IOWA CITY, Iowa (KCRG) - After years of speeding through the high school scene with three state championships at Waverly-Shell Rock Ryder Block’s college career started in neutral.

In his first two years at Iowa, he tore his ACL twice.

“I was wrestling, and it popped and I knew it like right away,” Block said.

Recovery was both a mental and physical challenge for the sophomore, who is up a weight competing at 149 pounds this year.

“You just kind of got to be like, hey, I’m going to do this,” Block said. “And you got to put your head down and decide like, hey, it’s going to work out. There’s no other option.”

“(I ran) probably three and a half miles every day for three months straight.”

Dead coach Tom Brands praised Block’s approach to recovery.

“He handled it like a man should handl

See Full Page