Ben kueter

This past Monday, I had the opportunity to visit the University of Iowa and sit in on a Hawkeye wrestling practice. It was the day after the news dropped that Bo Bassett had officially decommitted, setting off a wave of online criticism, speculation, and hot takes about the future of Iowa Wrestling. But while everyone online was busy writing off the Hawkeyes and predicting the downfall of Tom Brands, I was watching something very different unfold on the mat. Inside the room, the energy was focused, intense, and unbothered. I watched Drake Ayala, Patrick Kennedy, Angelo Ferrari, Michael Caliendo, and incoming transfers Dean Peterson and Massoma Endene put in serious work. These guys weren’t distracted. They weren’t rattled. They looked locked in, hungry, and ready to compete at a high level this coming season. You can feel the competitive fire in that room—it’s still very much alive. Let’s be honest, losing top recruits like Bo Bassett stings. These are high-profile names and future stars of the sport. But to act like a couple of decommitments signal the death of a dynasty? That’s just not grounded in reality. Here’s what I saw: ✔️ A coaching staff still pushing with purpose ✔️ Athletes engaged and training with intensity ✔️ A program that still expects to win One practice doesn’t tell the full story, of course. But it tells more than message boards and Twitter threads ever will. Wrestling programs are built on more than recruiting rankings. Culture, development, grit, and leadership matter just as much—if not more—over the course of a season. And Iowa still has all of those ingredients. I’m not here to defend or critique decisions I wasn’t a part of. I don’t know exactly what led to the decommitments. What I do know is that the Hawkeyes aren’t folding. Far from it. Tom Brands isn’t going anywhere, and from what I saw, his team is far from done making noise. Don't count out the Hawkeyes. They're still in the fight. And they still know how to win. — Dalton Bullard The School of Wrestling