Each spring, the NCAA Transfer Portal opens, and nearly every program from sea to shining sea is impacted. Whether they are losing athletes to other teams or they’re receiving them, rosters surely get put into the spin cycle, and a spring scramble ensues for the nation’s top talent!
Coach Tom Brands said, “April 1, there will be a lot of activity. We’ll assess when guys start getting in the portal. We’ll talk to their people. When I’m talking about the portal, we’ve got to do a better job of looking at who those guys are, not just who’s in it. Who are these guys? What’s their lifestyle like? And go from there in a thorough, thorough way.”
It’s an exciting time of year and a great opportunity for our coaches to enhance this trophy-winning team for the 2026-27 season ahead. There’s a lot to track, but luckily, Flowrestling.com has created a Transfer Tracker that helps fans like you stay in-the-know on who’s going where.
And we want to say thank you again for supporting our team and helping us achieve our goals — we cannot do it without you!
Spencer Lee (57kg), Austin DeSanto (61kg) and Stephen Buchanan (97kg) are preparing for the U.S. Open Championships on April 24th & 25th. The two-day, Senior competition will be held at the Expo at World Market Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The winner of the U.S. Open at every weight class will advance to Final X. Final X is a best-of-three series to declare the World Team Members at each weight class for Team USA! Final X will be held on Friday, June 19th in Newark, NJ at the Prudential Center.
Because Kyle Snyder is a returning World Medalist at 97kg, Stephen Buchanan will need to win the Open in order to compete at Final X. For weight classes where there is no returning World Medalist (57kg, 61kg, 74kg, HWT) there will be a World Team Trials Challenge Tournament on May 14-15, 2026 in Louisville, KY to decide the final spots at Final X.
Las Vegas is also hosting the U20, U17, U15, Girls HS Showcase & Masters Nationals the same weekend with action starting on Tuesday, April 21 and ending Sunday, April 26, 2026. We expect to have several athletes competing in each division later this month!
Bobby Telford announced on Monday (3/30/26), after 8 years as our Assistant Coach, that he has accepted a new role at Stryker. Telford was a 3x All-American and Olympic Trials Qualifier for the Hawks. He helped coach our team to a national title in 2021 and had a part in producing 38 All-Americans from 2018-2026. He will be a Sales Representative for Eastern Iowa Neurosurgical at Stryker.
The University will conduct a nationwide search for his replacement starting immediately.
The Iowa Wrestling team wrapped up its 2025-26 season with its awards banquet last Friday night at the Feller Clubroom inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Team members, families, and friends of our storied program celebrated our team with the following awards…
All-American Award Winners: Michael Caliendo, Patrick Kennedy, Drake Ayala, Ben Kueter, Ryder Block, Angelo Ferrari, and Gabe Arnold
Most Pins Award: Harvey Ludington (5)
Donald McPike, Senior Award – Highest GPA: Gage Marty
John and Dorothy Sill Award – Most Dedicated: Drake Ayala
Mike J. McGivern Award – Most Courageous: Gabe Arnold
Mike Howard Award – Most Valuable: Michael Caliendo
Coaches Appreciation Award: Gage Marty, Sebastian Robles, and Easton Fleshman
Our Annual Banquet — Clubmen’s Dinner is just a month away on Saturday, May 2, 2026 at the Hyatt Regency Coralville Hotel & Conference Center in Coralville’s Iowa River Landing. AND WE WANT YOU THERE!! Register today for this exciting event!
70+ Silent auction items, multiple live auction experiences and the opportunity to rub elbows with our world-class athletes, coaches and alumni! This fundraiser helps our athletes get that much closer to conquering their goals!
Annual Banquet | Saturday, May 2 | Hyatt Regency – Coralville, IA | Open Now!
Riverside Golf Outing | Monday, June 29 | Blue Top Ridge Golf Course | Open Now!
Inner Circle Tailgate Party | Saturday, Sep. 12 | Goschke Training Center | Open Now!
Sporting Clays Shoot | October 2026 | Highland Hideaway | Open Soon
Thank you for supporting our Hawkeyes through another season of wrestling! Looking forward to seeing you all again very soon at our Annual Banquet–Clubmen’s Celebration to pay tribute to all our athletes!
We greatly appreciate you and your support — GO HAWKS!
Chad Beatty
Executive Director
HAWKEYE WRESTLING CLUB
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