Skip to main content
Iowa

Turns out, Gabe Arnold will wrestle for Iowa in 2025-26 after all

by: Tanner Lafever08/05/25TannerLafever
Gabe Arnold
Barely a month after an Iowa spokesperson confirmed his removal from the roster, Gabe Arnold has reportedly rejoined the Hawkeyes ahead of the 2025-26 season - where he'll look to find his best form yet. (Photo by: Ethan McLaughlin/Daily Iowan)

Just 37 days ago, Gabe Arnold’s Iowa wrestling career had apparently come to an end.

It was then that a University of Iowa spokesperson confirmed to Hawkeye Report that the second-year grappler was “no longer on the roster.”

How quickly things can change…

Barely a month later, unconfirmed rumors began to circulate that Arnold had rejoined the men’s wrestling program. And on Monday afternoon, the Cedar Rapids Gazette’s K.J. Pilcher officially reported that Arnold “remains an Iowa wrestler” – citing an email from University of Iowa officials to the Gazette stating that Arnold was “never officially removed from the roster.”

That may technically be true, as Arnold’s name was never taken off the 2024-25 roster on the team’s website and an updated 2025-26 roster has yet to be posted since the conclusion of last season. But semantics aside, something obviously happened to get the redshirt-sophomore-to-be both dismissed and reinstated(?) within the span of a month.

Timeline of events

On June 30, wrestling media member Justin Basch spoke with Arnold after the initial dismissal. Basch relayed on social media that “He’ll begin looking right away for a new landing spot with his remaining 3 years of eligibility, adding that he (Arnold) has nothing bad to say about the program that did a lot for him both on and off the mat.”

That latter half of that statement may’ve been the first (unbeknownst) clue as to how Arnold’s path so quickly circled back to the Hawkeyes – with ‘bridges’ remaining intact as opposed to burned in a fiery exodus.

In hindsight, subsequent evidence cropped up in the form of several social media posts thereafter – though none from Arnold himself. In fact, the 20-year-old never posted any official announcement regarding his departure nor removed any of the Iowa-associated material from his accounts – a common practice among jettisoned athletes at all levels.

Last month, Arnold sporadically showed up in Instagram stories of other Iowa wrestlers – including a photo alongside incoming transfer Nasir Bailey. Then on Sunday, Arnold’s father, Phil, posted the following pictures of the family (including Gabe) hosting numerous Hawkeyes for lunch:

Add it all up and it kind of makes sense that things wound up back here – right where they started.

How/why it all happened this way? Well, that remains a bit nebulous. We’ll see what (if any) information is divulged/uncovered in the next two months.

But come October at team media day you can be sure both Arnold and Iowa head coach Tom Brands will be asked directly about all that went into this past month of mystery for the once, then former, and now still Hawkeye wrestler.

Moving forward

With Arnold back in the fold, perhaps Iowa’s most fascinating lineup battle can now (presumably) resume.

The redshirt sophomore has split time between 174/184 pounds during his two years in Iowa City – compiling a 27-8 record. This past season (at 184) he went 19-7, taking fifth at the Big Ten Championships as the #4 seed. Two weeks later he failed to place at NCAA’s, going 2-2 as the #11 seed.

At both weight classes he’s shown the ability to defeat All-American caliber opponents. However, given his considerable recruiting pedigree (ranked #5 overall in the Class of 2023) it’s also fair to say that Arnold hasn’t lived up to lofty expectations – especially of Iowa fans – quite yet.

Luckily, he still has three years of eligibility remaining to do just that.

Whichever weight Arnold pursues in 2025-26, he’ll face one heck of a challenger from within the Iowa room.

At 174, sixth-year senior Patrick Kennedy enters the year ranked #2 in FloWrestling’s preseason rankings thanks to his fourth-place finish at NCAA’s last March. Kennedy won his own lineup battle at 174 a year ago – supplanting All-American Nelson Brands (5th in 2023).

And at 184, budding star Angelo Ferrari holds a #2 preseason ranking of his own following a stellar redshirt season.

You may also like