As the calendar charges into mid-May, it feels appropriate to reflect on what has been a rather historic athletics year of 2025-26 for the University of Iowa.
For the first time in 38 years, the Hawkeyes finished ranked in the top 20 in football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball.
Kirk Ferentz’s football team ended up 17th in the final Associated Press and coaches polls after defeating Vanderbilt in the ReliaQuest Bowl.
Jan Jensen’s women’s basketball team ended up 16th (AP) and 12th (coaches) in the final rankings after earning a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
And Ben McCollum’s first Iowa men’s basketball team wound up 15th (AP) and 19th (coaches) after a stirring run to the program’s first Elite Eight since 1987.
Those three top-20 sport finishes hadn’t occurred in the same year since 1987-88, when football was 16th, men’s basketball was 17th and women’s basketball was second.
Toss in Tom Brands’ wrestling team earning a top-five finish for an 18th straight NCAA Championships, and there were plenty of memorable Hawkeye moments.
To revisit the year that was, here are the 15 best moments of the 2025-26 academic year in what Iowa considers its four major sports. Obviously, everyone’s list would be different, but the idea here was to capture snapshot moments that spoke to bigger-picture stories.
Let’s count it down, from 15 to No. 1 (which most of you can guess already). Hope you enjoy.
15. Chit-Chat Wright’s half-court heave triggers a top-15 barrage
Overachievement largely defined the story of Iowa’s 27-7 women’s basketball season. A collection of young players not predicted to finish in the Big Ten Conference’s top five remarkably continued to reel off unlikely victories, including three in a row against top-15 opponents over a span of eight days from Jan. 18-25.
The first of those was a 75-68 home win over No. 15 Michigan State, in which Wright caught an inbounds pass with 2.5 seconds left in the first quarter, dribbled once and, with both feet behind the half-court line, launched a nearly 50-foot shot right through the net. Swish.
The jubilation from the diminutive (5-foot-4) Wright and her teammates reflected the unlikely run they experienced, which ultimately included a late-season eight-game winning streak and six total top-15 wins.
14. Kaden Wetjen’s punt-return mastery, vindication vs. Minnesota
From breaking Tim Dwight’s long-held school record to being chosen in the fourth round of the NFL Draft while on a golf course, former walk-on Kaden Wetjen’s consensus All-American season as a return specialist was an unforgettable ride.
His game-breaking dominance was underscored in Iowa’s 41-3 shellacking of rival Minnesota on Oct. 25, as he collected a short punt at midfield and zig-zagged for a touchdown and a 31-0 Hawkeyes lead early in the second quarter. Fans inside Kinnick Stadium roared and relished the moment, witnessing KJ Parker’s pancake block at the 17-yard line that sprung Wetjen to his final untouched steps into the North end zone. The 50-yard runback matched Dwight’s career mark of five return touchdowns, and Wetjen would get a record sixth four weeks later to key a 20-17 rally over Michigan State.
But this was extra-special because of what happened two years earlier at Kinnick against the Gophers, when Cooper DeJean’s “It Wasn’t A Fair Catch” touchdown was overturned on a controversial ruling on video review, causing a 12-10 Iowa loss. This time, there was no doubt: The touchdown stood, and Hawkeye history was made.
13. Gabe Arnold’s long-shot All-American wrestling finish
It was a tough winter for Iowa men’s wrestling, as emphasized by Brands’ March interview with the Register in which he described it as “the worst year of my career.”
But the Hawkeyes wound up having a pretty impressive NCAA Championships, posting seven All-Americans in the same tournament for the first time since their last national title in 2021. And Arnold’s unlikely run to a top-eight finish at 197 pounds was clinched when the No. 27 seed (out of 33) defeated Rutgers’ Remy Cotton, 4-3. Tears streamed down Arnold’s face, who had lost his first-round match, then reeled off four straight consolation-round wins despite competing two classes above his usual weight of 174.
Arnold later spoke in post-tournament interviews about his mental-health struggles and a past hospitalization amid suicidal thoughts during his redshirt freshman season at Iowa. His seventh-place finish was a powerful personal accomplishment that brought Arnold and Hawkeye wrestling fans an ultra-positive moment that they needed.
12. Dayton Howard’s spectacular catch changes Iowa football’s trajectory
While the January finish to the Hawkeyes’ season was satisfying, the September start was troubling. Transfer quarterback Mark Gronowski’s struggles against Albany and at Iowa State seemed to signal a long season ahead. And the 28-24 deficit midway through the fourth quarter Sept. 19 at Rutgers had Hawkeye fans wondering if they could expect any wins the rest of the way on a demanding schedule.
Then came a second-and-6 from Iowa’s 42-yard line, with just over 7 minutes to play. Gronowski uncorked a deep throw down the right sideline to Dayton Howard, against one-on-one coverage from top Rutgers cornerback Jacoby Henderson. The ball was perfectly thrown where only the 6-5 Howard could catch it, and he did in diving fashion at the Rutgers 11.
That set up the first of two Gronowski touchdown runs in the final 5:39 to cement a 38-28 road win that kick-started a 6-3 Big Ten season against stiff competition. Suddenly, Iowa’s offense — for the first time in a long time — was becoming a force.
11. Whoa! Ava Heiden’s acrobatics raise the ceiling for Hawkeye women
The biggest individual story of the year for Hawkeye women’s basketball was the 6-foot-4 sophomore who figuratively sprung onto the scene Feb. 16 at Nebraska. With the shot clock running down, Addie Deal heaved a desperation 3-pointer that was slightly blocked. Heiden charged from the right elbow of the free-throw lane, diagonally across the paint, and leaped to catch the ball in mid-air and deftly hooked a shot behind her head, off the glass and into the hoop for a 35-18 lead.
Heiden’s remarkable emergence from a freshman bit player to sophomore star reached a new level on that Presidents Day. She scored 27 points in an 80-67 win. That opened a 10-game finishing stretch that saw Heiden average 21.8 points on her way to first-team All-Big Ten honors.
Heiden’s high-level play (including 55 points in two NCAA Tournament games) carried the young Hawkeyes, who were limited in numbers after Taylor McCabe’s season-ending ACL tear on Jan. 25, to new heights down the stretch.
10. Kirk Ferentz’s leading of postgame swarm commemorates Big Ten wins record
There was little doubt that Iowa would defeat UMass on Sept. 13, but that didn’t defuse the meaning behind the 47-7 win. The outcome pushed Kirk Ferentz’s Iowa total to 206 wins as a Big Ten coach, breaking a tie with Woody Hayes for most in conference history.
The memorable images of the night included Ferentz getting doused with an orange sports drink, him getting choked up with BTN’s Anthony Herron (one of his first Hawkeyes) in a postgame interview and then the team allowing him to lead the postgame swarm to the tunnel, where his wife Mary was waiting to congratulate him.
More than seven months later, Ferentz’s career win total was docked by four wins by the NCAA over the use of an ineligible player (Cade McNamara) in the 2023 season, but he still enters Year 28 at Iowa as the Big Ten leader in victories with a revised 209-128 record.
9. Mark Gronowski’s salute to Nebraska fans reinforces Big Ten rivalry dominance
Once Iowa’s offense got rolling, its dominance over Big Ten trophy-game rivals was cemented. The Hawkeyes enjoyed clearing out Camp Randall Stadium after “Jump Around” in a 37-0 road rout on Oct. 11, the Badgers’ first home loss by shutout since 1980. They held Minnesota to 133 total yards in a 41-3 home dismantling on Oct. 25. And then came the 40-16 road demolition of Nebraska for Iowa’s 10th Black Friday win over the Huskers in 11 years.
A third-and-goal quarterback-draw call from Nebraska’s 6-yard line in the third quarter resulted in Gronowski scoring one of his 16 rushing touchdowns for the season, which tied Denard Robinson’s Big Ten record. After scoring to put Iowa ahead, 33-16, Gronowski playfully waved goodbye to the dejected and departing Nebraska crowd on a cold day at Memorial Stadium.
Iowa was on its way to a combined 118-19 margin against Wisconsin, Minnesota and Nebraska — results to relish among Hawkeye fans — and a ReliaQuest Bowl bid.
8. McKenna Woliczko’s commitment injects excitement to Iowa women’s basketball
When Woliczko, the No. 6 overall recruit in the Class of 2026, announced she would pick Iowa over South Carolina on Oct. 1, she became the biggest women’s prospect to choose the Hawkeyes since someone named Caitlin Clark.
But what was almost more significant than Clark (who came to Iowa City from West Des Moines as the No. 4 overall recruit in 2020) was that Woliczko was uprooting her life in San Bruno, California, with her father also confirming that she took less money at Iowa because she thought it was the right long-term fit. Woliczko’s commitment (and eventual signing) gave additional credibility to the still-young Jan Jensen era and gave Hawkeye fans a lot of hope for the future.
Woliczko would enjoy a dynamic season coming off ACL surgery, averaging 20.2 points and 11 rebounds while earning first-team All-America status and appearing in lots of major all-star games. The versatile 6-foot-2 forward arrives at Iowa in mid-June to join a roster that also added elite Georgia combo guard Dani Carnegie from the transfer portal.
7. Mark Gronowski’s sneaky keeper caper puts away Penn State in thriller
While there were satisfying blowouts, there were also harrowing moments and unlikely rallies from the Iowa football team in 2025. The Hawkeyes’ 25-24 win over Penn State on Oct. 18 certainly was an uphill climb after they faced an 11-point deficit deep into the third quarter.
Gronowski’s 67-yard scamper turned the tide late, and Wetjen’s 8-yard TD run put Iowa ahead by one with 3:54 left. But the game was still hanging in the balance on a third-and-6 with 1:01 to go. On a play call that only Gronowski and offensive coordinator Tim Lester knew was coming, Gronowski faked a handoff to Kamari Moulton and bootlegged left into open green space to gain 14 happy yards and a first down. Gronowski slid to a knee, knowing the game was won.
Gronowski and Lester had been holding that play that they copied from a 2023 Syracuse game in their hip pockets until the right time. In that moment, they exhaled as the Iowa offense took another step forward in their “be the reason” mantra for winning games … after so many years of the Hawkeye defense being the program’s only path to victory.
6. Carver-Hawkeye Arena’s court storm signals fan revival for Iowa men’s basketball
From the beginning of the Ben McCollum era in late-March 2025, the goal was to win fans back after so many had retreated into apathy in the final 2-3 years under Fran McCaffery. McCollum and players made sure to thank fans after every home game, win or lose, by going around the court and smacking hands and bumping fists.
On Feb. 17, a full student section (and more) poured onto the floor to thank the players after Iowa took down No. 9 Nebraska, 57-52, in a game that saw the Hawkeyes deliver immense defensive energy and ride Bennett Stirtz’s 25 points to the first signature win of the McCollum era. While there was some animosity between the Iowa and Nebraska camps after the court storm, there was still satisfaction on the Hawkeyes’ end — especially coming against ex-Hawkeye-turned-Nebraska-star Pryce Sandfort.
The raucous vibe from Iowa fans for 2 hours would be matched a few weeks later as Iowa took eventual national champion Michigan to the brink before falling, 71-68, in the home finale March 5 at Carver-Hawkeye. (And as it turned out, the fan enthusiasm and joy were only beginning for what would happen in the weeks to come.)
5. Journey Houston’s “bye-bye” wave cements 2 signature wins over Michigan
Few noticed it in the moment, but social-media account @HeavensFX captured and posted a brief TV clip that showed Iowa women’s basketball freshman Journey Houston walking past Ashley Sofilkanich after the talkative Michigan post fouled out. The young forward waved goodbye with her left hand while also saying “bye bye” with 2:28 remaining in the March 7 Big Ten Tournament semifinal in Indianapolis.
The Hawkeyes’ 59-42 victory was their second pasting of the top-10 Wolverines in a span of two weeks (Iowa won at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, 62-44, on Feb. 22) and clinched their unlikely spot in the Big Ten title game and a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Houston’s wave was emblematic of the feisty nature that Iowa consistently deployed amid Jensen’s “blue-collar blue-blood” mantra.
A dominant 20-9 fourth quarter against Michigan, which was averaging 85 points per game, was the highest of many high points in Iowa’s season.
4. Mark Gronowski’s “6-7” for six delivers magic in rain vs. Oregon
The only moment of these 15 that comes in an Iowa loss still ranks in the top five, just because it speaks to so many emotions of the year all at once. On a rainy, cold Nov. 8 against No. 9 Oregon, Gronowski had delivered two big-time passes — 40 yards to DJ Vonnahme on third-and-6, 15 yards to Reece Vander Zee on fourth-and-3 — and had Iowa positioned for a fourth-and-goal at the 3-yard line, down 15-10 with 1:55 to go.
Tim Lester’s call had Gronowski take a shotgun snap in a spread formation, leaving him one-on-one against a middle linebacker. He fled to his right and coasted into the end zone, capping a clutch 93-yard scoring drive while giving a “6-7” hand-gesture celebration (a trend at the time). The electricity in Kinnick Stadium was off the charts as Iowa had taken a 16-15 lead with 1:51 remaining.
Unfortunately for Iowa, the 2-point conversion failed and a clutch throw by Dante Moore and last-second field goal by Atticus Sappington gave Oregon the 18-16 escape. That result was symbolic of Iowa’s competitiveness against the nation’s top teams (including earlier in the season against eventual national champion Indiana, a heartbreaking 20-15 loss that the Hawkeyes nearly had in the bag). But Iowa didn’t lose again, stringing together three wins over nine great quarters to finish the season.
3. Karson Sharar’s smashing sack of Diego Pavia sets tone in Iowa’s validating bowl win
Iowa was shouldered with so many narratives as it met No. 14 Vanderbilt on Jan. 1 in Tampa, with both teams fielding nearly full-strength rosters in a throwback bowl brawl. Could the Hawkeyes finally end a losing streak against ranked opponents? Could they validate their close losses with a breakthrough win? And how on earth would they stop Heisman Trophy runner-up Diego Pavia?
Well, of the many signature moments in Iowa’s 34-27 ReliaQuest Bowl win, one stood out that exemplified the growth of the team: Karson Sharar’s “shot out of a cannon” (per the ESPN telecast) sack of Pavia in the game’s opening six minutes. Sharar, Iowa’s weak-side linebacker, walloped Pavia on a delayed blitz that looked like a car collision. That forced a Vanderbilt punt, with Iowa already up 7-0. Sharar would sack Pavia later in the quarter, setting the tone for the Hawkeyes’ tenacious performance. Iowa would, once again, clinch a win with a nifty Gronowski third-down keeper and celebrate under confetti at Raymond James Stadium.
Then, to cement the year’s quietly impressive Iowa football narrative, Sharar — the former two-star recruit — was drafted in the sixth round by the Arizona Cardinals. He was among the program-record seven Hawkeyes chosen in the NFL Draft in late April. Pavia went undrafted.
2. Bennett Stirtz’s stone-cold 3 engages finishing Hawkeye flurry to the Elite 8
In Iowa’s first Sweet 16 game in 27 seasons, Houston presented a road-game environment with so many revved-up Nebraska fans making the journey. And the Huskers raced out to a 10-point lead in the first 3:06 and didn’t trail until … Stirtz — the guy Nebraska radio called “not a great player” a few weeks earlier — delivered a big-time shot.
After carrying Iowa single-handedly through much of the season, Stirtz was getting supporting-cast assistance in the NCAA Tournament. But with the score 65-65 and just over 2 minutes to play, it was Stirtz’s time to step up again. Cooper Koch swung a pass to the right wing, where Stirtz stood about 26 feet from the basket. The senior point guard unleashed a quick-trigger 3 that rattled home, with 2 seconds on the shot clock, to give Iowa a 68-65 advantage.
One possession later, Tate Sage splashed down a 3 for a 71-65 lead. And then Alvaro Folgueiras put the finishing touches on Iowa’s 77-71 win with a fast-break 3-point play when the Huskers inexplicably put only four men on the court. Iowa was jubilantly headed to the Elite Eight for the first time since 1987, doing so with its latest win over a heated rival.
1. Alvaro Folgueiras’ corner 3 to beat Florida ends Iowa’s Sweet 16 drought
Was there any doubt about No. 1? Folgueiras, who earlier in Iowa’s second-round NCAA Tournament game in Tampa was given a technical foul after a dead-ball dust-up with Florida big man Alex Condon, became a Hawkeye hero for life with his 3-pointer from the right corner with 4.5 seconds left.
That swished, step-back shot gave Iowa a 73-72 lead over the top-seeded Gators, and that became the final score after a clinching defensive stop. On the winning play, Koch’s precise inbounds pass to a sprinting Stirtz sprung him into space. Even though McCollum drew up the play for Stirtz to take the shot, the savvy and unselfish point guard sent a bounce pass to Folgueiras in the corner. And the Spaniard delivered to push the Hawkeyes into the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1999.
The moment instantly became one of the three most memorable shots in Hawkeye basketball history, joining Steve Waite’s 3-point play against Georgetown that sent Iowa to the 1980 Final Four; and Kevin Gamble’s 3-pointer to beat Oklahoma that got Iowa to the 1987 Elite Eight. The jubilation of breaking the Sweet 16 drought while dethroning the defending national champions still hasn’t worn off for some Hawkeye fans.
Hawkeyes columnist Chad Leistikow has served for 31 years with The Des Moines Register and USA TODAY Sports Network. Chad is the 2023 INA Iowa Sports Columnist of the Year and NSMA Co-Sportswriter of the Year in Iowa. Join Chad’s text-message group at HawkCentral.com/HawkeyesTexts. Follow @ChadLeistikow on X.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: The 15 best moments in historic Iowa Hawkeyes sports year | Leistikow
Reporting by Chad Leistikow, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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