PHILADELPHIA — Stephen Buchanan is in a category of his own.
He raced through his first two opponents at the 2025 NCAA Division-I National Championships with a 22-9 major decision over Michigan State’s Remy Cotton and a 16-1 tech fall over Wyoming’s Joseph Novak.
And with his 18-3 tech fall over Ohio State’s Seth Shumate in session three, Iowa’s 197-pounder became the first wrestler in Division-I history to be named an All-American with three different schools: Wyoming, Oklahoma, and now with the Hawkeyes.
“I was blessed with good coaches all the way through,” Buchanan said. “[I] can’t thank all the people that poured into me and sharpened my talents and abilities that were given from God to make me the wrestler that I am.”
Buchanan has been a star since he first stepped foot at Wyoming as a freshman in 2019. During his three-year tenure with the Cowboys, he logged three NCAA Championship qualifications and reached as high as a third place finish at the 2022 Nationals. His two All-American selections made him the fourth in program history to do so.
Buchanan then transferred to Oklahoma where he redshirted the 2022-23 season. He returned the next year and earned his third All-American honor after finishing third for the second time at the NCAA Championships.
After one full season at Oklahoma, Buchanan joined Iowa and head coach Tom Brands on a quest for his first national title. He qualified for this year’s tournament after a second place finish at the Big Ten championships — the loss to Michigan’s Jacob Cardenas in the title match being his only loss on the season.
He kept it that way through Friday morning.
Shumate recorded two takedowns in the first two minutes of the match — the first one being called back upon further review — as the No. 23-seeded Buckeye eyed the upset win. For Buchanan, it was a wake-up call.
“You know getting tossed and then blessed, that will wake you up for sure,” Buchanan said of the opening minutes of the match against Shumate. “Just keeping my hands and feet moving, staying mentally focused in every position, staying low when you’re moving in and out, making sure you move from side to side, just little things that can make a big difference in the match.”
The second-seeded Hawkeye flipped the switch, going for 18 unanswered points the rest of the match, including two near-falls in the third period, to secure his second-straight tech fall victory.
The road to a national title is still very much alive. Buchanan, along with 133-pounder Drake Ayala and 165-pounder Michael Caliendo, can continue Iowa’s trend of having at least one wrestler in the finals since 1990.
If there was any year where Buchanan were to get a title, its now – at a place where he felt he has best chance to accomplish the feat.
“I think that we’re a team who can chase titles and we can win a title, and that was one of the reasons that I came to Iowa,” Buchanan said. “You have commentary, you have the best staff, so everything runs so smoothly. You just have to worry about wrestling, and that’s what I’m doing”