Monticello’s Preston Ries becomes an instant Hawkeye fan-favorite in college debut

IOWA CITY — Maybe the story of the game was Iowa’s slow start or Mark Gronowski’s uninspiring passing performance in his Hawkeye debut.

Maybe it was how the Hawkeyes shook that off and overpowered Albany on both sides of the ball in the second half of their 34-7 win at Kinnick Stadium.

But on a fun level, Iowa fans got the Full Monti from special teams player Preston Ries of Monticello, who seemed to be everywhere on the field and caused a good kind of mayhem wherever he went.

We’ll wait to put a Bob Sanders tag on Ries. Sanders blew up huge chunks of the Big Ten on special teams as a young Hawkeye about a quarter-century ago before forcing his way into the lineup as a safety who also had a knack for causing a winning kind of chaos.

But for Game No. 1 in his college career, Ries put a lot of “special” in “special teams,” dashing through holes, chasing down return men, getting a couple of tackles, and threatening to block punts.

Ries did get credit for a block, though it was more like a partial one and the ball still traveled 36 yards.

“I was coming,” Ries said. “I was trying to do my role to the best of my ability. That happened to be special teams today.”

He has a future here as a linebacker, but a lot of great Iowa linebackers made their bones on special teams first. You either want to play on those units or you don’t, and Ries must have had fire in his eyes every time he went out onto the field Saturday.

“My goal is to play fast, try to make tackles, and get the win,” Ries said.

“It’s fun when they return (a kick). You get to try to make a play on the ball.”

This isn’t one of those Hawkeye football stories about a walk-on who brought some attention to himself via special teams. Ries accepted a scholarship offer from Iowa in May 2022, as a Monticello sophomore. Then he spent the next two years making the Hawkeyes look smart for getting in on him early.

Not that it took much of a sales pitch. Ries was an Iowa fan and wanted to stay close to home. The deal was easy to seal.

“It was the right fit for me,” Ries said.

It’s nice to have talent in your backyard. Before he was done at Monticello, Ries became Iowa’s all-time career leader in yards from scrimmage. His total: Would you believe 12,984?

That’s 7,823 yards passing and 5,161 rushing. Plus, he had 74 tackles for loss as a linebacker. After his senior season, he got awards from MaxPreps and Gatorade as the state’s player of the year.

Ries, however, was not named The Gazette’s 2023-24 Male Athlete of the Year winner though he was a finalist. He and Williamsburg’s Derek Weisskopf were our co-football Players of the Year, but Weisskopf got the AOY in an agonizing vote for our electorate.

Ries expressed no bitterness about that, saying “Derek’s a really good athlete. I’m glad he’s here and I get to play with him. I got to run down (the field) with him on kickoffs today, and it’s pretty special.”

The response from Hawkeye fans in Kinnick and those watching on television to Ries’ play was somewhere between ecstatic and euphoric.

“That’s cool,” said Ries. “I guess fans enjoy me playing fast.”

It’s possible they ain’t seen nothin’ yet. Ries took kickoff-return repetitions in the pregame.

Kaden Wetjen has that job locked down for this season, but even a linebacker needs to touch the ball occasionally if he had 12,984 total yards in high school.

For now, maybe Ries will get his fix of getting his hands on the football by blocking punts.

“Oh, I sure hope so,” he said. “I’m going to try my best.

“I’m grateful for the opportunity, grateful that the coaches believe in me and are giving me the opportunity to do it.”

Asked if he was surprised to find himself in Kinnick’s interview room after his first college game, Ries said he was. That, however, didn’t seem like his primary concern.

“I’m hungry,” he said, “I’ve got to get something to eat.”

Albany’s players had box lunches waiting for them after the game as they went from their dressing room to their buses. They’re lucky Ries didn’t crash through the table holding the lunches and send them flying.

Comments: (319) 398-8440; mike.hlas@thegazette.com