Let today be a lesson for Iowa wrestling fans.<\/p>\n
The powers of the (transfer) portal extend across both dimensions and (NCAA) divisions.<\/p>\n
(OK, so at least the latter half of that statement is definitively true.)<\/p>\n
Monday is proof of exactly such, as the Hawkeyes added Massoma Endene to the fold for the upcoming 2025-26 season.<\/p>\n
Pronounced \u201cmuh-SO-muh en-DEEN\u201d \u2013 the talented 197-pounder will trek roughly 100 miles from his old stomping grounds to his new home in Iowa City.<\/p>\n
That previous stop was a fruitful one too, as Endene starred for three seasons at Division III powerhouse Wartburg College. As a member of the Knights, he won a trio of national titles \u2013 amassing a record of 76-1, including 33 pins.<\/p>\n
MAKE IT A THREE-PEAT<\/p>\n
Massoma Endene of @WartburgKnights<\/a> claims his third-straight title at 197-pounds!#WhyD3<\/a> | #D3wrestle<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/dC40f6QSMy<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 NCAA Division III (@NCAADIII) March 16, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/span>\n<\/div>\n Now he\u2019ll finish his college career as a Hawkeye \u2013 officially announcing the news on Instagram this afternoon.<\/a> And he\u2019ll do so as the presumptive starter at what was previously the biggest hole in Iowa\u2019s lineup \u2013 197 pounds.<\/p>\n Iowa fans can thank two primary individuals for their brand-new 197-pounder: Massoma Endene for making this decision and Diego Pavia for making it possible to even do so.<\/p>\n Pavia, for those who don\u2019t know, is the Vanderbilt starting quarterback who sued the NCAA last November, arguing that counting an athlete\u2019s junior college years against his\/her overall NCAA eligibility violates antitrust laws by restricting that athlete\u2019s ability to profit from their name, image and likeness (NIL).<\/p>\n That case is still ongoing, but a blanket waiver has been issued by the NCAA<\/a> to grant an additional year of eligibility to athletes in similar situations to Pavia\u2019s \u2013 who spent his first two years in junior college, and the next three between New Mexico State and Vanderbilt.<\/p>\n Diego Pavia\u2019s ability to elude NCAA eligibility rules (and SEC defenses) is what gave Massoma Endene a chance to wrestle for Iowa next season. (Photo Credit: CJ Driggers\/Gamecock Central)<\/p>\n And who else fits that criteria but one Massoma Endene.<\/p>\n Endene spent two years at Iowa Lakes Community College \u2013 where he was a two-time NJCAA All-American (and 2022 runner up) \u2013 before moving on to Wartburg.<\/p>\n (He also briefly transferred to Wisconsin last summer, before changing his mind and returning to Wartburg<\/a>.)<\/p>\n All of that made it possible for him to pursue one final year of NCAA competition if\/wherever he chose.<\/p>\n Fortunately for the Hawkeyes, he chose them. And mere days after \u2018smoke\u2019 began to rise that Endene-to-Iowa was a possibility it soon became official.<\/p>\n Both the future and the fit for Endene\/Iowa are here and now at 197 pounds.<\/p>\n The Hawkeyes had a hole at 197 following the graduation of national champion Stephen Buchanan, and no ready-made option to fill it.<\/p>\n Prior to Monday, the two best options may well have been a pair of incoming freshmen \u2013 Harvey Ludington or Jarrel Miller \u2013 ranked #1 and #9 at 190 pounds<\/a> respectively at the high school level.<\/p>\n Now, Endene can step in for his final season of eligibility. And he can both bridge the gap as Ludington\/Miller redshirt, while also testing the absolute limits of what he can achieve as a collegiate wrestler.<\/p>\n That latter element is especially key, as it remains somewhat of a mystery just how Endene\u2019s Division III dominance will translate to the Division I level.<\/p>\n We know he tore through the competition around him at Wartburg. We also know that the best of Division II had little resistance to offer, thanks to the 2024 NWCA All-Star Classic.<\/p>\n During the event, held on Penn State\u2019s campus, Endene was matched up against Derek Blubaugh of the University of Indianapolis.<\/p>\n At the time, Blubaugh was already a three-time DII NCAA finalist and the reigning national champion. He\u2019d later go on to reach his fourth final and win his second-consecutive title this spring.<\/p>\n On that night, it was all<\/em> Endene, who cruised to a 12-1 major decision victory thanks to a variety of dynamic techniques.<\/p>\n But even with that extra data point it\u2019s still difficult to project how Endene will fare against D1 foes.<\/p>\n Exiting the folkstyle sphere, there are a few other hints at the (potential) level of Iowa\u2019s newest addition.<\/p>\n About 11 months ago, Endene made his first World team thanks to an undefeated run through the U23 Trials. Against five opponents at 97 kilograms (~214 pounds), Endene outscored them by a combined 41-1 margin.<\/p>\n Admittedly, this was not the strongest field at those trials. However, Endene did have one semi-notable win against Stanford\u2019s Nick Stemmet.<\/p>\n Stemmet finished his college career this season as a four-time NCAA qualifier at 197 pounds. His best two years were his last two, posting a combined record of 52-21 and earning the #18 and #17 seed at the 2024\/25 NCAA Championships.<\/p>\n When they met at the Trials, Endene jumped ahead early and was never really threatened in a 7-1 decision. Now obviously, freestyle isn\u2019t an apples-to-apples comparison to folkstyle \u2013 but Endene\u2019s impressive freestyle efforts didn\u2019t end with that one victory either.<\/p>\n A few weeks later, he\u2019d roll through the U23 Pan-American Championships \u2013 a feat he repeated in 2025.<\/p>\n Massoma Endene (Wartburg) picks up a 15-6 win over Mexico in the U23 Pan-Am finals to take home gold. 4pt move: pic.twitter.com\/1RyJf83kE2<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Saturday Night Lights (@WrestlingSNL) April 13, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/span>\n<\/div>\n Between those two Pan-Am competitions, Endene outscored six foes by a combined 67-9 \u2013 including five bonus-point victories.<\/p>\n And the intrigue only builds when you look at his results from U23 Worlds last October.<\/p>\n Competing in Albania, Endene ultimately left with a seventh-place finish and a 1-2 record at 97kg. But each of the losses came against foes who were previous U20 World silver medalists.<\/p>\n The first (10-6) was against a long, lanky Iranian<\/a> who\u2019d go on to earn silver in Albania. The second (2-2 on criteria), against a jacked Ukrainian<\/a> who\u2019d eventually take fifth.<\/p>\n In both matches Endene led midway through the second period, appearing neither physically nor technically outclassed.<\/p>\n Again, freestyle and folkstyle have their differences.<\/p>\n Even so, Endene\u2019s showing on that World Championship stage feels notable to this writer.<\/p>\n There\u2019s still so much unknown about how this will all play out, but the one firm conclusion is this:<\/p>\n Iowa\u2019s situation at 197 pounds is a heck of a lot more exciting\/intriguing today than it was 24 hours ago.<\/p>\n One wrestling mind whose opinion I value tremendously \u2013 the great Andy Hamilton from Flo \u2013 told me earlier today that he thinks Endene has All-American potential next season.<\/p>\n That, combined with all the angles I\u2019ve spent this article examining Endene from, sure makes me believe a lot more strongly in my own early <\/em>opinion that he could have a similar impact as a Hawkeye.<\/p>\n The beauty for us is that we\u2019ll get to see how it all transpires next season. And the beauty for Endene is that he\u2019ll have every opportunity to reach his ultimate level by training daily alongside\/against the likes of Stephen Buchanan, Angelo Ferrari, Ben Kueter, Jacob Warner and more.<\/p>\n You think Carver-Hawkeye Arena might rise to its feet for a few nasty takedowns like this one?<\/p>\n Iowa fans can get their first glimpse of the newest Hawkeye in action later this week at the US Open.<\/p>\n Endene will be competing in the Senior Division at 97 kilograms \u2013 Friday\/Saturday in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n I\u2019ll have a full preview of that event (and its many<\/em> Hawkeye entries) published in a few days.<\/p>\n The post Iowa adds 3x Division III champ Massoma Endene to fill void at 197<\/a> appeared first on On3<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Let today be a lesson for Iowa wrestling fans. The powers of the (transfer) portal…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-88537","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88537","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88537"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88537\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88537"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}How we got here<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Future fit<\/strong><\/h2>\n
More clues<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Bottom line<\/strong><\/h2>\n