We have one final big weekend of the calendar year of competition for our incoming recruits. We will have three recruits competing at the Battle of Waterloo. Ben Kueter and Gabe Arnold of City High (Iowa City) and Ryder Block of Waverly-Shell Rock will face some solid competition at this always tough tournament that is on Friday and Saturday.

Keyan Hernandez will also compete on Friday and Saturday at the CMR Holiday Tournament in Great Falls, Montana. Great Falls in the hometown of Iowa Hawkeye greats Bill and Mike Zadick. I just had to throw that in there.

On Saturday Nate Jesuroga will be at the Red Owens Invitational at Southeast Polk and Kale Petersen will be at the Carroll Invitational.

I will post a blog with results.

Class of 2023

Nate Jesuroga – Southeast Polk

Sat, Dec 17 – Red Owens Invitational (SEP HS, Pleasant Hill)

Kale Petersen – Greene County

Sat, Dec 17 – at Carroll Invitational (Carroll, Iowa)

Ryder Block – Waverly-Shell Rock

Fri/Sat, Dec 16-17 – at Battle of Waterloo

Gabe Arnold – City High (Iowa City)

Fri/Sat, Dec 16-17 – at Battle of Waterloo

Ben Kueter – City High (Iowa City)

Fri/Sat, Dec 16-17 – at Battle of Waterloo

Class of 2024

Keyan Hernandez – Billings West (Montana)

Fri/Sat, Dec 16-17 – at CMR Holiday Tournament (Great Falls, Montana)

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

The most wide open weight in the Iowa lineup heading into the season was 157. There were four wrestlers in the mix for the starting spot with no clear favorite. The opening at 157 has been filled by Cobe Siebrecht. After winning the wrestle offs to make the first start of the season Siebrecht has not looked back.

Siebrecht is 6-0 with five bonus point wins with two pins and three major decisions. To add to that, Siebrecht has the two most exciting moves of the season so far. The flurry that led to a pin over #10 Anthony Artalona of Penn earned Siebrecht the honor of being named Big Ten Wrestler of the Week.

Siebrecht followed up with a huge throw against Iowa State on his way to earning a 10-2 decision over John Kraisser of Iowa State. That was four crucial points in the Iowa win over Iowa State, 18-15.

It is safe to say that Siebrecht is not afraid to get after it and has quickly become a crowd favorite. Another stat of note. Siebrecht has only surrendered four match points in the four matches that went the distance this season.

Siebrecht will face eight nationally ranked wrestlers in the nine remaining dual meets with the #2,3,8,10,11,14, 16, and 28th ranked wrestlers in the country. If the rankings hold up now Siebrecht, currently ranked #21, will only be a favorite in two of his nine remaining matches and just a slight favorite in one of those matches. The tough competition will prepare Siebrecht for the grind of the Big Tens and the NCAA National Tournament.

Points at 157 for Nationals could make a huge difference in the team race. I have followed Siebrecht throughout his career in our hometown of Lisbon, Iowa. I am confident that Siebrecht will peak at Nationals and be there for his team by providing valuable points.

157

Cobe Siebrecht (UI) pinned Joey Mora (Cal Baptist), 4:59

Cobe Siebrecht (UI) major dec. #28 Nate Lukez (ARMY), 8-0

Nick Palumbo (Sacred Heart) dec. Caleb Rathjen (UI), 8-4

Caleb Rathjen (UI) dec. Nick Stampoulus (Buffalo), 6-0

#29 Cobe Siebrecht (UI) pinned #10 Anthony Artalona (Penn), 4:02

#25 Cobe Siebrecht (UI) major dec. Jason Kraisser (ISU), 10-2

#24 Cobe Siebrecht (UI) dec. Lincoln Heck (UTC), 6-2

Upcoming ranked opponents at 157 (InterMat Rankings)

 #3 Kendall Coleman  at Purdue  Jan 8

#14 Trevor Trumblee  Northwestern  Jan 13

#2 Peyton Robb  Nebraska  Jan 20

#16 Garrett Model  at Wisconsin  Jan 22

#28 Terrell Barraclough  at Penn State  Jan 27

#11 Brayton Lee  at Minnesota  Feb 3

#10 Will Lewan  Michigan  Feb 10

#8 Kaden Gfeller  Oklahoma State  Feb 19

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!  

Iowa Wrestling released the date of registration for their summer camps. This is important because the Iowa Wrestling Camps have sold out the last several years. Getting registered early is needed to attend these camps.

From Iowa Wrestling Camp Director Bobby Telford:

Hello,

Camp registration will open on Wednesday, January 18th! Please visit www.iowawrestlingcamps.com to register. Camps will sell out quickly so please register if you want to attend. The hardest part about camp is turning people away. We will have a waiting list once camp is full.

Contact me prior to registration opening if you have a group of 10+ athletes interested in attending camp.

We are excited to have you all at camp next summer! If you have further questions, do not hesitate to reach out.

Go Hawks,

Bobby Telford

319-335-9404

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

In a press release the University of Iowa just announced great news for the Iowa Wrestling program. This is H-U-G-E!

Iowa Athletics

Iowa Hawkeyes Announce UFC as Men’s and Women’s Wrestling Program Sponsor

Both Brands Share Standards of High Performance and Excellence

IOWA CITY, Iowa – The University of Iowa Athletics Department and its multimedia rightsholder, LEARFIELD’s Hawkeye Sports Properties, today announced that UFCÒ, the world’s premier mixed martial arts organization, will serve as a proud sponsor of the men’s and women’s wrestling programs.

This marks the first college sports sponsorship for UFC, which chose Iowa for its longtime tradition of wrestling excellence within the men’s program and for support of the university’s newest intercollegiate program, women’s wrestling.  Iowa is the first NCAA Division I Power Five institution to offer the sport, as announced Sept. 23, 2021, with Clarissa Chun serving as the team’s first head coach.

UFC’s sponsorship encompasses signage inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena, as well as exposure during the wrestling radio broadcasts and visibility on Iowa Hawkeyes’ official social platforms.

“The partnership between Iowa wrestling and UFC is a perfect fit. We both celebrate tough, physical athletes who compete at the highest level,” said Iowa men’s wrestling head coach Tom Brands. “There is a bridge between wrestlers and fighters across the two sports. With this agreement, it is even more significant.”

The legacy and tradition of the Iowa men’s wrestling program is undeniable, which was a key driver for UFC’s sponsorship. Season tickets for the 2022-23 Hawkeye wrestling season sold out for the second-consecutive year, and the team returns six past All-Americans on the roster. The Hawkeyes have led the nation in attendance in every season since 2006-07 – Tom Brands’ first as head coach – including setting an NCAA record in 2021-22, with an average of 14,905 fans.

“We’re proud to support the Iowa Hawkeyes’ men’s and women’s wrestling programs,” said Lawrence Epstein, UFC Chief Operating Officer.  “Many of the best UFC athletes were skilled and experienced collegiate wrestlers.  Wrestling provides an excellent foundation of athleticism, discipline, determination, and respect that is needed to have a successful MMA career.  We’re looking forward to seeing the Hawkeyes continue their tradition of excellence and sportsmanship and compete for NCAA championships for many years to come”

“It is significant that UFC selected Iowa and its wrestling programs for a first-of-its-kind sponsorship, and we’re extremely appreciative of that support,” said Chun, whose team begins competing in 2023-24. “Our athletes, and theirs, have a shared bond of training and competing at an elite level.”

About UFC

UFC® is the world’s premier mixed martial arts organization (MMA), with more than 688 million fans and 211 million social media followers. The organization produces more than 40 live events annually in some of the most prestigious arenas around the world, while broadcasting to nearly 900 million TV households across more than 170 countries. UFC’s athlete roster features the world’s best MMA athletes representing more than 75 countries. The organization’s digital offerings include UFC FIGHT PASS®, one of the world’s leading streaming services for combat sports. UFC is owned by global entertainment, sports and content company Endeavor, and is headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada. For more information, visit UFC.com and follow UFC at Facebook.com/UFC, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram and TikTok: @UFC.

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

There are few certainties in life. One thing you can count on is Max Murin giving everything he has every single time he steps on the mat for the University of Iowa. If there was ever a wrestler to describe as a grinder it is Max Murin.

Murin is 5-1 for the season and ranked #6 at 149. We have seen Murin score point totals of 24, 15, 20, and 16 so far this season. That would be a trend we would like to see continue.

He will face six ranked wrestlers in the nine remaining dual meets including #2 Austin Gomez of Wisconsin and #7 Yahya Thomas of Northwestern. Those are the type of matches you see late in the NCAA National Tournament.

As a fan I appreciate Max Murin because of his consistent effort. I will soak up the rest of Murin’s last season in the lineup for the Hawks because he is a fighter. Murin is the type of guy that you never count out of a match.

His points are needed in the team race and I believe Max Murin has a huge match in store for us at the National Tournament. 

149

#7 Max Murin (UI) tech fall Chaz Hallmark (Cal Baptist), 24-9

#7 Max Murin (UI) major dec. Matt Williams (ARMY), 15-5

#7 Max Murin (UI) tech. fall Matt Laurie (SH), 20-5

#7 Max Murin (UI) major dec. Kaleb Burgess (UB), 16-5

#6 Max Murin (UI) dec. #10 Doug Zapf (Penn), 6-4 (SV1)

#8 Paniro Johnson (ISU) dec. #6 Max Murin, 3-1

#27 Noah Castillo (UTC) dec. Joel Jesuroga (UI), 3-2 (TB1)

Upcoming ranked opponents (InterMat Rankings)

#7 Yahya Thomas  Northwestern  Jan 13

 #2 Austin Gomez  at Wisconsin  Jan 22

#17 Shayne Van Ness  at Penn State  Jan 27

#16 Michael Blockhus  at Minnesota  Feb 3

#22 Chance Lamer  Michigan  Feb 10

#21 Victor Voinovich  Oklahoma State  Feb 19

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!  

Real Woods transferring to Iowa from Stanford was one of the top stories in the wrestling world over the off-season. Woods started the season late due to injury. Drew Bennett was 3-2 in varsity action. It was worth the wait for Hawk fans for Woods to appear in the lineup.

In his first match of the season Woods defeated #10 Casey Swiderski of Iowa State. On Saturday night Woods was impressive against Chattanooga. He scored an early takedown followed by 14 back points to score a rare first period tech fall, 16-0 in 2:57. That is the type of offensive spark you like to see in the lineup. 

Woods will face a ranked opponent in eight of the nine remaining dual meets at 141 including four in the top nine in the country. The grind of the Big Ten will prepare Woods and the entire team for the NCAA Tournament.

Currently ranked #2 in the country, the sky’s the limit for Woods. I look forward to seeing him compete the rest of the season. Sure like our chances of winning it all here at 141.

141

Drew Bennett (UI) major dec. Edison Alanis (Cal Baptist), 16-5

Julian Sanchez (ARMY) dec. Drew Bennett (UI), 5-3

Drew Bennett (UI) dec. Seth Brown (Sacred Heart), 12-8

Drew Bennett (UI) dec. Matt Ryan (Buffalo), 9-6

Carmen Ferrante (Penn) dec. Drew Bennett (UI), 4-1

#2 Real Woods (UI) dec. #10 Casey Swiderski (ISU), 4-2

#2 Real Woods (UI) tech fall Dayne Dalrymple (UTC), 16-0  (2:57)

Upcoming ranked opponents at 141 (InterMat Rankings)

#16 Parker Filius  at Purdue  Jan 8

#6 Frankie Tal-Shahar  Northwestern  Jan 13

#9 Brock Hardy  Nebraska  Jan 20

#22 Joe Zargo  at Wisconsin  Jan 22

#5 Beau Barlett  at Penn State  Jan 27

#7 Jake Bergeland  at Minnesota  Feb 3

#20 Cole Mattin  Michigan  Feb 10

#28 Carter Young  Oklahoma State  Feb 19

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!  

Willie Saylor of MatScouts updated his rankings following  a huge weekend of high school wrestling across the country. Incoming Iowa Hawkeye Ben Kueter is now the #1 P4P (pound for pound) recruit in the country as well as #1 at 215 lbs.

Kueter won a U20 World freestyle title this past summer in Sofie, Bulgaria in impressive fashion. He is a three-time undefeated state champion for City High (Iowa City, Iowa). Kueter is highly ranked nationally as a linebacker in football. Last year Kueter committed to both the Iowa Wrestling and Iowa Football programs. I have stated numerous times that Ben Kueter is the best athlete for an incoming Iowa Wrestling recruit that I have ever seen.

Nate Jesuroga went up one spot to #15 on the PFP rankings and is still #1 in the country at 126. Ryder Block remained #3 at 138.

Gabe Arnold moved up one notch to #2 at 182. Arnold defeated two wrestlers that were ranked ahead of him nationally at the Dan Gable Donnybrook two weeks ago and continues to climb the rankings. 

And as always Iowa Wrestling fans, do NOT forget about Cody Chittum. He was the #1 overall recruit in the Class of 2022 and is taking a grey shirt season. He will begin classes next August with the Class of 2023. 

Should these rankings hold up, that would give the Hawks two #1 overall recruits…in one incoming class. Has that ever happened before? I will have to ask Willie himself.

I will keep repeating that the Class of 2023 is the best recruiting class in the history of Iowa Wrestling. By quite a margin.

This group of recruits will make their way from warming up in “The greatest wrestling training facility…in the world!” through a tunnel and into yet another sold out Carver-Hawkeye Arena with the crowd on their feet singing the Iowa Fight Song. Cannot wait.

The future looks great for Iowa Wrestling.

Class of 2023

Nate Jesuroga – Southeast Polk  

#15 P4P

#1 at 126.

Kale Petersen – Greene County  132 lbs.

Not ranked.

Ryder Block – Waverly-Shell Rock  138 lbs.

#3 at 138.

Gabe Arnold – City High (Iowa City)  182 lbs.

#2 at 182

Ben Kueter – City High (Iowa City)  220 lbs.

#1 P4P

#1 at 215

Cody Chittum  149/157  #1 overall recruit in the Class of 2022 and will enroll with the Class of 2023 in August.

Class of 2024

Keyan Hernandez – Billings West (Montana)

Not ranked.

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

Willie Saylor of MatScouts updated his rankings following  a huge weekend of high school wrestling across the country. Incoming Iowa Hawkeye Ben Kueter is now the #1 P4P (pound for pound) recruit in the country as well as #1 at 215 lbs.

Kueter won a U20 World freestyle title this past summer in Sofie, Bulgaria in impressive fashion. He is a three-time undefeated state champion for City High (Iowa City, Iowa). Kueter is highly ranked nationally as a linebacker in football. Last year Kueter committed to both the Iowa Wrestling and Iowa Football programs. I have stated numerous times that Ben Kueter is the best athlete for an incoming Iowa Wrestling recruit that I have ever seen.

Nate Jesuroga went up one spot to #15 on the PFP rankings and is still #1 in the country at 126. Ryder Block remained at #3 at 138.

Gabe Arnold moved up one notch to #2 at 182. Arnold defeated two wrestlers that were ranked ahead of him nationally at the Dan Gable Donnybrook two weeks ago and continues to climb the rankings. 

And as always Iowa Wrestling fans, do NOT forget about Cody Chittum. He was the #1 overall recruit in the Class of 2022 and is taking a grey shirt season. He will begin classes next August with the Class of 2023. 

Should these rankings hold up, that would give the Hawks two #1 overall recruits…in one incoming class. Has that ever happened before? I will have to ask Willie himself.

I will keep repeating that the Class of 2023 is the best recruiting class in the history of Iowa Wrestling. By quite a margin.

This group of recruits will make their way from warming up in “The greatest wrestling training facility…in the world!” through a tunnel and into yet another sold out Carver-Hawkeye Arena with the crowd on their feet singing the Iowa Fight Song. Cannot wait.

The future looks great for Iowa Wrestling.

Class of 2023

Nate Jesuroga – Southeast Polk  

#15 P4P

#1 at 126.

Kale Petersen – Greene County  132 lbs.

Not ranked.

Ryder Block – Waverly-Shell Rock  138 lbs.

#3 at 138.

Gabe Arnold – City High (Iowa City)  182 lbs.

#3 at 182

Ben Kueter – City High (Iowa City)  220 lbs.

#1 P4P

#1 at 215

Cody Chittum  149/157  #1 overall recruit in the Class of 2022 and will enroll with the Class of 2023 in August.

Class of 2024

Keyan Hernandez – Billings West (Montana)

Not ranked.

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

InterMat released their new rankings. It is still Penn State-Iowa for 1-2 in both the Tournament and Dual rankings. Penn State was 16 points ahead of Iowa last week and are now 24.5 points in front of Iowa at 102.5-78. Iowa went down .5 points and Penn State gained eight points this week. Missouri and Cornell remained at 3-4.

The Dual Meet rankings stayed the same another week with Penn State-Iowa-Ohio State-Arizona State.

At 157 Cobe Siebrecht went up from 24 to 21 and Patrick Kennedy rose one from 14 to 13 at 165. Nelson Brands dropped from 14 to 17 at 174.

All of the other Iowa wrestlers remained the same in the rankings from last week. #1 ranked Spencer Lee and #2 ranked Real Woods, Tony Cassioppi is #3, Max Murin and Jacob Warner are both at #6.  Abe Assad at #8 and Brody Teske at #14. 

Iowa will compete next at the Soldier Salute in Coralville, Iowa on December 29-30.

December 13 InterMat Rankings

125 Spencer Lee – #1

133 Brody Teske – #14

141 Real Woods – #2

149 Max Murin – #6

157 Cobe Siebrecht – #21

165 Patrick Kennedy – #13

174 Nelson Brands – #17

184 Abe Assad – #8

197 Jacob Warner – #6

Hwt Tony Cassioppi – #3

Tournament

1. Penn State – 102.5
2. Iowa – 78
3. Missouri- 66
4. Cornell – 62

Dual Meet

1. Penn State
2. Iowa
3. Ohio State
4. Arizona State

Full rankings: https://intermatwrestle.com/rankings/college

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

The starting spot at 133 was one of the big questions for the starting lineup heading into the season. Senior transfer Brody Teske defeated Cullan Schriever in the wrestle off to make the varsity squad. In the season opener Teske defeated Hunter Leake of Cal-Baptist, 6-4. We have not seen Teske since due to an injury.

Schriever started the season off by winning the Luther Open. He then won his first three varsity matches to begin the year with an 8-0 record. Since then he has dropped three straight close matches in dual meets.

Following the Iowa State meet Tom Brands stated on the radio that Teske was the starter at 133 but that he was out with an injury. I hope we will see Teske in the lineup soon. Even though Teske has only wrestled that one early match he is still ranked #14 by InterMat. 

Eight of the nine remaining dual meets have a ranked opponent at 133 including the #1 and #2 ranked wrestlers in the country. I am hoping Teske gets the quality mat time in to prepare for the post season tournaments.

Points for Iowa at 133 will be critical in the team race. Teske certainly has the potential to score quality points for us and challenge for All American status at the NCAA National Tournament.

133

Brody Teske (UI) dec. Hunter Leake (Cal Baptist), 6-4

Cullan Schriever (UI) dec. Rich Treanor (ARMY), 2-0

Cullan Schriever (UI) dec. Andrew Fallon (Sacred Heart), 20-13

Cullan Schriever (UI) tech. fall. Mason Bush (Buffalo), 23-8

#10 Michael Colaiocco (Penn) dec. Cullan Schriever (UI), 6-0

Ramazan Attasauov (ISU) dec. Cullan Schriever (UI), 3-1

#27 Brayden Palmer (UTChatt) dec. Cullan Schriever (UI), 3-1 (SV1)

Upcoming ranked opponents (InterMat Rankings)

#10 Lucas Byrd  Illinois  Jan 6

#18 Chris Cannon  Northwestern  Jan 13

#33 Boo Dryden  Nebraska  Jan 20

#19 Taylor LaMont  at Wisconsin Jan 22

#1 Roman Bravo-Young  at Penn State  Jan 27

#20 Aaron Nagao  at Minnesota  Feb 3

#7 Dylan Ragusin  Michigan  Feb 10

#2 Daton Fix  Oklahoma State  Feb 19

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!