The graduation of 5x All-American Michael Kemerer, will be a tough spot to fill, however Iowa has two talented wrestlers ready to step up. 174 is not the deepest weight in the lineup, but both these guys can wrestle at a high level.
Brennan Swafford
Brennan was a 4x state place winner and 2x runner-up in High School. He started his college career at Graceland College and was a 2x NAIA National Champion. Last season Brennan had a 14-7 record while wrestling unattached. In just his first year with the Hawks, he has already shown a ton of improvement. It will be exciting to see how he looks when the season begins.
Nelson Brands
Nelson has seen a lot of action with the Hawkeyes over the last few seasons, and has shown mixed results. He’s had impressive sometimes even dominating wins over Taylor Venz, Rocky Jordan, Samuel Colbray, and Zach Braunagel. But he’s also had some frustrating loses along the way as well. Hopefully the move down to 174 will help Nelson overcome some of those setbacks he faced at 184. Nelson missed most of last season due to injury, after starting the season 5-1. Overall he has a record of 40-11, if healthy Nelson will be an all-american contender.
184 has been a bit of a question mark for Iowa, the last few years. Abe Assad has looked like he could be the answer to that question. However, he hasn’t looked the same since he missed the 20-21 season due to injury.
Andrew Simaz
Andrew was a 3x conference champion in High School in Traverse City Michigan. Last season he was 0-2.
Abe Assad
Abe came to Iowa, a blue chip recruit. He was a 2x Illinois state champion, he had won national titles at Fargo in both freestyle and greco, and he was also a Cadet UWW World Bronze Medalist at 80-kilograms. Abe entered the starting line up in the 2019-2020 season, beating out Cash Wilkie and Nelson Brands to earn the starting spot. He climbed all the way to a #6 ranking in the national polls and finished the season with a 22-7 record. The future looked very bright for this young man, and expectations where sky high for him the following season. Unfortunately, he was injured prior to the start of the season and had to watch the Hawkeyes win a National title from the sidelines. After recovering and returning to the lineup last season, something seemed off. He just didn’t look the same, he ended up placing 7th at the Big 10 championships, and finished the year 14-10. Weather it was a bit of ring rust, or he was still dealing with injuries is unclear. If Abe is able to return to his potential, he is a serious threat to land high on the podium.
Mickey Griffith
Mickey is another Iowa state champion joining the team, he is also a multi time state place winner from Des Moines Lincoln high School. Griffith is a hard-nosed wrestler the same type of kid that has found success at Iowa for decades. He adds depth to a thin weight class.
Aidan McCain
Aidan is an Illinois kid from Round Lake High School his senior year he placed fifth at 182 pounds as a senior, finishing with a 39-13 record with 30 pins.
The 197 lb weight class has been rock solid for Iowa the last few years, and returns a NCAA finalist to the line up for his senior season.
Jacob Warner
Jacob returns for his senior year, with one goal: winning a national championship! In high school he was a 3x Illinois state champion, as well as a 2x Fargo national champion. So expectations where sky high when he arrived in Iowa City. Right away,Warner was impressive, his redshirt year he posted a 15-4 record while competing unattached. He followed that up by winning the UWW Junior National Championship. When he finally entered the varsity lineup in 2018 he ran up an impressive 21-6 record, and placed 7th at the national tournament. His sophomore year he had a 20-4 record and again reached all-american status. He followed that up by going 13-4 and placing 4th as a Junior. This last season he again went 21-6 and came up just short of winning a national title. Finishing runner-up to Penn State’s Max Dean. I expect Jacob to have a huge year, and again put himself in a position to win a national title.
Zach Glazier
Zach was a 2x state champion, and a 2x Fargo all-american while wrestling out of Albert Lea, Minnesota. During his red-shirt season he posted an impressive 19-2 record. He has an overall college record of 23- 5 and has won, 5 open tournaments, while competing unattached. Zach is a solid backup and may even find himself in the starting position once Warner graduates.
Kolby Franklin
Kolby is another blue chip recruit, with a long list of accolades on his resume. He was a state champion, a Fargo champion and multi time Fargo all-american. Last season as a high school senior, he entered 2 college tournaments, finishing in first place at both of them. He was also a finalist at the prestigious Ironman tournament. Kolby is the future of the weight class and will most likely red-shirt this season.
Bradley Hill
Bradley Is another talented freshman in the Iowa room. A local product from nearby Bettendorf. Bradley is a 3x Iowa state place winner and a 2x state finalist with a state title his junior year. Just recently Hill added a National Fargo title to his resume defeating teammate Kolby Franklin in the finals. Bradley will red-shirt this coming season.