Iowa
Iowa Supreme Court to decide if COVID-19 wrongful death lawsuits against Tyson can continue
The Iowa Supreme Court is set to decide if the families of four people who worked at the Tyson Foods meatpacking plant in Waterloo and died of COVID-19 in 2020 can move forward with their wrongful death lawsuits against company leaders.
The families of Sedika Buljic, Reberiano Garcia Leno, Jose Ayala and Isidro Fernandez allege they died of complications related to COVID-19 in the spring of 2020 because Tyson executives and supervisors failed to prevent the spread of the virus, lied to workers about the outbreak and ordered sick employees to continue working.
The Black Hawk County District Court dismissed their cases against Tyson last year. A lawyer for the plaintiffs asked the Iowa Supreme Court during oral arguments Thursday to reverse that lower court ruling and let the cases proceed.
Attorney David Yoshimura, representing some of the Waterloo Tyson plant supervisors named in the lawsuits, said these are “straightforward workplace injury claims” that belong in the workers’ compensation system, not in the courts.
“…Which is why the district court dismissed them. Nevertheless, the plaintiff here has engaged in some creative pleading of their own and tried to, through some gamesmanship, keep these claims in the courts,” he said.
But plaintiffs’ attorney G. Bryan Ulmer III said Tyson leaders’ actions satisfy an exception to that law.
The end result was the largest workplace outbreak of COVID-19 in the entire country
Attorney G. Bryan Ulmer III
He said Tyson executives and supervisors’ fraudulent misrepresentations and gross negligence caused the four employees to die of COVID-19. He said Tyson leaders told employees the virus wasn’t spreading at the plant and told workers with COVID symptoms to keep going to work.
“All the while, supervisors were placing bets on how many positive COVID-19 cases would result from the outbreak,” Ulmer said. “The end result was the largest workplace outbreak of COVID-19 in the entire country.”
The COVID-19 outbreak at the Tyson facility in Waterloo
The Tyson plant in Waterloo was in the spotlight in April of 2020, when local health officials and some state lawmakers were urging the company to temporarily shut down the pork plant to help stop the spread of the virus.
The workers’ families allege that by the beginning of April, Tyson supervisors knew that COVID-19 “was rampantly spreading” at the Waterloo plant. Some were part of a betting pool “to wager how many workers would test positive for COVID-19.” Tyson later fired seven managers who were involved.
The plaintiffs said that Tyson executives and supervisors “forced” sick workers to work at the Waterloo plant unless they got a formal positive COVID test result (which could take several days at that time), refused to provide proper masks and allowed employees to work without masks.
“A box of rags and frayed fabric was provided at the Waterloo facility for workers to use as ‘optional’ face coverings,” the plaintiffs alleged in a court filing.
Tyson had already closed its plant in Columbus Junction because of a COVID-19 outbreak, and, according to the lawsuits, was already taking virus precautions at its plants in China for months.
The Waterloo plant was closed on April 23, 2020, after the virus had been spreading there for weeks.
Local health officials reported in early May 2020 that more than 1,000 employees of the Tyson pork plant had tested positive for COVID-19.
The lawsuits
The families of the four Waterloo workers who died filed two separate lawsuits in the summer of 2020. They were combined for some legal proceedings.
At one point, the cases were sent to the federal court system.
Tyson argued that it was acting under the direction of the U.S. Department of Agriculture to prevent a food shortage during the pandemic and that federal courts should hear these cases instead of state courts. The U.S. Supreme Court refused to review the case and sent it back to the state court system.
The Iowa Supreme Court will likely decide by the end of June 2025 whether the cases can move forward.
Tyson Fresh Meats settled lawsuits earlier this year with the estates of three people who worked at its pork plant in Storm Lake and died of COVID-19.
Iowa
Penn State earns commitment from Iowa State leading wide receiver via transfer
Penn State landed Iowa State’s pair of quarterbacks earlier Sunday, including starter Rocco Becht, in a splash move. Now, the Cyclones’ leading receiver is coming with them.
Wide receiver Brett Eskildsen committed to Penn State via the transfer portal, becoming the seventh Cyclone to join the Nittany Lions this weekend. He announced the move on social media.
Eskildsen recorded 30 receptions, 526 yards and five touchdowns as a sophomore in 2025. He also appeared in all 13 games as a freshman but made just two catches for 17 yards.
The 6-1, 200-pound wideout is from Frisco, Texas, and is a three-star in the 247Sports transfer rankings (No. 118 overall, No. 30 WR). He was a three-star out of high school as well, where he had more than 1,5000 career receiving yards.
Becht’s top man from 2026 is now in place. He’ll also be able to throw to standout Penn State freshman Koby Howard and quick youngster Tyseer Denmark, who have confirmed their returns thus far.
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Iowa
Iowa State picks up commitment from Arkansas State QB Jaylen Raynor
Iowa State football has picked up a commitment from Arkansas State quarterback Jaylen Raynor, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported on Jan. 3.
Raynor has one season of eligibility remaining. The 6-foot, 202-pounder from Kernersville, North Carolina, passed for 3,361 yards and 19 touchdowns this season. He was intercepted 11 times.
Raynor also rushed for 423 yards and seven touchdowns.
He passed for 8,694 yards and 52 touchdowns in three seasons at Arkansas State.
“The (Iowa State) coaching staff is known for winning,” Raynor told Thamel. “The head coach is a known winner and done it on multiple levels.”
Raynor will join Arkansas State offensive coordinator Keith Heckendorf in Ames. Heckendorf was named Cyclones quarterbacks coach this week.
Raynor completed 19 of 33 passes for 222 yards in a 24-16 loss to Iowa State on Sept. 13, 2025.
Iowa
Seven Iowa High School Wrestlers Off To Dominant Starts This Season – FloWrestling
The first month of the Iowa high school wrestling season has been filled with scintillating individual performances. Here’s a look at seven standouts who have been racking up bonus points in December.
Drew Anderson (Riverside)
The Class 1A state runner-up last year at 132 is up to 144 this season and he’s 14-0 with 11 technical falls, a pair of pins and a forfeit win. Anderson, a junior in his second season at the school, already owns the Riverside school record for technical falls with 28. Anderson is on pace to more than double the previous Riverside tech record of 23.
Urijah Courter (West Marshall)
Courter won the 2A title last season at 113 after placing third as a freshman at 106. He’s up to 120 this season. Courter is 14-0 this season with 10 pins and two technical falls. His ledger also includes a 6-5 win against Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont’s Simon Bettis in a rematch of last season’s state title bout.
Cooper Hinz (Jesup)
Entering the holiday break, Michigan commit and two-time state medalist Cooper Hinz is 22-0 with 21 wins via pin, technical fall or forfeit. His other victory was a 4-1 overtime decision against returning state placewinner Cain Rodgers of North Fayette Valley. More impressively, all of Hinz’s pins and technical falls have all come in the first period.
Lincoln Jipp (Bettendorf)
Jipp placed fifth at 138, third at 165 and second at 175 in Class 3A during his first three seasons. Now he’s up to 215 — 77 pounds more than where he started his career as a freshman. The North Carolina recruit pinned his way through the prestigious Dan Gable Donnybrook. He’s 16-0 with 10 pins, four technical falls and a forfeit.
Mason Koehler (Glenwood)
The returning 2A champ at 215 is 20-0 with 18 pins and a major decision. His only two matches that went the distance came at the Council Bluffs Classic, where he defeated Nebraska standout Ryan Boehle of Grand Island 14-4 and Minnesota hammer Joe Kruse of Totino-Grace 9-2. The rest of Koehler’s matches this season ended in first-period pins. He has already registered a six-second pin and another in nine seconds this season.
Jaxon Miller (Carlisle)
Miller is a three-time state medalist, a two-time finalist and returning state champ in Class 3A. He placed fourth as a freshman at 145 before making trips to the finals at 157 and 165. He’s 16-0 this season with 13 first-period pins, two technical falls and a forfeit.
Keaton Moeller (Starmont)
Moeller placed third in 1A as a freshman at 145 before winning a state title at 150 as a sophomore. He missed all of last season after suffering a torn ACL in football. Now he’s back as a senior at 190 and Moeller hasn’t missed a beat. He’s 13-0 with five pins, six technical falls and a pair of forfeits. He has yet to wrestle a full period this season.
Iowa High School Premium Rankings
Check out the Iowa High School Wrestling Premium Rankings, which are generated by using an athlete’s complete match history to predict a wrestler’s performance against others in their weight class by considering factors such as win-loss records, the quality of their victories (pins, technical falls, major decisions), the strength of their opponents and overall historical performance patterns. The data is updated every Monday, sourced from the Trackwrestling season results. Since each team is responsible for maintaining their season results, any data discrepancies for a wrestler should be addressed by contacting their coach to manage the information within the season. This includes the weight class assigned. Wrestlers are eligible to be ranked after competing in five matches at a single weight.
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