High School

Top Iowa High School Football Prospect Undergoes Surgery

Grinnell standout OL Will Slagle expected to miss month-plus

Dana Becker

Will Slagle, one of the top offensive line prospects in the Class of 2027, underwent surgery recently. Slagle plays for Grinnell High School.
Will Slagle, one of the top offensive line prospects in the Class of 2027, underwent surgery recently. Slagle plays for Grinnell High School. / Will Slagle/X

The start of the 2025 Iowa high school football season did not go as Grinnell High School prospect Will Slagle had hoped.

Slagle, one of the top offensive linemen in the Class of 2027, suffered a foot injury that required surgery during a recent practice session with the Tigers. He has since undergone surgery, with the family's Instagram account offering updates.

“Will is tackling a new challenge ahead of football season this fall. He broke the outside bone in his right foot during practice,” they shared. “We believe an old basketball injury created a stress fracture in his foot. The doctors told him it wasn’t a matter of ‘if’ it would happen but ‘when.’

“It’s a bummer, it’s hard, but we are choosing to see the positive and humor in navigating a 300 (pound) kid in a boot. So many scenarios could be so much worse.”

Slagle is expected to be “down 4-6 weeks but we all agree that we need to be fully healed before we play again.”

Doctors at DMOS performed surgery earlier this week, inserting a screw into the bone to “get him on the best path towards healing.”

Top Programs in Country Recruiting Will Slagle

The 6-foot-4 Slagle is ranked as the No. 1 recruit in Iowa for his class by 247Sports and the No. 5 interior offensive lineman in the country. He currently holds a dozen offers including from schools such as Iowa, Iowa State, Auburn, Nebraska, Wisconsin and Missouri.

Both Slagle's father, Don, and uncle, Dean, played for Iowa State.

Grinnell opens the season this Friday night by hosting Nevada. The Tigers finished 2024 with a 6-3 record overall, matching the 6-3 mark they had in 2023. 

Leading rusher Josh Ringler returns along with Beni Kiphanzu, Keaton Iverson, Trenton Scheck and Kellan Harter. 

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Dana Becker
DANA BECKER

Dana Becker has been a sports writer in Iowa since 2000, writing for The Fort Dodge Messenger, Mason City Globe-Gazette, Cedar Rapids Gazette and others. Dana resides in northcentral Iowa and started as a writer with SB Live Sports in 2022 focused on the state of Iowa. Along with providing coverage of football and wrestling, Dana also spotlights cross country, swimming, basketball, track and field, soccer, tennis, golf, baseball and softball. He began writing for High School on SI in 2023.

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