PHILADELPHIA – An emotional Stephen Buchanan walked into the media with glossy eyes, sat at the press table, closed his eyes, and exhaled.
The exhale was a synonym of relief. Like the weight of the world had just been lifted off his shoulders. He was at peace.
“At 197 pounds, your national champion, the number two seed from Iowa, Steven Buchanan.” an NCAA spokesperson introduced him to the media members in the room.
All the pressures, all his previous shortcomings, all the highs and lows of his career suddenly faded. Nonexistent. The feeling that all champions get after they finally reach the pinnacle.
“It means the world,” Buchanan said as he began to choke up. “I mean, the work that I put in, just the amount of time that people put into me, [it] means the world.”
“The way it was done was a tribute to a champion,” Iowa head coach Tom Brands said after Buchanan’s victory. “The way that he did it, the way that he goes about his daily business. That’s a tribute to a champion.”
Part of his emotional outpour was because he did it in the black and gold. Because had it not been in the black and gold, it would’ve never happened. More importantly, he would’ve never found that love for the sport necessary to become a champion.
“God has a plan, and he put me in Iowa for a reason. I never really loved the sport,” Buchanan said. “I did it because I was good at it. In Iowa, I began to start loving the sport, and that changes everything about it.”
Buchanan spent the remainder of his presser thanking God, his family, and the Brands brothers along with the rest of the Iowa men’s wrestling program. When those on the outside told him that transferring from Oklahoma to Iowa would be a mistake, his inner circle kept him sane.
Fast forward to Saturday, and the move was more than worth it. And it was that same inner circle, and the Holy Spirit, who inspired him in the most important nine minutes of his life.
“As the match got closer, I got more and more nervous, but as I said before, nerves just show that you care,” Buchanan said. “And when I got out there, they went away, and I had my corner reminding me who I am as a wrestler and what I need to do to win.
“It was my last match in my collegiate career, and there’s so many times it matches where I feel like I haven’t pushed myself to get tired. I was tired, but I kept pushing, and I ended up on top.”
In the corner of the mat sat Tom and Terry Brands, two of the most notable coaches in all of wrestling. A set of Olympians — Tom being a gold medalist in 1996 and Terry a bronze medalist in 2000 — who took Buchanan in during the 2024 offseason. And there they were, passionately supporting the four-time All-American on the biggest stage.
Yes, they wanted him to pull this off and secure this year’s lone title for the program. But it was much more than winning as a wrestler. They wanted to see him win as a person.
The more time he spent with the Brands brothers this season, the more he started to realize it’s bigger than what happens on the mat, in the weight room, or anywhere inside the practice facility.
“Tom and Terry, they pour into you. Not like a wrestler, but like you’re their own,” Buchanan said. “They care so much, and they care so deeply. And I know that all of you probably don’t see what they do behind the scenes, but they’ll do everything for you, and they’re great people, and I don’t think people understand that.”
As for the wrestling side of things, Buchanan learned things that he hadn’t learned throughout his career before in his lone year with the Hawkeyes.
“It was little things, like finishing a single, hand fighting, pressure stance. And then outside the mat, it was sleep, nutrition, what I’m doing before practice, mindset and all those play a small piece,” Buchanan said. “But as you start putting those bricks on bricks, they start building a wall and by the end of the year, you have something great.”
Brick by brick he went up until the very last match of his five-year career. And at the end, a wall was built. A wall that nobody was busting through.
Buchanan capped off his stellar collegiate career at the top, but it’s not the end of his wrestling career. Had he not joined the Iowa men’s wrestling program, the storybook ending might’ve been written differently.
“I didn’t really like wrestling until I got to Iowa, and now I started to get a passion for it,” he said. “I’m gonna leave it up to God. He has a plan for me. But all in all, I’m gonna continue wrestling and continue this athletic career in mind until He gives me something else.”