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Hip surgery will nix football (again) for Iowa's Ben Kueter in 2025

by:Tanner Lafever•04/04/25•

TannerLafever

Ben Kueter
Ben Kueter will miss the upcoming football season due to hip surgery but should be ready to go when wrestling begins in November. (Photo Credit: University of Iowa Athletics)

Last June, Ben Kueter made the decision of his own accord to step away from a season of Iowa football.

The result was his first full-time attention toward wrestling (maybe ever), ending in All-American honors for the young heavyweight.

10 months after Kueter made that previous choice, we’d learn Thursday evening that he would miss out on fall Saturdays for the second year in a row – only this time due to a decision his body made for him.

Per a Facebook post by his mother, Tina, and later confirmed to the Des Moines Register’s Chad Leistikow, Kueter will undergo arthroscopic hip surgery today to deal with a nagging injury that had been plaguing the redshirt freshman.

Kueter’s mother wrote, “He was having hip issues this fall that (we) thought would go away. Turns out, it didn’t go away. He is having an arthroscopy with a hip repair. The recovery is extensive but sounds like he will be brand new and feel so much better! Flexibility and range of motion will be back to normal!”

Described as a recovery period of at least 4-6 months – eight at the longest – “Ben will not be healthy in time to play football this fall,” said Mrs. Kueter.

“He should, however, be ready for mid-November to compete. Ben will wrestle for the 2025-2026 year.”

What it means for Iowa Football

It’s hard to say, really.

Kueter redshirted in 2023 without playing a single snap. Then he missed the 2024 season altogether after electing to focus on pursuing a U20 World title (where he’d finish runner up), plus the college wrestling season thereafter.

Iowa does lose all three starting linebackers from a year ago – including stalwarts Jay Higgins and Nick Jackson.

That said, several veterans who’ve waited their turn remain, as do back-to-back crops of stellar recruiting classes at the position.

We don’t really know how Kueter stacks up amongst them. But there’s a chance he’d have had a tough time cracking the two-deep even if he would’ve returned for spring practice as he mentioned on social media immediately following the NCAA Championships:

Regardless of those hypotheticals, it’s just a bummer that he’ll be denied the opportunity to try and live out his dual-sport aspirations next season.

What it means for Iowa Wrestling

The only ‘bright side’ of this news as it pertains to either sport is the timing aspect for wrestling.

Assuming Kueter’s recovery goes well, he could be back on the mat perhaps as early as August. That’d give him plenty of time to ramp up for the regular season, hopefully feeling his best in a while.

If that weren’t reason enough for excitement, add to it the fact that he could be a legitimate national title contender next season.

Only one returning All-American finished higher on the podium last month than Kueter (eighth), and he’s a surefire bet to start next November ranked in the top five at heavyweight.

In fact, of Kueter’s nine losses this past season (all to wrestlers at least five years removed from high school) only two came against foes who could return in 2025-26.

If he’s fit and feeling good come next March, it’s not crazy to think the (then) redshirt sophomore could become Iowa’s first NCAA champ at heavyweight since Steve Mocco won in 2003.

Alas, Kueter can cross that bridge if/when he comes to it.

The priority now is getting healthy – so that whatever sport he happens to have in front of him next can receive the full brunt of physical gifts from one of the greatest athletes in Iowa high school history.

And as it seems that the next stop will in fact be on the mat, all of us as wrestling fans should consider ourselves so lucky.

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