Iowa coach Tom Brands isn’t sure when Ben Kueter will be ready for his first wrestling competition with the Hawkeyes.

He knows what Kueter’s timeline would be, though, if given the chance.

“If it was up to him, he would have went yesterday,” Brands said during his Tuesday media availability. “Very eager, very eager, and we love it.”

Kueter, who came to Iowa as a two-sport athlete, spent the fall as a freshman linebacker on Iowa’s football team, not seeing any game action. Now he’s expecting to contend for the 285-pound spot in the Hawkeyes’ wrestling lineup, currently occupied by Bradley Hill, a redshirt freshman who is 12-4 this season.

“He's a very eager guy,” Brands said of Kueter. “And like I said, we love it. And we'll see when the best time to plug him in there is. You remember, we have Bradley Hill in there. So this is a process.”

Brands said he’ll know when Kueter is ready.

“I don't think there's specific things that come to my mind,” Brands said. “I said, it's a process. When I say it's a process, it’s ‘What does he look like?’ Those types of things. I don't think there's anything specific that you're checking off as we get closer and closer to competition.”

Kueter was an undefeated four-time state champion at Iowa City High School, going 111-0. He won a title at USA Wrestling’s U20 World Team Trials in 2022, and followed that with a U20 World championship later in the summer.

Brands knows the resumé, now he wants to see what Kueter can do now that he is in the wrestling room on a full-time basis.

“He was competitive coming out of high school, and we love everything about him,” Brands said. “So to make a prediction though, I'm not sure you're going to get that out of me. I'm not really a prediction-making guy. But I'll tell you what, I like what's under the hood with Ben Kueter.”

Soldier Salute Recap

Iowa won the team title at the Soldier Salute in Coralville on Dec. 29-30, with eight Hawkeyes winning individual championships.

But the tournament also featured current Hawkeyes wrestling against each other, and Brands said that kind of competition helps the program.

Caleb Rathjen had back-to-back wins over teammates Cade Siebrecht and Victor Voinovich at 149. Michael Caliendo defeated Patrick Kennedy to win the title at 165.

“It's how we choose to operate — this is a highly competitive level of wrestling,” Brands said. “And we have guys that come here to wrestle at the highest level and to position themselves to win championships and nothing is handed. You have to earn it. It is very competitive to make the team. It's not about making the team. It's about being the best guy that can wrestle and compete for a national championship.

“It's always been that way. When I first came here in the fall of 1987, it was that way when I was a true freshman and I saw with my own eyes, wide open, watching it happen right in front of me with (Dan) Gable’s teams. It's just how we choose to go about it.”

Rathjen is listed at 149 in the probable lineup for Friday’s dual at Nebraska and Monday’s home dual with Minnesota. Caliendo is listed at 165, with Kennedy at 174.

“I think that Caliendo solidified himself at 165,” Brands said. “You know, we still have a great asset for our team, a great attitude, a great worker, a great teammate in Patrick Kennedy. And we also have Gabe Arnold at 174. We have a lot of options there. We love all those guys.”

Arnold, who won the Soldier Salute 174-pound title unattached as a true freshman, is 7-0 in matches this season, wrestling at 174 and 184, and Brands knows he can plug him in at different spots if necessary.

“He's an enthusiastic competitor and we love it,” Brands said. “We love that attitude.”

Roster Moves 

Asked if he was expecting any roster additions for the second semester, which begins next week, Brands said, “We do not at this moment.”

Brands has been recruiting A.J. Ferrari, a 2021 national champion at Oklahoma State who recently visited the Iowa campus.

Ferrari was involved in a heated confrontation with Iowa’s Zach Glazier in the 197-pound championship match at the Soldier Salute that resulted in Ferrari’s disqualification and the wrestler flashing two middle fingers at the crowd booing him as he left the mat.

Brands, who cannot comment on Ferrari since he is still a recruit, was asked if he would comment on Ferrari’s incident at the Soldier Salute and about his recruiting status.

“You know the answer to that,” he said. “You’ve been doing this a long time.”