WICHITA, Kan. -- Friends University VP of Athletics & Strategic Expansion Dr. Rob Ramseyer has announced the hiring of Boo Dryden as the school's new women's wrestling head coach.

"We are excited to welcome Boo as our new women's coach," said Ramseyer. "He had a successful and decorated career as a wrestler and has deep roots in our area. He is a great relationship builder and we are excited to see him lead our program."

Dryden comes to Friends after serving as an assistant coach for the men and women's teams at Andover High School. During his time there, he coached in two state tournaments and helped the program to its best finish in school history. Dryden contributed to the Trojan men finishing second in the Class 5A state championship while helping coach nine state qualifiers, three state champions and four state placements.

His experience also includes coaching the Team Kansas national team at the USA Junior Duals in Tulsa, Okla. this past summer.

A top-level collegiate competitor, Dryden was an NCAA-I qualifier at the University of Minnesota and recorded an eighth-place finish at the Big Ten championship in 2021.

He then transferred to the University of Nebraska and was promptly named the program's Redshirt of the Year for the 2021-22 season. During his career, he trained with two Olympic Gold Medalists.

Dryden started his collegiate career at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M (NEO), a junior college located in Miami, Okla. At NEO, Dryden shined and earned NJCAA All-America honors in 2018 before winning a National Junior College championship during the 2019 campaign.

As Ramseyer noted, Dryden has built a robust local connection, highlighted by owning Boos' School Academy in Wichita. Duties for that include conducting private and team wrestling practices for youth in the community and assisting wrestlers in the college recruitment process.

Wrestling ties run deep in Dryden's family, as his cousin Doug Hoover is the assistant coach at local Goddard high school and recently led the program to their ninth Class 5A championship in the past 10 seasons and 14th title overall.

"First of all, I would like to say I am beyond thrilled and overly excited for this opportunity," said Dryden. "I would like to personally thank all my family, friends as well as previous coaches and teammates over the years for getting me ready for this new venture in my career! Most Importantly I would like to thank Rob (Ramseyer) and Friends University for giving me this opportunity and believing in me. I am humbly blessed to have this unique opportunity in the city in which I was born and raised. I am extremely excited to get started and make great things happen as soon as I step on that mat."