The IHSAA will hold the first round of the state wrestling tournament at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines on Wednesday this week. The Iowa football program has strong connections to talented wrestlers, as they’ve been able to bring them in and transform them into first-round NFL draft picks like Tristan Wirfs and Tyler Linderbaum.
Who could be next? We’ll see a few future Hawks and Iowa targets wrestle for state championships later this week.
One of the two four-star prospects Iowa signed in their 2024 recruiting class, Cody Fox from East Buchanan will head to Des Moines as the second seed at heavyweight with a record of 44-2. Last season, he finished sixth in the same weight class.
Fox totaled 62.5 tackles, including ten tackles for loss and four sacks on defense this football season. He was also an all-state offensive lineman for the third year in a row.
Potentially waiting for Fox in the final will be Mason Knipp, the #1 seed out of Columbus Catholic in Waterloo. The most recent addition to the Hawkeyes 2024 preferred walk-on class, Knipp is the reigning 1A champion at 220 pounds. He took the title last year by defeating then-defending 220-pound state champion, Jared Thiry of Don Bosco Gilbertville. He scored a winning takedown with 29 seconds left in sudden victory for a 3-1 win.
Knipp enters the week with a 34-0 record.
During his senior campaign on the football field for the Sailors, Knipp posted 78 tackles, including 36.5 tackles for loss and 11 sacks. He was a pivotal piece in Columbus’ run to the 1A semifinals in 2023.
Ethan Wood, a junior out of Mount Vernon, returns to the state tournament this season, jumping from 195 pounds last year to heavyweight this winter. He enters the event as the five-seed with a record of 39-9. At last season’s state tournament, he bowed out in the round of 16.
Wood took multiple game day visits to Kinnick this fall. On the gridiron, he posted 36 tackles, including 17 tackles for loss and 10.5 sacks for the Mustangs on defense. Offensively, he caught 24 passes for 347 yards and three scores. He has received interest from North Dakota, North Dakota State, South Dakota, South Dakota State and St. Thomas.
The six-seed in the same class and weight is another 2024 PWO, Trent Cakerice. He has a record of 37-3. Like Wood at the 2023 state tournament, the Grundy Center product was eliminated before he could earn a medal, falling in the quarterfinals.
For the football state champion Spartans, Cakerice posted 56.5 tackles, 16.5 tackles for loss and seven sacks in 2023.
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Seeking his second-straight state championship is Dreshaun Ross out of Fort Dodge. Ross took the belt at 195 pounds last year, and enters this week’s event as the one seed at 220-pounds with a 43-0 record.
Ross is the only football recruit on this list with an offer that has yet to sign. He’s a priority for the Hawkeyes in their 2026 recruiting cycle.
As mentioned before, the All-American wrestler may be keeping an eye on Iowa linebacker and wrestler Ben Kueter to see how his career pans out over the next two years, as Ross may have a chance to compete in both sports at Iowa as well.
On the football field this fall, Ross ran the ball 120 times for 729 yards and eight touchdowns on offense and posted 61.5 tackles and 11 tackles for loss on defense. He also had two interceptions as well.
In addition to an Iowa football offer, Ross also has offers from Iowa State, Purdue, Nebraska, Minnesota, Missouri and Kansas State.
Drew Campbell returns to the state meet looking for his first-ever medal. Last season, he was defeated in the round of 16 by current Hawkeye fullback, Rusty VanWetzinga. This year, he enters the tournament as the four-seed with a record of 26-3.
As a senior captain for the football Tigers, Campbell posted 64.5 tackles, 21.5 tackles for loss and six sacks this season.
The loss of LeVar Woods, the Iowa Hawkeyes’ long-time, elite special teams coordinator, cannot be dismissed. The Hawkeyes have consistently been among the nation’s best special teams units, from punting to kicking to owning the return and field position battle.
With LeVar Woods departing Iowa for Big Ten foe, the Michigan State Spartans, the Hawkeyes have a big hole to fill, and head coach Kirk Ferentz spoke to the media this week on what that succession plan may look like.
“Yeah, it’s not a light decision. The trick will be to find the next LeVar Woods. He’s done a fantastic job. He didn’t have the profile necessarily maybe at that point to predict what he was going to do, but he’s done all the work. It’s like a good player; players do the work. LeVar has done a great job immersing himself and learning every aspect and then growing with each and every turn. So I guess I’m describing what we’re looking for, a guy who’s a good coach, who’s eager to take a challenge on, and immerse themselves in that world.
“Special teams is a unique niche, if you will. I’m sure we’ll have good candidates. It’s not pressing right now in my mind. What is pressing is the next two weeks getting ready for the game, and then after that we’ll have eight plus weeks or eight plus months actually to get it right. I don’t plan on waiting until August to fill it, but we’ll figure that out when we get in the new year,” Ferentz said about LeVar Woods.
The past few seasons, Iowa has been elite on special teams with kicker Drew Stevens being incredibly consistent, the punting game flipping fields, and the run of returners consisting of Ihmir Smith-Marsette, Charlie Jones, Cooper DeJean, and Kaden Wetjen.
The Hawkeyes have won more than their fair share of games relying on this unit, and to continue that success, Ferentz needs to hit on this hire.
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With the Jimmy Rogers era starting up for the Iowa State Cyclones, he will be hoping to retain some of the talent for the program after the departure of Matt Campbell.
Since Campbell took the job with the Penn State Nittany Lions, there has been a barrage of recruits leaving the program. That was always to be expected with the coaching change, but the Cyclones’ class went from being one of the best in the history of the program to a bit of a problem.
Fortunately, Rogers is expected to bring some of his recruits over from Washington State as well, and that recently started with Malcolm Watkins committing to Iowa State. With the transfer portal set to open in a couple of weeks, there is undoubtedly going to be a lot of player movement.
For Rogers, there will be a couple of key players that he should be focused on trying to retain. Furthermore, keeping some of the younger talent who might be around for multiple years could also help them sustain success.
Alec Busse of 247Sports recently wrote about some essential players for Jimmy Rogers to try and retain that could help the program long-term. Unsurprisingly, sophomore wide receiver Brett Eskildsen was named.
In 2025, the wide receiver position for Iowa State saw a lot of changeover following the departure of some talented players to the NFL. The position group wouldn’t be considered a strength of the program last year, but there was some young talent that showed promise.
One of the top players for the passing offense was the talented sophomore receiver who ended up finishing with a strong campaign. Overall, Eskildsen totaled 30 receptions, 526 receiving yards, and five receiving touchdowns.
The sophomore led the team in both receiving yards and yards per catch, while finishing third in receptions and second in receiving touchdowns. With it really being his first year playing, it was an outstanding start to his career.
For Rogers, keeping the talented receiver for the next couple of years would be a big boost for the program. Fortunately, there are a couple of factors that could help with that. Recently, his brother signed as a preferred walk-on, and his family also has some connections to the program. Those factors could be key for Rogers to retain him, and it would be a significant boost for the offense if he were able to do so.
What are your chances of winning any prize on the Powerball game?
Powerball is a popular lottery game around the U.S. but winning isn’t easy.
The Powerball Jackpot keeps getting bigger. No one was the winner on Wednesday, Dec. 17, which means $1.5 billion is now up for grabs.
This is now the fifth-largest jackpot in the game’s history.
Iowa Lottery players won 28,677 prizes in Wednesday’s drawing, and this time, no one got close to winning the grand prize. Prizes ranged from $4 to $400.
The winning numbers in Wednesday’s drawing were 25-33-53-62-66 and Powerball 17. The Power Playmultiplier was 4.
The next Powerball drawing will be on Saturday, Dec. 20. The game has drawings on Mondays, Wednesday and Saturdays each week.
The Powerball jackpot has been growing since early September, and Saturday’s drawing will mark the 45th in the current jackpot run, a record for most drawings in a single jackpot cycle, according to the news release.
Iowa Lottery players bought nearly $1.75 million in Powerball tickets for last night’s drawing, including $1.24 million in tickets on Wednesday alone. But the average Powerball purchase in Iowa for Wednesday’s drawing remained around $6, or about three plays per ticket.
Lucia Cheng is a service and trending reporter at the Des Moines Register. Contact her at lcheng@gannett.com or 515-284-8132.
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