Iowa wrestling had added a third member to its 2026 recruiting class with the commitment of Christian Brothers Academy’s Bobby Duffy.
Duffy is ranked No. 11 by Flowrestling at 144 pounds and ninth at the weight in the class of 2026. He took sixth at the Junior National Championships in Fargo, North Dakota, this past summer and is a three-time state qualifier and one-time state medalist in the state of New Jersey. Duffy also considered Rutgers and Maryland in his recruitment.
“I’ve dreamed of writing this everyday since I started this sport. First, I want to thank Coach Morningstar, and Coaches Tom and Terry Brands along with the rest of the Iowa coaching staff for the opportunity to wrestle for them and compete for national championships,” Duffy wrote in an Instagram post.
Duffy is the third commit of the 2026 class for Iowa, joining Florida’s Michael Mocco (No. 3 in the nation at heavyweight) and Pennsylvania’s Owen McMullen.
Duffy made waves this year when he pinned two-time New Jersey state champion Adrian DeJesus (now at Cornell) at an event. He went on to take fifth at the New Jersey state championships at 132 pounds after that, his first time reaching the podium. Considering he weighed in at 144 at Fargo, it’ll be intriguing to see where he decides to go weight-wise ahead of the upcoming high school season.
While Duffy is the only New Jersey commit of the Hawkeyes’ 2026 class, he’s hardly an anomaly as of late for Iowa. Duffy is the fifth commit dating to 2024 from the state of New Jersey, alongside Harvey Ludington, Leo DeLuca, Sonny Amato and Anthony Lavezzola. It’s six if you include Dean Peterson, also a New Jersey native who transferred to the Hawkeyes this summer from Rutgers.
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: Iowa wrestling adds third commitment to 2026 recruiting class, New Jersey’s Bobby Duffy
Reporting by Eli McKown, Des Moines Register / Hawk Central
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
