Olympic gold medal or the NFL? Ben Kueter will go for both with Iowa wrestling, football

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Ben Kueter gets the same question almost daily from friends, family acquaintances and media members. To his credit, it doesn’t cause him aggravation. Whether it motivates him, well, that’s a different story.

Kueter, who stands 6 feet 4 and weighs 225 pounds, is a four-star linebacker from Iowa City High who signed with Iowa to play football. He also won the junior world wrestling title in 2022, one of only six Americans to do so before his senior year of high school. Kueter will wrestle at Iowa, too.

In 2028, the Summer Olympics are held in Los Angeles. It’s not a stretch to think Kueter could represent the United States and perhaps win gold. That spring, it’s also not far-fetched to think Kueter could be selected by an NFL team.

A gold medal or the NFL?

“I guess if he had to give you an answer today, he’ll tell you both,” Iowa City High coach Mitch Moore said.

“I was joking with (three-time NCAA champion) Spencer Lee,” Kueter said, “and he was like, ‘You’ve got to win a couple national titles before you just stick to football. Once you win a couple national titles, you can go play football and do your thing.’

“It’s exciting. But who knows four or five years from now? Anything can happen.”

Kueter’s status became a topic among Iowa City sports fans long before he joined the Hawkeyes. Before Kueter was offered a dual-sport scholarship, his name came up in an impromptu grocery store conversation between Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz and former Iowa wrestling coach Dan Gable.

“I asked Dan Gable 2 1/2 years ago probably, can you do both?” Ferentz said. “That was a dumb thing to do. Because Dan looked at me, and he goes, ‘Why not? He can do whatever he wants to do.’ So, I think until we learn otherwise, we’ll just work with that assumption. My ultimate goal is just for him to really be happy and for things to work out the way he wants them to.”

Kueter could have gone nearly anywhere if he gave up football or wrestling. Minnesota was the first school to offer him a football scholarship when he was clocked running more than 21 mph with the ball as a junior. It helped land him a spot in the Under Armour All-America Game.

Seven Iowans have gone through high school unbeaten: Dan Gable, Jeff Kerber, Dan Knight, Jeff McGinness, Eric Juergens, John Meeks and now Ben Kueter. pic.twitter.com/bBOfgcgjJT

— Andy Hamilton (@Andy_Hamilton) February 19, 2023

As a wrestler, Kueter has no peers. He’s one of seven wrestlers in Iowa history to complete a high school career unbeaten with four titles. He finished 111-0, with 105 matches ending in either a fall or a technical fall. This year, he was 39-0 with 34 pins, three technical falls and two forfeits.

Nearly all of the Iowa football signees are multi-sport athletes. Kueter also was a high-level baseball player and track athlete at Iowa City High. But in recent times, only Kueter and Brody Brecht opted for two sports at Iowa. Brecht, a third-team All-America pitcher and wide receiver, lasted two football seasons before he flipped to baseball full time this spring. But Brecht’s baseball potential dwarfed his football skills. Kueter’s trajectory, however, is less clear.

“I really can’t say that I had any idea how Brody’s thing would go, how his path would go,” Ferentz said. “It’s probably the same thing with Ben. Two different sports, obviously, but Brody has potential that’s unusual in his sport. I’m not an expert in wrestling, but people that are knowledgeable think (Kueter has) tremendous upside there, too. I don’t think any of us are in a hurry to make a decision here. I don’t think Ben is, either. We’ll just kind of take it a day at a time, a week at a time.”

Iowa’s football and wrestling programs have a solid working relationship. Multiple times, Gable served as honorary team captain for Iowa football games, and football players fill the seats at wrestling duals. All of Ferentz’s sons wrestled at Iowa City High, including offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz, who regularly attends several of Iowa’s sold-out wrestling meets.

There’s no tug of war for Kueter’s services. From the beginning, wrestling coach Tom Brands and the football staff worked together to bring in Kueter in a mutually beneficial way.

“We’re going to work together with football, and we’re going to come up with what’s best for him,” Brands said.

“You can probably imagine how the conversation went when we initially told (Brands), ‘Hey, how are we going to work this out?’” football recruiting director Tyler Barnes said. “Brands just told us to get it done.”

Kueter wanted to graduate early and start working out with the Iowa football team in January. But the football and wrestling staffs immediately shut down that idea.

“They’re like, ‘Nope, you’ve got to wrestle and win your fourth state title,’” Kueter said. “I was ready to just be done with it. I was ready to move on and kind of dip my toes, I guess you could say, in the college scene and get ready for that. But they were adamant about me staying and just finishing out high school.”

Ben Kueter finished his high school wrestling career with a 111-0 record and four state titles. (Scott Dochterman / The Athletic)

Kueter the football player

Among Iowa’s largest high schools, Iowa City High boasts one of the top football traditions. The Little Hawks have played for seven state titles and won four in the past 30 seasons. But redistricting and enrollment trends caused the once-proud program to falter with four consecutive two-win seasons.

At the midpoint of his high school career, Kueter had his eyes on wrestling. Then Iowa City High hired Moore, and the program was revitalized. So was Kueter’s mindset.

“When coach Moore came, I really started to learn how to play football,” Kueter said. “I only got two years of being coached by a really good linebacker coach — Todd McGhghy — and coach Moore, so it’s exciting. I’m not even close to where I need to be or where I could be.”

On the field, Kueter was a tackling machine. In his final two seasons, he finished with 199 tackles, including 64 for loss, and 18 1/2 sacks. He also combined for 665 yards and eight touchdowns in 2022 as a runner and receiver, and he caught 24 passes for 369 yards and nine scores in 2021. As a junior, Kueter helped lead Iowa City High to the state semifinals with 41 tackles for loss. He was a two-time elite all-state linebacker and the tone-setter for the program. The Little Hawks had 10 wins that year — two more than they had in the previous four seasons combined.

“I don’t really think you can quantify the impact he’s had on our program,” Moore said. “It just starts with his demeanor and his want to be great at everything he does. Everybody sees game days, and everybody sees the awards and the end result. I think the people inside this community have been so fortunate to see the everyday special part of him, and that’s his attention to detail.”

Kueter: 🎩➕1️⃣

Little Hawks erase the Davenport West touchdown on the kickoff‼️

Q2
𝐂𝐈𝐓𝐘 𝐇𝐈𝐆𝐇 28
𝗗𝗔𝗩 𝗪𝗘𝗦𝗧 6#TSTL | #iahsfb pic.twitter.com/Fzul61Ul04

— City High Football (@CityHighFB) October 15, 2022

At Iowa, Kueter has depth chart potential as a true freshman. The Hawkeyes have two senior starters at inside linebacker: Jay Higgins and Virginia transfer Nick Jackson. With a frame and physique similar to former All-American Jack Campbell, Kueter has the natural skills to contribute on special teams. He also has the speed, which he demonstrated on part of Iowa City High’s runner-up sprint medley relay finish this year at the Drake Relays.

“They can do some things with him,” Moore said. “He can run. He’s got exceptional ball skills. He catches the ball well, and then he’s just got a savviness to him. All special players have a savviness to them, and Ben certainly has that.”

When Kueter attended an Iowa spring practice, linebackers coach Seth Wallace sprinted by him and said, “I can’t wait to chew your ass when you get here.”

“It makes me excited to be a part of that,” Kueter said.

Kueter the wrestler

More than the statistics, what has separated Kueter from his peers is how he responds to challenges.

Iowa City High wrestling coach Cory Connell often invites junior high prospects to work out with his wrestlers. When Kueter was in eighth grade, he matched up with a pair of state-ranked seniors, including one who was rated No. 5. Kueter beat both by technical fall.

“I was like, ‘Wow, this kid is the real deal,’” Connell said. “I knew he was good, but I didn’t quite understand how good he truly was.”

As a freshman, Kueter missed half the wrestling campaign after breaking his ankle during football season. He still qualified for state. In the semifinals, he faced an unbeaten wrestler at 160 pounds. Kueter won the match 6-3 and clinched the championship 4-3.

Kueter credits the injury with pushing him while he was out.

“It made me hungry and made me want to compete,” he said, “because I wasn’t able to compete for most of the season.”

Future Hawkeye football player and wrestler Ben Kueter (Iowa City High) cradled his way to a 12-second quarterfinal fall — the ninth fastest fall in Iowa High School State Championships history.

Watch LIVE on FloWrestling. pic.twitter.com/TzYECdylHS

— FloWrestling (@FloWrestling) February 17, 2023

As a sophomore, Kueter wrestled only 10 matches because of the COVID-19 pandemic but still walked away a champion. He spent much of his time training with Gable, and the variety of those workouts helped Kueter deal with unusual situations on the mat.

“The best thing about that was how I was not able to expect what the workout was going to be when I was with him,” Kueter said. “There would be days where I’m running hills, biking or on the mat or doing a lift, or I’m in the sauna doing a workout. That was great because wrestling is really, really unexpected.”

During his final two seasons, Kueter was 76-0 with 54 falls and 13 technical falls. Only one of his matches did not result in bonus points.

Between his junior and senior seasons, Kueter competed for Team USA at 97 kilograms in the world championships. In the semifinals, he trailed Luka Khutchua of Georgia 8-0 within 30 seconds. That’s when his training with Gable kicked in. Instead of panicking, Kueter fought back one move at a time. He rallied with a takedown and a turn. Eventually, he pulled out a 17-14 win. In the gold medal match, Kueter led his opponent, Rifat Gidak from Turkey, 10-2 before winning by fall to claim the world title.

“Just being able to handle that adversity really came from those workouts,” Kueter said.

Benjamin Kueter DOMINATES in the World Finals! 🇺🇸🥇 He pins Rifat Gidak to become our second World Champion of the day. #UWW #WrestleSofia pic.twitter.com/3Q2W8kV2CQ

— FloWrestling (@FloWrestling) August 16, 2022

Doing both at Iowa

The challenges have intensified for Kueter this summer. He’s in Iowa football’s 6 a.m. weightlifting and conditioning group four days a week. He takes classes at noon, then has wrestling workouts at 3 p.m. The football program wants him to weigh 240 pounds, which isn’t a problem as a heavyweight wrestler.

“He’s not expecting it to be a challenge,” Connell said. “He is very good about time management, about being present with where he’s at and then moving on to the next thing. If there’s anybody that can do it, he can do it.”

The mental strain is something Kueter has dealt with in high school. After his Drake Relays appearance in Des Moines, he left for Madison, Wis., to compete at the world team trials that night. So his time at Iowa thus far is a grind that he recognizes and his coaches must acknowledge. Unlike Brecht with baseball, football and wrestling overlap seasons. Collegiate linebackers often deal with shoulder or ankle problems that could lead to recovery issues.

“It’s going to be at that point of, ‘Are you gonna fry your central nervous system and your thinking and your mental health?’” Moore said. “Now, again, I think Ben is as elite in that part as he is anything else, too. Physically, he’s an absolute specimen, but I think he’s got an eliteness about his mindset.”

Iowa’s wrestling and football staffs understand the challenges and limitations. Kueter is an honor roll student to go along with his physical gifts. There will come a time when he will choose a specific direction. When it happens, there will be no bitterness, just support. That’s comforting to Kueter.

“I was actually talking to Brian Ferentz, and his biggest thing — the same with the wrestling and the same (with) head coach Ferentz — was they just wanted me to be a Hawk,” Kueter said. “They didn’t really care if that was me just wrestling or me just playing football. I wasn’t ready — and I’m still not ready — to just give up one. They’re OK with that.

“If the time comes and I have to decide, hopefully it’s a couple of years from now and I’m a little more mature and can be OK with being done with one sport. They don’t want me to think it’s a failure if I don’t do two sports throughout my entire career. I’m a Hawk. And that’s all it is.”

(Top photo: Scott Dochterman / The Athletic)

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