CORALVILLE — When Stephen Buchanan was crowned the 197-pound NCAA Champion in 2025, he said Iowa helped him rediscover his love for wrestling.
What once felt like a job to Buchanan while he was in college, his one year in Iowa City helped him rediscover a goal he had from when he was in the seventh grade.
Become an Olympic champion.
“I wrestled my last year and I still thought that I could do more, be more as a wrestler,” Buchanan said. “That was because I was surrounded by great wrestlers, great coaches and that kind of opened the door for freestyle wrestling and I kind of took off with it.”
Buchanan is now taking massive leaps to make that dream a reality with the Hawkeye Wrestling Club, competing in some of his first-ever senior freestyle events and already making waves on some big stages. He looks to continue doing that from May 7-10 at the 2026 Pan-Am Championships in Coralville, where the best wrestlers from North America, Central America, South America and the Caribbean will seek Pan-American gold medals.
He has only competed in one international freestyle event on the senior stage, but it was a massive showcase of his talent. In the finals of the Zagreb Open in Croatia in February, he faced off with Iran’s Hassan Yazdani, a 2016 Olympic gold medalist and two-time Olympic silver medalist (2021 and 2024). Yazdani is also a three-time senior world Champion, making him one of the more iconic names in international wrestling.
Still, Buchanan defeated Yazdani in a 13-3 technical fall. Most recently at the US Open, Buchanan won the 97-kilogram weight class to qualify for Final X, where Buchanan will need to win to qualify for the United States’ senior world team in 2026. On June 19 in New Jersey, Buchanan will wrestle against one of the United States’ most credentialed wrestlers, Kyle Snyder, at Final X.
While a relative unknown in the freestyle world before graduating, he’s quickly making waves and is becoming a legitimate threat to represent the United States on the world and Olympic stages. He credits Iowa for helping him rediscover his passion for wrestling and for developing his skillset at the Hawkeye Wrestling Club. Between Tom Brands, Terry Brands, Spencer Lee, Daniel Dennis and others who have wrestled on big stages, Buchanan is acting as a “sponge” to soak up all the tidbits possible as he aims for gold on international stages in the years to come.
“I was a national champ, the best of the best that year in folkstyle wrestling,” Buchanan said. “But in freestyle wrestling, I was a nobody. So it was going back to square one and just learning all the steps back up to where I am now. I’m still learning, growing, but it’s fun every single day because I’m learning new things and new ways (of) how to finish, how to get in, how to turn, how to defend. I’m a student, I love being a student.”
2026 Pan-Am Championships information
Buchanan will be one of several current, future and former Hawkeyes competing for Pan-American gold this weekend at Xtream Arena. Others include Austin DeSanto (61 kilograms), Real Woods (65 kilograms), Everest Leydecker (55 kilograms, incoming Iowa women’s wrestling freshman) and Kylie Welker (76 kilograms). This crop, excluding Buchanan, has competed at numerous international events at youth and senior levels. However, it’ll be the first time many can compete at a world-level stage in their own backyard.
“The fact the Pan-Am Championships are here is just really special,” Welker said. “I don’t think I’ve ever wrestled an international tournament on home land, let alone in my city. I’m just really excited.”
Matches will be streamed live by Flowrestling, but here’s a quick look at the schedule for this weekend of wrestling at Xtream Arena. All times listed are in Central Time.
Thursday, May 7 (Greco-Roman at 55, 60, 63, 67, 77, 82, 87 and 130 kilograms)
Friday, May 8 (Greco-Roman at 72 and 97 kilograms, Women’s Freestyle at 50, 55, 57, 62, 68 and 72 kilograms)
Saturday, May 9 (Women’s Freestyle at 53, 59, 65 and 76 kilograms, men’s Freestyle at 61, 74, 86 kilograms)
Sunday, May 10 (Men’s Freestyle at 57, 65, 70, 79, 92, 97 and 125 kilograms)
Eli McKown covers high school sports and wrestling for the Des Moines Register. Contact him at Emckown@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @EMcKown23.
This article originally appeared on Hawk Central: Stephen Buchanan thriving in freestyle after Iowa wrestling career
Reporting by Eli McKown, Des Moines Register / Hawk Central
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
