The 2024-25 starting lineup for the Iowa wrestling team started to come into clearer focus on Tuesday, thanks to a few notable announcements. Iowa is getting one more season from Nelson Brands and adding Kyle Parco, two wrestlers with former All-America finishes.
Let's start with a very familiar face: Nelson Brands is returning for one final season at Iowa, as he announced on social media.
"I'm stoked to represent the black and gold for one last season!" said Brands in his announcement. He also cheekily referenced the gambling-related suspension he endured last season, also saying "Hey Siri, play The Gambler by Kenny Rogers."
As recently as December, Brands' Iowa career was believed to be over. That's when the final appeal was denied for the season-long suspension he received based on the state of Iowa's controversial investigation into gambling among athletes at Iowa and Iowa State. At the time the 2023-24 season was Brands' final year of eligibility.
Since then, though, Brands was granted a medical hardship waiver -- and an extra year of eligibility -- for suffering a season-ending injury during the 2021-22 season, as reported by Eli McKown at The Des Moines Register. That decision means that Brands, the nephew of Iowa head coach Tom Brands and the son of Iowa associate head coach Terry Brands, will have one more year in black and gold.
Where exactly Brands will fit into the lineup is still very much a question; in fact, his return further muddies a portion of the Iowa lineup that was already difficult to sort out. In 2022-23, his last full season, Brands went 15-8 at 174 lbs en route to a fifth place finish at the NCAA Tournament, the first All-America finish of his career.
But Iowa already has multiple options at 174. Patrick Kennedy spent most of last season at that spot, going 18-8 overall before bowing out in the blood round (Round of 12) at the NCAA Tournament. Gabe Arnold, a Top-10 overall recruit in the 2023 recruiting class, split time at 174 and 184 last season, going 12-1 overall and 10-0 at 174. Angelo Ferrari, a top overall recruit in 2024 recruiting class, is also expected to join the Iowa team this fall; he projects at 174 or 184 as well.
The weights around 174 and 184 look pretty well-filled as well. Even if any of the above-listed wrestlers could cut down to 165, Iowa already has Michael Caliendo returning at that weight; he went 24-6 last year and finished fourth at the NCAA Tournament. At 197, Zach Glazier had a disappointing NCAA Tournament (going just 1-2), but was 24-2 on the season prior to NCAAs and was one of the bigger success stories for Iowa in 2023-24.
The return of Nelson Brands adds another quality wrestler to the roster for next season, though how the starting jobs will get sorted out is still very much a work-in-progress. Brands wasn't the only positive news that the Iowa team got on Tuesday, though -- Kyle Parco also announced his decision to transfer to Iowa out of the transfer portal.
Parco, a four-time All-American, has wrestled almost exclusively at 149 lbs during his career, though he did wrestle at 141 back in 2019-20 during a redshirt season at Fresno State. Parco began his college career with the Bulldogs and earned the first of his four All-America honors there as well, going 18-4 overall and finishing sixth at the 2021 NCAA Tournament.
He transferred to Arizona State after the 2021 season and spent the last three seasons with the Sun Devils. Parco went 24-4 in 2022 and finished eighth at the NCAA Tournament. In 2023 he went 27-6 and finished fourth at the NCAA Tournament, his best-ever finish. Last year he went 25-5 overall and finished fifth at the NCAA Tournament.
In his announcement, Parco thanked his family, his teammates, and his coaches before stating that "With one year left in the hunt, I am still in the hunt for a national title and I am grateful for all the opportunities I've been given."
"Time to run it back one last time... in black and gold," he added.
Parco has an additional year of eligibility to use as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic that canceled the 2020 NCAA Tournament.
The addition of Parco should solidify what was one of the question mark weights on the Iowa roster entering next season. Caleb Rathjen (20-7 overall) and Oklahoma State transfer Victor Voinovich III (11-6 overall) battled for the 149 spot last season, with Rathjen winning the job and going 4-2 at the Big Ten Tournament but only 1-2 at the NCAA Tournament.
Parco's arrival means that one (or both) of Rathjen and Voinovich will likely need to consider a move up to 157 to compete with Cobe Siebrecht (who is also returning from a year-long absence from the lineup) for a shot at the starting lineup.
Parco, the 2-seed at 149 lbs at the NCAA Tournament last year, adds some definite firepower to the Iowa lineup, though he'll need to continue to improve in order to achieve his goal of winning a national championship. Three of the four wrestlers who finished ahead of Parco at last year's NCAA Tournament are slated to be back in 2024-25, including the national champion, Virginia Tech's Caleb Henson. The Big Ten champion, Nebraska's Ridge Lovett is also set to return, though Parco did go 2-0 against Lovett last season, beating him in a dual meet and in the fifth-place match in the medal round at the NCAA Tournament.
Not all of the news for Iowa wrestling on Tuesday was positive, though. Kolby Franklin, an underclassmen at 197 lbs, announced that he was medically retiring from wrestling due to persistent injuries.
"Ultimately, throughout my career I dealt with a lot of serious injuries and wasn’t big on sharing those struggles with the world," said Franklin. "That being said I have struggled with a serious neck injury for the past few years, eventually decided to get surgery to give myself one last chance, and injured my neck again post surgery."
"I will be stepping away from competition in the sport of wrestling and medically retiring with my health in mind," Franklin added. "I want to thank everyone who contributed to my career and helped me along the way."
Franklin went 25-12 during his Iowa career, highlighted by a 15-6 overall mark in 2022-23. Franklin primarily competed in open tournaments that season, highlighted by a 4-3 win over future Iowa starter Zach Glazier at the Soldier Salute event. Franklin also deputized for Jacob Warner in one dual meet that season, losing a 4-0 decision to Braxton Amos at the Iowa-Wisconsin dual.
Franklin was a well-regarded recruit when he arrived at Iowa but as he noted in his announcement, multiple injuries stymied his development. His departure leaves Iowa very thin at 197 lbs, though; Glazier and Franklin were the only two wrestlers listed at that weight on the Iowa roster last season and Glazier was the only Iowa wrestler to compete at 197 lbs in 2023-24.
