Since 1989, only five teams have won the NCAA Division I team title: Iowa, Penn State, Ohio State, Minnesota, and Oklahoma State. Penn State owns eight of the last nine championships. Iowa has 23 titles in history; OSU has 34. 

Recruiting is at the heart of what turns teams from good to great, from dust-in-the-wind champions to powerhouses that continue to excel year after year after year. Despite a 10-year championship drought, Iowa has continuously pulled in star athletes from around the country to build a lineup that was the national title favorite prior to the cancellation of the 2020 championships. 

It’s hard to not view Iowa’s lineup as set in stone for 2020-21. Spencer Lee leads it off, Tony Cassioppi pulls his weight at the end, and with the addition of transfer 141-pounder Jaydin Eierman from his Olympic redshirt, it’s easy to bump Murin up to 149 and call it a day.

But as Tom Brands showed the world at Indiana earlier this year, nothing is set in stone. If there’s an opportunity, he’s not above pulling a redshirt and throwing a freshman out onto the mat. He did so with Abe Assad, and the kid ended up being an All-American. 

Iowa now has a group of more than capable freshmen entering the room this fall who can grow under a stacked group of seniors to eventually fill their shoes. 

Under only Oklahoma State, Iowa’s recruiting class ranks No. 2 in the nation according to FloWrestling’s rankings. Five of its seven recruits are ranked in the top 100, with three Iowa natives.

No. 3 Patrick Kennedy

As the 27th four-time state champion in Minnesota history, the probable 174-pounder won 112 straight matches to close out his high school career. He won the Junior and Cadet National Championships in Fargo, ND, at 170 pounds prior to his senior season.

Unlock this video, live events, and more with a subscription!

Sign Up

Already a subscriber? Log In

No. 16 Jesse Ybarra

In a race between the powerhouse wrestling schools in the nation, Ybarra has ties to both Penn State and Oklahoma State. He is the highest-ranked wrestler coming out of Arizona since Roman Bravo-Young of Penn State, and at Who’s Number 1 in October 2019, he scored a takedown vs Oklahoma State commit Jakason Burks. 

Unlock this video, live events, and more with a subscription!

Sign Up

Already a subscriber? Log In

He’s projected to sit at 133 in Iowa’s lineup, but could follow Spencer Lee at 125 depending on the needs of the team following Lee and Austin DeSanto’s graduations in 2021. 

No. 67 Cullan Schriever & NR Colby Schriever

Two and a half hours northwest of Iowa City is the hometown of Cullan and Colby Schriever, twins projected at 133 and 149 pounds, respectively. 

Cullan, ranked at No. 67 in the nation, earned his third state championship as a senior for Mason City at 126 pounds. He’s had a history with a shoulder injury, which hindered his championship bid during his junior season.

Colby placed second at state his junior year at 138 pounds after winning districts. As a senior, he bumped up to 145 but didn’t place at state to end his career. 

No. 49 Gabe Christenson

After wrestling at 195 for his senior year, Christenson is projected to go at 197 pounds for Iowa once his name is called. Another Iowa native, he swept championship competition by winning the Red Owens Holiday Classic, Cheesehead Invitational, Ed Winger Classic, 2020 CIML Invite, districts, and state. 

He went 51-4 his senior year with 46 of those wins coming for bonus points, which could give Iowa a boost at the later weights following the loss of Kemerer in the coming years. 

No. 60 Bretli Reyna

Named the 2020 Mr. Wrestling for the state of Florida, the four-time state champion brings a little bit of the Sunshine State success back to Iowa wrestling following the loss of Big Ten Champion and All-American Pat Lugo following the 2019-20 season. 

Prior to the season, he took home the Super 32 championship at 145 pounds and reached the finals in multiple Greco-Roman and freestyle tournaments. 

NR Leif Schroeder

Yet another four-time state champion, the Montana native bumped up from 113 pounds as a freshman to 138 pounds as a senior. He followed in his brothers’ footsteps as a Big Ten wrestler, looking at Minnesota and his brother’s team of Purdue before settling on Iowa. 

Also committed as part of Iowa’s 2021 class are Drake Ayala, Wyatt Henson, Caleb Rathjen, and Cam Lucero.

Anna attended the University of Iowa, where she covered multiple sports from volleyball to football to wrestling. She went to Pittsburgh in March 2019 for the NCAA DI Wrestling Championships and did live coverage of the entire event and Spencer Lee’s second-straight NCAA title. Follow her on Twitter.