Iowa

Iowa football lands commitment from 2025 5-star specialist Scott Starzyk

Published

1 year ago

July 18, 2024

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Iowa football lands commitment from 2025 5-star specialist Scott Starzyk

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

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Iowa

Iowa State University to host public presidential finalist forums

Published

12 hours ago

October 28, 2025

Press Room

Iowa State University to host public presidential finalist forums

Finalists for Iowa State University’s presidency will come to campus next week to meet with stakeholders and introduce themselves to the public in the hope of being selected for the role. The Iowa Board of Regents announced Tuesday that three of the four finalists recommended by the ISU Presidential Search Committee have accepted invitations to […]

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Iowa

Iowa farmers who lost soybean sales to China now fear new hit to cattle

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1 day ago

October 27, 2025

Press Room

Iowa farmers who lost soybean sales to China now fear new hit to cattle

After several years of losing money on cattle, Burleen and Pete Wobeter thought this would finally be the year things turned around. Their Iowa farm also grows corn and soybeans — crops that have been hit hard by the trade war with China — but cattle had been a bright spot so far in 2025. As Lana Zak reports, their backup plan was threatened when President Trump announced plans to increase beef imports from Argentina.

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The non-sports reason comedian Nate Bargatze picked BYU to win over Iowa State

Published

2 days ago

October 26, 2025

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The non-sports reason comedian Nate Bargatze picked BYU to win over Iowa State

Despite their perfect record and No. 11 ranking, the BYU Cougars were the underdogs heading into Saturday’s game against the Iowa State Cyclones.

But that had no bearing on the predictions from ESPN’s College GameDay crew.

Citing a consistently impressive showing from true freshman quarterback Bear Bachmeier, among other strengths, Desmond Howard, Nick Saban, Pat McAfee and Kirk Herbstreit all picked BYU to win over Iowa State.

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And so did celebrity guest picker Nate Bargatze — but for an entirely different, non-sports related reason.

Nate Bargatze picked BYU to win over Iowa State

When it came time for Bargatze to weigh in with his prediction for the BYU versus Iowa State game, the comedian didn’t even hesitate.

“This is a business decision right here,” he said with a smile. “I’ve got four shows in Salt Lake City. BYU, baby!”

Bargatze chose wisely. After a rough start, the Cougars went on to pull off another win on the road, defeating the Cyclones 41-27 and remaining undefeated at 8-0.

When does Nate Bargatze come to Salt Lake City?

Bargatze’s “Big Dumb Eyes” world tour comes to Salt Lake City in December.

The comedian will perform four shows at the Delta Center Dec. 4-6.

He previously did four shows at the Eccles Theater in 2022 and three shows at the Delta Center in 2023. Bargatze spoke to the Deseret News at that time about the popularity of clean comedy in Utah.

“You always heard (Jim) Gaffigan and (Brian) Regan could go there,” he said in 2023. “You heard, ‘If you’re clean, you do really great in Salt Lake City.’ … I actually now have a lot of close friends that live in Salt Lake City. And I actually end up there a lot.”

During one of his 2023 Salt Lake shows, Bargatze called Utah the “clean comedian’s Hollywood,” per Deseret News. That show overlapped with the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the comedian thanked the crowd for sharing the weekend with him, as the Deseret News reported at the time.

Nate Bargatze hosts the 77th Emmy Awards on Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. | Danny Moloshok, Invision via the Associated Press

“The crowds were so good,” he later said of the Salt Lake City shows, per Deseret News. “You have dreams of it happening like this, but every single time it’s overwhelming.”

Bargatze’s upcoming shows at the Delta Center come just a few months after he hosted the Emmys for the first time — a major moment in his career that he put his own stamp on with a $100,000 plan to keep acceptance speeches short.

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