Iowa Return Specialist Named Midseason All-American

Iowa Hawkeyes senior return specialist Kaden Wetjen has been recognized as a midseason first-team All-American by The Sporting News.

A hometown hero, Wetjen is a Williamsburg, Iowa native. He leads the nation in combined return yards — by 59 yards — for a second straight season. He has 522 combined return yards (236 kickoff, 286 punt) through six games. Wetjen is No. 1 in the NCAA in punt returns (26.0), second in kickoff return touchdowns (one) and third in punt return touchdowns (one). This latest accolade comes after Wetjen made history in Week 3 when he returned a punt 95 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter of the Hawkeyes’ dominant victory over UMass.

This return tied a Big Ten and Iowa record and was the longest punt return in Kinnick Stadium history.

"We know [football] is an imperfect game and not everything is going to go your way," Wetjen said following an early season loss to Iowa State. "And I think you've seen in the past, we have a pretty good tradition of responding after adversity ... the standards we have in plans ... since January we've been working and know the team that we have. I have no doubt we will respond to adversity."

Oct 11, 2025; Madison, Wisconsin, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes wide receiver Kaden Wetjen (21) takes the opening kickoff during the first half against the Wisconsin Badgers at Camp Randall Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ross Harried-Imagn Images | Ross Harried-Imagn Images

Wetjen also tied another Iowa record with a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown on Week 3's opening kickoff in the 38-28 road win at Rutgers. This marked the sixth 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in school history and the second of Wetjen’s career, making him just the second Hawkeye to return an opening kickoff for a touchdown.

The 5'9", 196-pound player is now tied for the most career kickoff returns for a touchdown in school history (with two) and his four career combined return touchdowns (two punt, two kickoff) are tied for the second-most all-time.

This latest award for a Hawkeye comes ahead of Iowa (4-2, 2-1) hosting Penn State (3-3, 0-3) on Saturday at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City (6:08 p.m. CT). The game will be streamed on Peacock.

Wetjen is believed to be the first player to score a rushing, receiving, punt return and kickoff return touchdown as a Hawkeye. Both the rushing and receiving scores occurred this season. He remains the only player in the nation to have both a kickoff and punt return for a touchdown this season and he was the only player to accomplish the same feat in 2024.

In addition to being named a midseason first-team All-American, Wetjen has also received conference weekly honors twice — he was previously named Big 1- back-to-back special teams player of the week.

Don't forget to bookmark Iowa Hawkeyes on SI for the latest news. exclusive interviews, recruiting coverage and more!