#3 Iowa wrestling picked up its biggest recruiting win in nearly eight years, as #2 overall recruit Bo Bassett announced his commitment to the Hawkeyes on Tuesday night. Bassett, a star wrestler for Bishop McCort High School in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, made his pledge to the Hawkeyes after Bishop McCort's dual meet victory.
"I've always wanted to be an Iowa Hawkeye," Bassett said in announcing his decision. "That's something I didn't forget since I was six years old. I started wrestling [and] Iowa was always my favorite team. I just love the way the wrestle, they're very similar to the McCort room."
Bassett expressed his enthusiasm for joining the Iowa program and getting the opportunity to wrestle in Carver-Hawkeye Arena in comments to FloWrestling's Andy Hamilton.
Bassett is FloWrestling's #2 pound-for-pound recruit in the 2026 recruiting class (and #1 on MatScouts), as well the top 144-lb wrestler in the nation; he projects at 149 lbs in college. A two-time Pennsylvania state champion, Bassett has dominated the prep ranks, going 109-0 in PA high school competition while also becoming a three-time champ in the Super 32, Powerade, and Ironman competitions. He's excelled on the international stage as well, claiming a bronze medal at 65kg in the U20 World Championships in Pontevedra, Spain, in September 2024, as well as a U17 world championship in 2021.
He's been a star in the wrestling world for several years and thanks to a social media-friendly recruitment process, Bassett figures to enter college as one of the most well-known and popular figures in the sport. Bassett has posted regular updates on his recruitment on Instagram (where has over 162,000 followers), Twitter/X, and Facebook (over 93,000 followers) as he narrowed down his list of potential schools from 80 to just a handful. On Monday, Bassett confirmed his final four: Iowa, Penn State, Virginia Tech, and Oklahoma State.
Bassett's popularity has already resulted in him being a brand ambassador for Rudis Wrestling and being actively pursued in the NIL space. Though some recent reports suggested that Bassett could receive an NIL package up to $5 million, Bassett denied those figures on his appearance FloWrestling Radio Love on Monday. Even if the $5 million NIL figure proves erroneous, Bassett figures to receive one of the most lucrative NIL packages in the nascent history of the NIL industry, at least among collegiate wrestlers.
There's no overstating what an enormous recruiting win this is for Tom Brands and the Iowa wrestling program, either. Bassett is the biggest get the Hawkeyes have landed since another celebrated young Pennsylvania wrestler opted to compete in black and gold in college -- Spencer Lee. Lee, a silver medalist at 57kg at the 2024 Olympic Games, had a record-shattering collegiate career, winning three NCAA titles in dominant fashion, including one while competing with two torn ACLs.
Bassett already called Lee his favorite wrestler in a recent interview -- now he'll have the opportunity to train with Lee in the Iowa wrestling room on a regular basis. Bassett affirmed his excitement for getting to work with Lee at Iowa in his comments to Hamilton.
