Longtime Warrior wrestling coach Kristen Iannuzzi leaves West Orange

West Orange High School head coach Kristen Iannuzzi has been the leader of West Orange wrestling for 13 years and has delivered several district championships to the school. 

During her first two years, she took a team that went 5-12 to a 23-5 record and a district championship in the 2009-10 season. 

She was a trailblazer who showed women could coach boys wrestling just as well as men at a time when there were hardly any female coaches in boys wrestling. 

That era has now come to an end.

Iannuzzi on Aug. 25 announced via Facebook she is hanging up her whistle. 

“There are moments in our journey that are bittersweet,” she wrote. “As I stand at the precipice of new beginnings, I leave behind an enormous piece of who I’ve been for 23 years.” 

She thanked her fellow coaches, athletes and everyone else who played a part in the way they influenced her and also said she hoped that she left West Orange “just a little better than (she) found them.” 

Her journey is a unique — but one she would never change. 

Iannuzzi’s wrestling journey began in 1998, when she began her freshman year at Winter Springs High School. Iannuzzi was originally a volleyball player but was riding the bench. That’s when she heard a morning announcement for wrestling tryouts. In that moment, she decided to trade the court for a wrestling mat. 

“When I told the coach I was going to come out, he said, ‘I knew you were smarter than your brother,’” Iannuzzi said. 

Her brother played all sorts of sports, but wrestling was the one sport that always eluded him. 

Iannuzzi became the only female wrestler on the boys squad, but that did not mean she was not expected to do the same things as her teammates.

“I didn’t get any special treatment, and I think (my teammates) bonded quickly, because we’re all in that shared environment,” Iannuzzi said. “I still keep in touch with a lot of those guys to this day. … It didn’t matter if I was a girl or not.” 

Being treated just like any other wrestler on the team was something Iannuzzi contributed to her philosophy as a coach.

“It was easy not to expect any different from every athlete,” Iannuzzi said. “My passion for the sport transcended gender. It didn’t matter that I was a female. The wrestlers at West Orange saw my passion for it and that was what created the foundation — understanding that I was going to give it my all. If they could meet me halfway in training that we would be successful.” 

In high school, Iannuzzi became the first three-time Florida state champion for girls wrestling. She went on to the University of North Florida, where she graduated with a degree in English. That eventually led to West Orange. 

So what does Iannuzzi hope her lasting legacy at West Orange will be now that she’s retiring? 

“An individual who put the team first and who wanted the best out of the athletes as people first and as wrestlers second,” Iannuzzi said. 

Now, Iannuzzi will head into her new role as the administrator of school safety and security for Orange County Public Schools after receiving her doctoral degree from the University of Central Florida last summer.