SJU hires Alex Van Krevelen for wrestling head coach

On April 14th, Alex Van Krevelen was named the new SJU Wrestling Coach. Prior to SJU, Van Krevelen served as the Head Wrestling Coach for men and women at Shakopee High School where he compiled a 133-20 dual record. During his five seasons at Shakopee, Van Krevelen led his team to the Minnesota Class AAA runner-up finishes in 2025 and 2026, as well as third place finishes in 2022 and 2024. 

Within the last couple of years, Van Krevelen had found some success at the high school level and said he thought he could possibly do this at the college level. He said it became a dream of his. 

Van Krevelen said he knew he wanted to stay in the cities to be close to family, so when he saw the job opening at SJU, it was a perfect opportunity. 

“I saw the job posting and jumped on it because I wanted to see where it goes,” Van Krevelen said. 

Van Krevelen is looking forward to being able to recruit kids to come to St. John’s. 

“I’m excited to build a new culture in the wrestling room. To get in there, get to know these kids and build a culture these kids can be proud of when they leave our program,” Van Krevelen said.

He said a goal he has for the program is to bring a tradition of winning to Saint John’s. 

“I love to win, and I want to be a powerhouse program. I think we can build a program that can compete at the national level because St. John’s has a good group of people and a really good group of men,” Van Krevelen said. 

Coming from the high school level, Van Krevelen said he believes his coaching will translate well at the college level. 

“I think it’ll be easier to coach college because everyone in that room wants to be there. It takes a driven person to wrestle in college. These guys are already so determined and driven because they want to compete at the next level,” Van Krevelen said. 

Junior Connor Krueger has been able to meet with Van Krevelen, and he said his first impressions were really positive. 

“He seems like a stand-up guy and is very knowledgeable about the sport of wrestling,” Krueger said. 

Krueger said he is excited for what Van Krevelen brings to the program. 

“He brings a new, young energy to the program, which has been exciting for the team. At the same time, I’m really grateful for everything our previous coach contributed. He built a foundation here that we’re continuing to build on,” Krueger said. 

Krueger said he is looking forward to getting to know Van Krevelen better and seeing how SJU wrestling can grow as a team under him. 

“Coach AVK is young, driven and competitive, which matches the mindset of our team. I think his presence will be motivating not only for the wrestlers currently here but also for future recruits considering SJU,” Krueger said.

SJU Athletic Director Dan O’Brien said he is excited to have Van Krevelen join the Saint John’s community. 

“His energy, excitement and passion for coaching wrestling really came through in the interview. He checked the boxes for everyone he met with on the hiring committee, admissions, student athletes and other St. John’s coaches,” O’Brien said. 

O’Brien said Van Krevelen was a standout candidate throughout the entire interview process.

“We couldn’t find any reasons to doubt that he would be really successful here. We think he can take St. John’s wrestling to the standard that we would like for all of our programs to be at. I think we will become very competitive, and I believe Van Krevelen can take us there fast,” O’Brien said. 

During the first 45 minutes of the interview, Van Krevelen had already made an impression on O’Brien and the hiring committee. 

“We all felt his energy and knew he wanted to be there. Once he left the room, we all looked at each other and said we would wrestle for him in a second. That was the start of it. Then after getting feedback from the kids and admissions, we knew he was the right choice,” O’Brien said. “After talking with everyone, we knew he was the one and then had to find a way to get him here.”