Iowa men's wrestling set for massive recruiting weekend
Look, the Iowa men’s wrestling program is no stranger to recruiting the very best wrestlers from around the country.
The University of Iowa campus has played host to top prospects from far and wide dating back 40-plus years to the heyday of Dan Gable.
Current head coach Tom Brands refers to Iowa City as the “Mecca of Wrestling” – a place that was also dubbed as ‘Wrestletown USA’ back in 2012 when Carver-Hawkeye Arena first played host to the US Olympic Trials.
In fact, the latter moniker is now emblazoned upon a wall at the school’s brand-new $31 million training facility.
All of it comes back to the abilities of the athletes who call themselves Hawkeyes. But you’ve got to get them here first. That’s why this weekend presents such a massive opportunity for Brands and the Iowa program.
About a month ago I wrote an article detailing the current 2025 commits as well as the top 2026 targets for the Hawkeyes.
(I’d encourage folks to check out that story to gain even more background on many of the prospects I’m about to reference again here.)
Now, several major names from that group are set to descend upon Iowa City all at once.
I’ll give a rundown of who’s currently expected to visit campus this weekend. Then I’ll close with a few nuggets on why all of this is so critical to the future of the Iowa men’s wrestling program (beyond the obvious of adding some supremely talented athletes to the roster).
*All recruiting rankings referenced are via the latest Flo Rankings*
The Big Three
It hardly gets any bigger than hosting the top three (junior) prospects in the country all at one time/place.
That’s exactly what’s on tap for Iowa this weekend with #1 Jax Forrest (PA), #2 Bo Bassett (PA) and #3 Dreshaun Ross (IA).
Despite being ranked #2 overall in the Class of 2026, Bassett (currently competing at 144 pounds) is the biggest name amongst the trio in recruiting circles given his overall popularity, the ‘unique’ manner in which he has elected to go about his winnowing of potential college suitors, and of course, his prowess on the mat.
He also happens to be high school teammates at Bishop McCort (PA) with top-ranked Jax Forrest (132 pounds) – the latter of whom has competed capably at both the US Olympic and Senior World Team Trials within the past 6-7 months.
Homegrown prospect Dreshaun Ross (Fort Dodge) rounds out the triumvirate as its largest member at 215 pounds.
The two-sport star (not unlike another recent Hawkeye recruit, Ben Kueter) was on campus just 12 days ago for a visit with the Hawkeye football program. Prior to that visit Hawkeye Report’s own Blair Sanderson reported that Ross would also return to campus this coming weekend with wrestling in mind:
The two-time Iowa state champion and recent Under-17 World Team Trials victor is one of the more gifted upper weight wrestlers you’ll ever see for someone his age.
It’s not a stretch to suggest that any of Ross, Bassett or Forrest could step onto the mat as college freshmen in two years and immediately contend for a place high on the podium at the NCAA Championships.
So, yeah, you want these guys in Black & Gold if you’re a Hawkeye wrestling fan.
A ‘legacy’ of his own
Not to be shortchanged as a coveted recruit in his own right, Michael Mocco (FL) gets his own section here as both a recent U17 World Champion and the #9 overall prospect in the Class of 2026.
Oh, and he’s also the son of former Iowa men’s wrestling heavyweight Steve Mocco.
The elder Mocco was a two-time NCAA finalist (and 2003 national champion) as a Hawkeye before transferring to Oklahoma State and repeating those accomplishments during a pair of seasons as a Cowboy.
His son may still be growing into the college heavyweight that he’ll eventually become, but Michael has already developed plenty of his own skills as he prepares to embark on his junior season down in the Sunshine State.
Given that both Mocco and Ross project at 285 pounds in a Division I lineup (assuming Ross takes the wrestling route) it’s unlikely that the two wind up at the same school.
I’m sure that would suit Tom Brands & Co. just fine so long as one of them chooses Iowa.
Others to watch for (and a well-deserved shout out)
Paolo Ciatto (2025), Rylan Seacrist (2026) and Owen McMullen (2026) are three other prospects set to visit Iowa City this weekend – all of which were first reported by IA Wrestle’s Ross Bartachek.
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Seacrist is a Brecksville, Ohio lightweight who, this past December at the prestigious Ironman tournament knocked off now-two-time U17 freestyle World Champion Dom Munaretto (currently ranked #6 overall in the Class of 2026).
McMullen – a middleweight – is yet another member of the Bishop McCort (PA) program who’ll be trekking to Iowa City for a visit.
Meanwhile, Paolo Chiatto hails as the lone senior prospect on the current list of visitors. The New York native (Iona Prep) last competed at 170 pounds as a high school junior.
As an aside, I want to make sure that I credit Ross Bartachek of IA Wrestle once again for initially reporting on a number of these visitors. Ross was first with the news on the Jax Forrest and Michael Mocco visits (so far as I can tell) in addition to the three prospects I just mentioned.
Full props to him for his reporting on this – an area that I’m personally hoping to get better and better at as I continue to build out my own coverage here at Hawkeye Report.
Keeping pace
I mentioned in the open that a recruiting weekend like this – and the 2026 Class as a whole – is important for reasons beyond simply bringing in the next wave of high-end talent to the Iowa men’s wrestling program.
The two biggest of those reasons? Penn State and Oklahoma State.
As has become customary since Cael Sanderson took over in Happy Valley, the Nittany Lions continue to stockpile elite up-and-coming prospects whenever possible – not to mention some big-time transfers to boot.
(For reference, current/committed PSU wrestlers recently made up 50 percent of Team USA’s 10-man lineup at the U20 World Championships. Iowa had one.)
And down in Stillwater (OK) new Cowboys head coach David Taylor – an Olympic gold medalist and NCAA wrestling legend – is already making waves with the influx of talent he’s assembling in hopes of taking the 34-time national champions back to the top of the sport.
(Oklahoma State just surpassed Cornell for the top-ranked 2025 Class with its latest ‘flip’ of a blue-chip prospect who’d previously been committed elsewhere.)
Iowa has certainly signed its share of elite recruits in recent years.
Seven former top-25-ranked high schoolers litter the 2024-25 roster – plus two others who transferred into the program from other universities.
Of that group, five were ranked in the top five of their respective recruiting class(es).
*#6 Leo DeLuca (125 pounds) and #21 Jarrel Miller (184/197) headline what should be a smaller 2025 Class set to join the Iowa room a year from now.
Those numbers are nothing to scoff at – but the Hawkeyes could sure use even more (and fast). That’s precisely why a recruiting weekend of this caliber could be a game-changer for the next 4-6 years of Iowa men’s wrestling.
We’ll see if they can capitalize on the opportunity.
