Defense. Toughness. “Punting is winning.” Iowa’s football team thrives on physicality, and for that, it’s unsurprising that head coach Kirk Ferentz takes a page out of the Hawkeyes’ dominant wrestling program in his recruiting efforts.
“The theory I developed was that if a guy was a great wrestler, it didn’t mean he was going to be a great football player, but rarely was he a bad football player,” Ferentz said.
Four Hawkeyes football commits in the class of 2024 are participating in the Iowa state wrestling tournament, and the Des Moines Register did a deep dive on the quartet.
Trent Cakerice, a two-star defensive lineman from Grundy Center, told the outlet he’s focusing on strength and calculated attacks. He has a 38-4 record. On the gridiron, he recorded 56.5 tackles, eight tackles for loss and seven sacks.
Drew Campbell of Cedar Falls told the Register that wrestling helps him in football.
“Leverage is a great thing to have in wrestling. It teaches you feel in football and mentally in a wrestling match you can’t give up, so it teaches you to never give up on a play,” he said.
Last football season, the three-star defensive lineman recorded 64.5 tackles, 21.5 tackles for loss and six sacks.
East Buchanan’s four-star lineman Cody Fox served on both lines last season, playing offensive guard for a dynamic rushing team and recording 62.5 tackles, nine tackles for loss and two sacks on defense. He was recruited as an offensive lineman, for which he is ranked four stars and in the top 20 of his class.
Mason Knipp, at Columbus Catholic, also played on both sides of the ball. Despite being unranked, he played a role in the rushing attack that amounted for 2,022 yards and had 78 tackles, 36.5 tackles for loss and 11 sacks on defense.
Read more about the athletes at the Des Moines Register.
