Takedown Report

Des Moines Register’s Top 50 all-time wrestlers from Iowa colleges: No. 1 through No. 50

Who is the greatest of all-time?
It’s a question that haunts every sport in one way or another. You see it in the Michael Jordan vs. LeBron James debate in basketball, and conversations about Patrick Mahomes catching Tom Brady in football, and when hockey fans wonder if anyone can reach the peak of “The Great One,” Wayne Gretzky.
Here in Iowa, we like to debate wrestling. As in, who is the greatest Iowa Hawkeye wrestler of all-time? Will anyone be as great as Iowa State’s Cael Sanderson was in college? How does former Cyclone Dan Gable’s loss to Larry Owings affect his legacy as a collegiate wrestler?
Wrestling is uniquely Iowan. Fans’ passion does not waver from one generation to the next. Iowans care deeply about the Cy-Hawk dual winner in November and the guys who reach the podium at NCAAs in March. Debates about “who’s better” are waged throughout the year.
The Des Moines Register decided to join in the fun and curated a top-50 list of the state of Iowa’s greatest college wrestlers of all-time.
For this exercise, we considered a wrestler’s resume only from their collegiate careers. No high school, national or international accomplishments were considered, comparing only the accolades earned within the confines of collegiate competition at Iowa colleges from every division. Experts such as wrestling historian Mike Chapman and former Wartburg head coach … more at … https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/sports/college/2025/09/13/iowa-wrestling-des-moines-register-top-50-wrestlers-from-iowa-colleges-1-to-50/85522302007/?sltsgmt=0154_A

September 25, 2025 Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized | Leave a comment