Patrick Kennedy stayed at Iowa in an era where movement to other programs is the new normal.
Kennedy, in his sixth year at Iowa, opens his final season of Big Ten competition on Friday when the fourth-ranked Hawkeyes face #18 Wisconsin at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
There is no place Kennedy would rather be.
“You sign up for the program — no one makes you sign up for it, “ the Hawkeyes’ 174-pounder said on Tuesday. “They tell you coming in that you are going to be challenged every single day. And it doesn’t mean like you’re going to go through four hours wrestling live and then 100 hill sprints. But you’re going to be challenged, if it’s physically, mentally, spiritual, emotionally, every single day. And so you’re going to leave this program as a better person, I believe. And so that is what I signed up for, and they have delivered.”
Kennedy wrestled three matches as a true freshman in 2020-21, then wrestled unattached as a redshirt freshman the following season. Since then, he has been in Iowa’s lineup and qualified for the NCAA Championships three times, including last season’s fourth-place finish.
“He had to stiff-arm a lot of voices that are close to him, that were continually chipping away,” Iowa coach Tom Brands said. “‘Hey, look at these options. Look at those options.’ And he basically told the people that are closest to him to piss off. ‘I got it. This is my career. I’m a Hawkeye.’ And that’s saying something in this day and age.
“It wasn’t about, ‘Show me the money.’ And as a result, he’s probably going to be shown the money. How’s that? As a result, he’ll be shown the money even more. So it shouldn’t be, ‘Show me the money.’ It should be, ‘Hey, show me the money when I perform or when I’m loyal.’”
That’s all about Kennedy’s character, Brands said.
“The things that he states about himself are true,” he said. “And then you can even pat him on the back harder. And Patrick Kennedy, you should be proud of that. You should be proud of your resiliency, of your stubbornness. That’s positive. Great teammate. Great teammate.”
Kennedy’s finish at the NCAA championships was motivation for this season, he said.
“I would say I didn’t enjoy getting fourth,” said Kennedy, who is 8-1 and ranked third nationally this season. “It’s bittersweet, because you don’t write down since you’re a little kid to go to nationals to get fourth, you write down to go win it all.
“Leaving there, you get a taste of it. It burns, but you do walk away with something. So that’s good. And you might have gotten over a hump that you didn’t get over. So I think getting a taste of it is good, and it’s helped me a lot moving forward in the summer and even into this season. And so, yeah, it’s better than it was the previous years to get something, but let’s go get the whole thing.”
All Big Ten For A While
The Hawkeyes have 10 duals remaining, but the next nine are in the Big Ten.
”You put emphasis on every match, just because of how the seeding works for the national tournament, how the seeding works for the Big Ten Championships,” Brands said. “You want to position yourself the best, and that becomes more and more important as you get closer and closer to the postseason. Now, we’re in another stage of our schedule with the Big Ten dual season. It’s more important than November. It’s more important than December. We’re in January, and that’s just the natural progression.”
Brands said he likes the feel of the conference season.
“This Friday night,” he said, “that’s where this guy here gets excited to sit front and center, and you’re basically being entertained.”
Back From Break
For most of Iowa’s starters, this will be their first competition since the December 12 “Uncivil War” duals against Chattanooga and Utah Valley in Hannibal, Mo.
“We’re always ready,” 165-pounder Michael Caliendo said. “It’s just the next competition for us.”
“You move throughout the season and throughout the calendar,” Kennedy said. “Every single time on the mat is the next time to be on the mat, and it’s the best time to be on the mat. And so I’m excited to get the dual season rolling.”
Caliendo said the time off was a chance to get away from competition.
“It’s nice to have a little bit of a break, but you don’t want to take too long of a break,” he said. “It was good. We should all be healthy and recovered and ready to fire on all cylinders.”
