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The Iowa Hawkeyes are off to a tremendous start to the 2021 football season. After back-to-back wins over top-25 teams in weeks one and two, the Hawkeyes picked up their ninth straight win dating back to the 2020 season in week three. That early season success has garnered a top-5 ranking for Iowa at the earliest point in a season since 1985.
It’s also started to help the Hawks gain some attention on the recruiting trail. Iowa hosted a slew of top targets for the season opener against Indiana while putting on a great show in front of several others on hand in Ames for week two. Week three against Kent State was no different as the Hawkeyes hosted nearly 20 total prospects across several classes.
One such prospect was Iowa City native Ben Kueter from the class of 2023. Kueter has been dominant for the City High Little Hawks, who find themselves inside the top-5 in Iowa’s class 5A and fresh off a big win over West Des Moines Dowling on Friday night.
Sunday, Kueter kept the great weekend going by announcing he had received an offer to attend the University of Iowa and wasted no time accepting.
Go hawks #Committed pic.twitter.com/KkedTkEEi5
— Ben kueter (@Benkueter1) September 19, 2021
That commitment edit looks strikingly different from that of most other Iowa commits. That’s because Kueter is no ordinary commitment. A 4-sport star at City High (football, wrestling, baseball and track), Kueter intends to play football and wrestle for the Hawkeyes.
You read that right.
The Brands brothers were hoping to land the services of Kueter, who is a top-15 recruit nationally at heavyweight (after winning a state title at 160 pounds as a freshman and 195 pounds as a sophomore), and now they have him without losing a scholarship. Instead, Kirk Ferentz and the football program will have him on scholarship as they look for him to develop into a tremendous linebacker.
We’ll dive into the wrestling impact in a separate post, but in terms of his football prospects, Kueter is a potential star. He has a tremendous frame at 6’3” and 220 pounds as a high school junior. He’s also uber athletic with that frame, as you might guess from a 4-sport star.
For City High, Kueter goes both ways, playing LB and TE and having a significant impact on both sides of the ball. He’s got 5 touchdowns on the offensive side of the ball, including the game-winner in City’s win over Dowling on Friday, but the Hawkeyes like him on defense.
As a linebacker, Kueter has already recorded 28.5 tackles and 13.5 tackles for a loss through four games. Beyond that frame and the athleticism, Kueter shows great instincts. He frequently diagnoses plays, finds the open running lane and meets opposing runners with force.
After already being a highly-touted wrestling prospect, Kueter has seen his football recruitment take off this fall. As he and City continue to have success, a number of power five programs have gained significant interest. That led to offers in recent weeks from Iowa State, Minnesota and Missouri.
And of course, Iowa threw their name into the hat over the weekend after getting Kueter to Kinnick on Saturday. The opportunity to be a Hawkeye and attempt to compete in both football and wrestling sealed the deal.
Kueter joins Norwalk native Maddux Borhcerding-Johnson as Iowa’s second commitment in the class of 2023. Both are currently listed as 3-star prospects by Rivals and 247 Sports but have the potential to be upgraded to 4-stars over the next year.
Welcome aboard Ben Kueter!