Mount Vernon’s Wirfs commits to play football at Iowa

CEDAR RAPIDS — The Iowa Hawkeyes lost to Michigan State, of course, in last weekend's Big Ten Conference championship game. But they have gained a small level of revenge on the recruiting front.

Mount Vernon junior lineman Tristan Wirfs has verbally committed to Iowa. The 6-foot-5, 285-pounder informed Coach Kirk Ferentz of his decision late Monday night.

Ironically, it was an unofficial visit to Michigan State two weeks ago for its regular-season finale against Penn State that helped him make us his mind.

'I expected it to blow my mind, but it just didn't,' Wirfs said. 'On our drive home, I just kind of told my mom that Iowa was the place for me. It's close to home, the coaches are great, it all just felt like home.'

For the record, Michigan State did not offer Wirfs a scholarship. Only Iowa and Iowa State were on that list, though interest certainly would have picked up.

Wirfs said he grew an inch taller and 20 pounds heavier from last season to this season. He had 27 total tackles for a Mount Vernon team that lost in the Class 2A state championship game to Spirit Lake, but his future lies on the offensive side of the ball.

'I think they see me as a left tackle,' he said. 'Iowa is the best school around for offensive linemen, and I'm excited about that.'

Wirfs joins Madrid's Coy Fitzpatrick and North Fayette Valley's Juan Harris as commits for the class of 2017. Harris, who has waffled on his decision over the past year, reaffirmed his commitment to Iowa via Twitter on Monday night.

'I am going to shut down my recruiting process and stay 100% committed to Iowa university,' he tweeted. 'Love my hawkeye family.'

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