Iowa
Iowa football lands commitment from 2025 5-star specialist Scott Starzyk
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Iowa QB Cade McNamara meets with media on July 16, 2024.
IOWA CITY — The future of Iowa football special teams just got a boost.
Class of 2025 specialist Scott Starzyk announced his commitment to the Hawkeyes on Thursday. Starzyk is the No. 1 ranked kicker and No. 4 ranked punter in the class, according to Kohl’s Kicking. He is regarded as a five-star prospect in both categories.
Starzyk, a product of The Woodlands High School in Texas, picked the Hawkeyes over other offers from Mississippi State, Syracuse, Texas A&M and Oklahoma, among others. Iowa offered Starzyk a full-ride scholarship, which is something it doesn’t always do for high school specialist prospects. He took a visit to Iowa in June.
Iowa kicker Drew Stevens has two seasons of eligibility remaining. So barring something unforeseen, Starzyk will be in his first season in the Hawkeye program while Stevens is in his last. The Hawkeyes also have placekicker Tripp Woody on the roster. Iowa just brought in a freshman punter, Rhys Dakin, to fill the departure of Hawkeye legend Tory Taylor.
Iowa special teams coordinator LeVar Woods continues to do good work for the Hawkeyes. That facet of the game has been a strength for the program. Landing Starzyk is another step in continuing that standard.
Starzyk joins LeVar Woods’ son among the commitments in Iowa’s 2025 class. Iowa City West’s Mason Woods made his public pledge to Iowa in June.
The Hawkeyes continue to make progress in its 2025 recruiting class.
Over the last few weeks, the Hawkeyes have landed verbal commitments from Mason Woods, 3-star offensive lineman Cameron Herron and Lucas Allgeyer, 3-star cornerback CJ Bell and 3-star defensive lineman Brad Fitzgibbon.
Iowa is still trying to fill out the class. Highly touted Hawkeye legacy recruit Iose Epenesa, brother of former Iowa star A.J. Epenesa, has yet to announce his college choice. If Epenensa were to commit to the Hawkeyes, it would be a headliner to Iowa’s 2025 recruiting class. The Hawkeyes are also still in the mix for receiver Terrence Smith.
Starzyk is now the 14th player to commit to Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz’s 2025 recruiting class.
He joins the following verbal commitments in the class:
- Defensive lineman Brad Fitzgibbon (Marist, Ill.)
- Cornerback CJ Bell (St. Thomas More School, CT)
- Offensive lineman Lucas Allgeyer (Mary Institute and St. Louis Country Day, MO)
- Offensive lineman Cameron Herron (Warren Central, Ind.)
- Athlete Mason Woods (Iowa City West)
- Defensive back Drew MacPherson (Loyola Academy, Ill.)
- Quarterback Ryan Fitzgerald (Loyola Academy, Ill.)
- Tight end Thomas Meyer (Clear Lake)
- Linebacker Burke Gautcher (Sycamore, Ill.)
- Linebacker Carson Cooney (Oswego, Ill.),
- Tight end Eli Johnson (River Falls, Wis.),
- Quarterback Jimmy Sullivan (Fort Wayne, Ind.)
- Defensive lineman Joey VanWetzinga (Pleasant Valley)
Follow Tyler Tachman on X @Tyler_T15, contact via email at ttachman@gannett.com
The fourth and final bunch of Iowa high school boys basketball substate championship games are now set after the second round of Class 4A games were completed on Friday, February 27.
Substate championships in Iowa’s largest classification will take place on Tuesday, March 3, with the higher seed serving as host in all eight games. Winners advance to Des Moines, Iowa and the Casey’s Center to compete in the Iowa High School Athletic Association Boys State Tournament beginning March 9.
Three-time defending 4A state champion Valley was eliminated by Ankeny, 72-36. The Tigers, who lost all five starters from a year ago, won just one game prior to earning a victory in the opening round of postseason play.
Cedar Falls, who has held the No. 1 spot in 4A throughout the season, scored a dominating 78-45 decision vs. Iowa City High to move on.
Colin Rice, a Nebraska commit for Fred Hoiberg, scored a single-game school-record 50 points as Waukee Northwest topped Iowa City Liberty, 101-58.
Council Bluffs Lincoln, Ames, North Scott, Dowling Catholic, Dubuque Senior, Johnston, Linn-Mar, Muscatine, Norwalk, Cedar Rapids Prairie, Des Moines Roosevelt, Urbandale and Waukee all joined them in the next round after winning games at home.
The 1A and 2A substate finals will take place on Saturday, February 28 while the 3A games go down on Monday, March 2.
Here are the Iowa boys high school basketball Class 4A substate finals for Wednesday, March 3.
Wednesday, March 3
Class 4A
When it comes to the Iowa Hawkeyes 2026 football season, it doesn’t get much bigger than Ohio State coming to Kinnick Stadium.
No one knows at this stage where the Buckeyes will be come Oct. 3, but Iowa has a chance to make an early impression against a team that is no stranger to winning the big one.
Iowa’s B1G schedule couldn’t get off to a worse start as they head to Michigan and then welcome the Buckeyes to Kinnick.
Hopefully for Iowa’s sake, their first three games against Northern Illinois, Iowa State, and Northern Iowa are enough to get them prepared. If not, things could get ugly.
ESPN Believes Ohio State is Iowa’s Biggest Opponent in 2026
The Michigan game will certainly be a test, but hosting the Buckeyes is a different animal. That gives the Hawkeyes an advantage like no other, and if there was ever a time to give OSU a run for their money, it’s in Iowa City on Oct. 3.
“The Hawkeyes haven’t faced Ohio State at Kinnick Stadium since 2017, when Nate Stanley threw five touchdowns as they stunned the Buckeyes 55-24. An early October win over Ohio State could propel Iowa into the Big Ten title and playoff conversations,” Jake Trotter wrote.
To put things into perspective, Indiana and Oregon were the other two teams that had the Buckeyes listed as their defining game in the 2026 season. Shockingly, Iowa was actually selected against a team, that being Minnesota. Seeing as that’s for the Floyd of Rosedale, it makes complete sense.
Iowa Can’t Let Regular Season Opportunities Go To Waste
Last year was seemingly the Hawkeyes’ first time to actually make the College Football Playoffs. They came up short as their losses to No. 16 Iowa State, No. 11 Indiana, No. 9 Oregon and No. 17 USC all added up. Sure, those were by a combined 15 points, but that doesn’t matter, as it’s bad enough that a three-loss team made the playoffs.
Iowa ended with a bang as they took down No. 14 Vanderbilt in the ReliaQuest Bowl, 34-27. Now, all eyes are on either Jeremy Hecklinski or Hank Brown. One of those men will have a chance to make their first B1G start at the Big House in Michigan.
It doesn’t get any tougher than that, as Iowa is immediately putting their new QB into deep water. They’ll have three games prior to that to get up to speed, but other than that, it’s go time as OSU awaits after their trip to Michigan.
Don’t forget to bookmark Iowa Hawkeyes on SI for the latest news. exclusive interviews, recruiting coverage and more!
MANCHESTER, Iowa — The state of Iowa lost a titan of the prep coaching world this week. Former Kee High School baseball coach Gene Schultz died on Monday at the age of 80.
Schultz spent 45 seasons as the baseball coach at Kee, helping turn the program into an Iowa dynasty. He won 9 State championships (not counting 2 fall titles, which the IHSAA doesn’t recognize in the record books), and took the Hawks to 19 State tournaments, which is also the most in Iowa history.
His 1,754 wins are not only the most in Iowa history, but the most of any high school baseball coach in the country.
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