
Bo Bassett, a wrestling star for Bishop McCort, chooses his college. Holy Hawkeye…
Bo Bassett’s college decision speech was even quicker than it took his Bishop McCort team took to dismantle Corry in the PIAA Team Championships quarterfinals on Tuesday night.
After the Crushers crushed Corry 58-12 in just under 50 minutes, Bassett gave a short speech to the large Johnstown crowd, citing his faith and where God was leading him, and he decided on the Iowa Hawkeyes.
He chose Iowa over Oklahoma State, Penn State and Virginia Tech.
“A lot went into that decision and the process wasn’t easy,” Bassett said live on Flo on Tuesday night. “I think it was harder than I could have even imagined. It came down to talking with my family, talking to my coaches and people that I love most … a lot of long nights thinking about it.
“Maybe it wasn’t an easy decision, but I think it was the right decision. You get what you earn. So I’m really excited to be a Hawk.”
Bassett said Iowa is an empire and that they do things right. “So I’m really excited to join that,” he said. “I know I’m from Pennsylvania but I’m excited to feel that Iowa love. I’m pretty excited to come out in Carver-Hawkeye Arena for the first time and hopefully create a legacy that lasts forever.”
There hasn’t been a Pennsylvania wrestling recruit quite this heralded since Spencer Lee in 2016, and Lee went to Iowa and became a three-time NCAA champ.
Bassett, who projects in college at 149 or 157 pounds for the 2026-27 season and on from there, said he contemplated long and hard and again cited his faith. “That’s where I want to be and that’s where I feel like we’re gonna make a lot of memories.
“Since I was six years old and I started wrestling, Iowa was always my favorite team. And I don’t know why. I just love the way they wrestle. They’re very similar to the McCort room. I think spending a lot of time with God, you start to realize a lot about yourself, and this last year it’s become the center of my life. Life looked a lot different before I had God.”
He said Iowa’s Lee, a three-time PIAA champ from Franklin Regional, was a huge role model for him. Bassett, 18, said he hopes he can help Lee train for international competition but said that Lee will be helping him far more.
“The style I wrestle is part of the Iowa style, I feel like, and I think I can only add to that. Iowa is an incredible, incredible program and the only thing I want to do is make it better,” Bassett said.
Next up for Bassett and McCort is a Saturday date in Altoona with Faith Christian, the No. 1-ranked team in the country. McCort, of course, is No. 2 and if/when that finals match comes to fruition in the Altoona Field House, it will be an unofficial national championship match.
He offered his view on Name Image and Likeness (NIL) on Monday on Flo and said that while NIL was a piece of his decision, he’s more focused on the wrestling.
“I want to achieve all my goals and do this and that, but I can tell you that all the (NIL) offers have been very comparable,” he said.
Bassett is a heavy favorite to earn his second PIAA Class AA title in March at Hershey and would have equally high odds to become a three-timer next winter. McCort was not eligible to compete in PIAA events during Bassett’s freshman season.