaching accolades include a three-time Lower Midwest Regional Assistant Coach of the Year and coached 28 All-Americans, 36 national qualifiers, one national finalist and two national champions.

Kittleson brought with him ten years of coaching experience and served as the associate head wrestling coach at Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa from 2016-21. When Kittleson joined the staff, the Duhawks progressed from a 2-13 finish from the previous year to a 12-7 record in addition to a sixth-place finish at the NCAA Division III National Championship. The program continued to grow and most recently finished runner-up at the 2019 National Championship.   

In addition to coaching, Kittleson knows first-hand the balance and commitment it takes to be a collegiate student-athlete. From 2006-11, Kittleson wrestled for University of Northern Iowa where he was a 2009 NCAA Qualifier at 149 pounds as a sophomore.   

Kittleson was named the Lower Midwest Regional Assistant Coach of the Year three times, most recently in 2020. During his time at Loras, Duhawk wrestling tallied 27 All-Americans, 33 national qualifiers, one national finalist, and two national champions along with 23 National Wrestling Coaches' Association (NWCA) Scholar All-Americans. The Duhawks were also named American Rivers Conference Champions in 2020, runner-up in 2017, 2018, and 2019 and third place in 2021. Regionally, the team finished runner-up in 2017, 2018, 2019 and were Regional Champions in 2020.    

The St. Ansgar, Iowa native has not only a wealth of knowledge of the sport, but the academics which assists in recruiting the finest student-athletes to UW-Platteville. In addition to pursuing a masters in Coaching and Leadership from Loras, Kittleson earned a Bachelor of Arts in Physics Education with minors in Earth Science and Mathematics Education which he utilized while teaching high school physics and engineering at Perry High School in Perry, Iowa.    

Since 2015, Kittleson has served as the Iowa USA Wrestling National Team coach where he is the team coach at the Cadet and Junior National Freestyle Tournament. Kittleson has earned the USA Wrestling Bronze Coach Certification and is a NWCA CEO Leadership Academy graduate.    

Prior to collegiate coaching, Kittleson was the head varsity coach for five years at Perry High School where he also taught. Kittleson coached one state champion, two state finalists, nine state place winners and 18 state qualifiers. While head coach, the Blue Jays were four-time Iowa Regional Duals qualifiers, Kittleson was named the Racoon River Coach of the Year in 2012 and Central Iowa 2A District Coach of the year in 2016. During the time in central Iowa, Kittleson also served as a graduate student fellow advisor for Iowa State University.    

When asked about his background and work-ethic development upon joinging the staff, Kittleson explained, "My parents raised me on a farm in north central Iowa where it was instilled in me to never be outworked. I plan to carry that work ethic to UW-Platteville in a very exciting time for Pioneer Athletics. I have to thank my wife for always supporting me in my endeavors. It is a dream for me to be head wrestling coach at University of Wisconsin-Platteville and I would not be here without her."