Trey Benson ™

Sports Reporter for @TheDailyIowan University of Iowa

[Chris Meglio @chris_meglio]

As I sat down to write my senior column, I laid out my whole journey up to this point - days away from graduation.

It’s not about the destination, but the journey and what you make of it. Glad to say I never gave up on myself.
https://t.co/YOR4Piccri

[Purdue Men's Basketball @BoilerBall]

The game lasts a couple hours but the grudges last forever.

Settlers of Catan is the move tonight.

[John Bohnenkamp @johnbohnenkamp]

The DI was everywhere last weekend covering the Hawkeyes, and staff members are in Houston now for the NCAA Tournament. It is a pleasure getting to work with a news outlet with great young professionals. On One Day For Iowa, please consider helping out. https://t.co/a56woHBG7U

[Nick Bateman @nickbateman33]

The way I feel watching Ben McCollum coach basketball is how I imagine teenage girls felt watching Justin Bieber sing back in the early 2010’s

[Pardon My Take @PardonMyTake]

Fran McCaffery back in the tournament

Penn is dancing

[Western Carolina Baseball @CatamountBSB]

A SLAMMIN' GOOD TIME IN ATHENS!

Break out the cheese and crackers... it's a GRANNY! Holy Mason Holton! Grand Slam and the @Catamounts LEAD 10-8 as we head to the bottom of the 9th inning!

#CatamountCountry | #DiamondCats

[Carolina Curveball @CarolinaCurveBB]

MASON HOLTON GRAND SLAM IN THE 9TH…UNBELIEVABLE 😱😳

[Carolina Curveball @CarolinaCurveBB]

WESTERN CAROLINA‼️‼️‼️

The Catamounts UPSET Georgia 10-9🤩

[The Daily Iowan @TheDailyIowan]

Iowa men’s wrestling found a jack-of-all-trades in its lineup, utilizing Gabe Arnold’s versatility to bolster the final bouts. The former Iowa 3A Iowa High School Champion at 182 pounds has appeared in three different weight classes this season.
https://t.co/t2b7OLXoka

[Jackson Miller @JMill42348]

We are on site for Iowa vs Nebraska men’s wrestling!

🤼‍♂️ No. 4 Iowa 🆚 No. 6 Nebraska
📍Bob Devaney Sports Center
🕗 8 p.m. CT

Follow along for updates and coverage!🧵👇

@TheDailyIowan

[Jackson Miller @JMill42348]

The best reactions @BensonTrey and I could find on this app to sum up Iowa’s performance in the finals at the National Duals:👇

[Jackson Miller @JMill42348]

@BensonTrey and I are live from the BOK Center for the 2025 National Duals Invitational presented by Paycom!

🤼‍♂️#3 Iowa vs #16 Missouri
🕘9 a.m.
📍BOK Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma

Follow along here for live updates throughout the dual🧵👇

@TheDailyIowan

[Trey Benson ™ @BensonTrey]

@JMill42348 @BradMSchultz

[Jackson Miller @JMill42348]

With the women's team already underway, and the men's team hosting its season opener tomorrow night, @BensonTrey and I preview both Hawkeye wrestling teams for 2025-26.

Story:🔽
https://t.co/4DROz8o01W

[Owen Siebring @owensiebring]

Trey Thompson got the beat reporters HYPED with this dunk.

[Trey Benson ™ @BensonTrey]

@chris_meglio @TheDailyIowan

[Trey Benson ™ @BensonTrey]

@jake_olson_2025 Well deserved. Congrats Jake!

[The School of Wrestling @TheSchoolofWres]

This past Monday, I had the opportunity to visit the University of Iowa and sit in on a Hawkeye wrestling practice. It was the day after the news dropped that Bo Bassett had officially decommitted, setting off a wave of online criticism, speculation, and hot takes about the future of Iowa Wrestling.

But while everyone online was busy writing off the Hawkeyes and predicting the downfall of Tom Brands, I was watching something very different unfold on the mat.

Inside the room, the energy was focused, intense, and unbothered.
I watched Drake Ayala, Patrick Kennedy, Angelo Ferrari, Michael Caliendo, and incoming transfers Dean Peterson and Massoma Endene put in serious work. These guys weren’t distracted. They weren’t rattled. They looked locked in, hungry, and ready to compete at a high level this coming season.

You can feel the competitive fire in that room—it’s still very much alive.

Let’s be honest, losing top recruits like Bo Bassett stings. These are high-profile names and future stars of the sport. But to act like a couple of decommitments signal the death of a dynasty? That’s just not grounded in reality.

Here’s what I saw:
✔️ A coaching staff still pushing with purpose
✔️ Athletes engaged and training with intensity
✔️ A program that still expects to win

One practice doesn’t tell the full story, of course. But it tells more than message boards and Twitter threads ever will.

Wrestling programs are built on more than recruiting rankings. Culture, development, grit, and leadership matter just as much—if not more—over the course of a season. And Iowa still has all of those ingredients.

I’m not here to defend or critique decisions I wasn’t a part of. I don’t know exactly what led to the decommitments. What I do know is that the Hawkeyes aren’t folding. Far from it.

Tom Brands isn’t going anywhere, and from what I saw, his team is far from done making noise.

Don't count out the Hawkeyes.
They're still in the fight. And they still know how to win.

— Dalton Bullard
The School of Wrestling

[Jake Olson @jake_olson_2025]

As the 2025 Iowa baseball season comes to a close, so does my time at @TheDailyIowan. I'm incredibly grateful to my editors, @colinvotzmeyer1 and @BradMSchultz, for their guidance and for giving me the freedom to tell the stories I wanted to tell. I will always be grateful.

[Trey Benson ™ @BensonTrey]

@jake_olson_2025 Tough to argue against the madness that March brings. Give the CFP a couple of years to develop and I think we may have to revisit this PCP!