IOWA CITY — Ben Kueter plans to return to the Iowa football program in 2026, he said at Iowa wrestling media day on Oct. 29.
But before returning to the gridiron, he is focused on his redshirt sophomore season with the wrestling program. After undergoing surgery in April to address an injury to his hip labrum, Kueter said that he is “feeling good — healthy.”
A star at Iowa City High, Kueter won four consecutive state wrestling titles, notching a career record of 111-0. He was also a four-star prospect on the gridiron in the 2023 recruiting class.
Kueter, who committed to Iowa for both wrestling and football, has spent far more time on the mat rather than the field.
During his first year in college, Kueter went through the balancing act of being part of both Hawkeye programs, maintaining his redshirt in both sports. In a highly productive linebacker room, Kueter did not appear in a game during the 2023 football season. As a wrestler, he posted a 3-1 record.
Kueter announced in June of 2024 that he was taking a temporary hiatus from football to focus on wrestling, but planned to make a return to the field in 2025.
Kueter initially injured his hip leading up to the 2024 U20 World Wrestling Championships, which then lingered during his redshirt freshman season. But Kueter wrestled through it.
As a redshirt freshman, Kueter logged a 21-9 overall record. He finished third at the Big Ten Championships and eighth at the NCAA Championships at 285 pounds.
“I just really wasn’t as flexible as I wanted to be in certain positions,” Kueter said of how the hip injury impacted him. “But you find new ways to wrestle through it.”
Kueter’s initial plan to come back to football in 2025 did not unfold as expected.
Shortly after arriving at football spring practice, he found out that he needed surgery. Kueter told assistant head coach Seth Wallace, who coaches linebackers, that he could play through it, as he had just done with wrestling. But Wallace advised him to get the surgery.
Because of the timeline needed to recover from hip surgery, Kueter put football on hold again, turning his focus to getting healthy for wrestling. That meant Kueter would miss his second consecutive football season.
“At first, I was pretty bummed out when I found out that I wasn’t going to be able to play football (in 2025),” Kueter said. “And then I think I just kind of had to refocus and just be like, alright, this is how it is now. I’ve got to do this.”
Kueter’s recovery required him to sit and heal for some time. But eventually, he was able to ramp up his workload on the mat.
“At first, it was like I’d be on the mat for like 10 minutes and it was very controlled,” Kueter said. “(Iowa wrestling coach) Tom (Brands) would make sure that I was not getting out of position. And then, we’d go from like 10 minutes to 15, 15 to 20. It was good. I was pretty tired at first, too, because I put on some weight while I was injured. So it was hard getting back into it. But it was good.”
Entering his redshirt sophomore season, Kueter opened up about how he wants to improve.
“I feel like last year, I wasn’t as offensive and just not getting to where I wanted to be a lot,” he said. “That was very frustrating for me. So, I think a big thing this year is just focusing on that. Just going out there and putting it on the line and attacking.”
Kueter added: “That was definitely something I thought about this offseason. And I think a big thing is just being confident in myself. There’s no reason for me not to be confident in myself. I think now that I know that, I have no reason to go out there and wrestle a 2-1 or 3-1 match. I feel like, in my head, that’s silly. I should go out there and just light up the scoreboard.”
Kueter, who has gained about 15 pounds since last season, wants to rekindle the mindset he had when he was a high schooler.
“I’d say just getting back to how I was in high school,” Kueter said. “Just going out looking to dominate, not just kind of trying to get past this match or kind of squeak this one out, I guess you could say. I think, for me, in high school, what made me good was I wasn’t worried about winning or losing. I was just worried about how bad I was going to beat the guy, right? So I think for me, getting back to that mentality of just working on attacking. Just focusing on attacking. I think that’s the most important thing for me.”
After wrestling season, Kueter plans to rejoin the football program for spring practice in 2026.
The Hawkeyes will be losing some production in the linebacker room following this season. Jaden Harrell, Karson Sharar and Jaxon Rexroth will have exhausted their college eligibility. The Hawkeyes are set to return Jayden Montgomery, who has started the last three games.
Iowa also has a crop of promising young linebackers. Cam Buffington, Preston Ries and Derek Weisskopf are all redshirt freshmen hailing from the state of Iowa. Buffington notched his first career interception in Iowa’s 41-3 win over Minnesota. On top of that trio, Iowa has a pair of true freshmen in Carson Cooney and Burke Gautcher.
It’s unclear how Kueter would fit into the future of Iowa football’s defense.
Kueter, who is now in the neighborhood of 245 pounds, said he could also see himself playing defensive end, though he hasn’t specifically discussed it with the staff.
“I really miss it,” Kueter said about football. “I’ve been playing football since third grade and I don’t think I’ve missed a season since then (until recently), so it’s pretty tough. But I’m just focused on wrestling right now.”
Follow Tyler Tachman on X @Tyler_T15, contact via email at ttachman@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Ben Kueter provides update on plans with Iowa wrestling, Hawkeye football
Reporting by Tyler Tachman, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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