Iowa has signed three-star lineman Joey VanWetzinga. As shared via Iowa social media channels, the Pleasant Valley, Iowa product is officially a Hawkeye.
Iowa was VanWetzinga's only offer, though he received early interest from Iowa State, Illinois, Missouri and Wisconsin.
Joey is a Football Guy down to the pedigree, the younger brother of PWO fullback Rusty VanWetzinga IV, and the son of longtime Pleasant Valley head coach Rusty VanWetzinga III.
Joey was the first commitment of Iowa's 2025 class, receiving his offer after prospect camp in June 2023 and committing 11 days later, not waiting for his recruitment to open any further.
"I grew up playing football with Rusty," VanWetzinga said. "He was really a leader on the field and he really got on me when I missed plays and stuff. He'd help me get focused. I think it'd be a really neat experience to go play college football with him."
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VanWetzinga is nominally listed as defensive tackle, but is coming in with the opportunity to play on the offensive line. That's not indecision from the Iowa coaches, it's a sign of VanWetzinga's versatility.
"I'm assuming they're going to want to put me on the O-line," he said. "They haven't really told me what position they want me at yet."
VanWetzinga played at every position on the defensive line for Pleasant Valley, from 1-technique over center to split out wide, often in the same game. He was a mainstay at offensive guard for the Spartans, and even saw some carries at fullback, like Rusty plays at Iowa; as a senior, Joey rushed 17 times for 55 yards and four touchdowns.
At 6'2" and the low 270s, VanWetzinga will almost certainly redshirt as the team gets him into Big Ten shape and figures out where that leaves him best suited to play.
If his high school career is any indication, though, VanWetzinga is going to be hard to get off the field once he's on, and even harder for opposing teams to account for. Whether he's on the offensive or defensive side of the line, his blend of strength, agility and gap discipline translates so well to how Iowa operates that it's almost a wonder how it took VanWetzinga almost two weeks to commit.
"I pretty much knew it was going to be Iowa when I received the offer," he said. "I was just deciding when to commit. I talked with my dad, and we came together on making the decision now because I just want to focus on being a good player for my upcoming season. I didn't want to focus on the recruiting process."
VanWetzinga finished the season with 34 tackles, including 11.0 TFL and 4.5 sacks.for Pleasant Valley, who finished the regular season 7-2 and ranked sixth in 5A. The Spartans rushed for nearly 300 yards per game behind VanWetzinga's blocking.
