Tag: Gennings Dunker

Iowa OL Gennings Dunker atop Pro Football Focus’ Big Ten offensive linemen grades

Gennings Dunker has been a huge addition for the Iowa Hawkeyes. His play has him atop the Big Ten Pro Football Focus’ linemen grades.

It all starts up front for the Iowa Hawkeyes and that has never been truer than the 329-yard rushing outburst that was on display last week in Iowa’s 42-10 rout of the Wisconsin Badgers.

Iowa ran up and down the field and that is due to an offensive line coming together at the right time and moving bodies. Logan Jones and Mason Richman have been talked about, but there may be a new top dog in the Hawkeyes’ offensive line room.

Insert Gennings Dunker. The junior from Lena-Winslow High School in Lena, Illinois has been putting on a clinic this year and it is being noticed. He was Pro Football Focus’ highest-graded Big Ten offensive tackle in Week 10.

This grade is a culmination of the strong year that Gennings Dunker is having. He hasn’t only performed this week. His play has been at an extremely high level all year.

Dunker is also the No. 1 overall graded offensive lineman in the Big Ten along with being the No. 1 run-blocking offensive lineman per PFF’s grades.

Dunker is rounding into form just as many Iowa offensive linemen do. Before this year he appeared in 23 games with 14 starts under his belt.

With nine more starts this year, Dunker has the experience and knowledge that is showing with each passing week.

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Gennings Dunker goes back-to-back as champion in Solon Beef Days hay bale toss

In an Iowa tradition, Gennings Dunker delivered a record-setting toss to repeat as the Solon Beef Days’ hay bale toss champion.

A tradition unlike any other: Iowa Hawkeyes tossing hay bales around like they owe them money.

For the second year in a row, redshirt sophomore Gennings Dunker reigns supreme. With a record-setting toss of 14’6″, Dunker was able to dispatch of fellow offensive lineman Logan Jones in the final.

In a men’s bracket that featured 26 competitors, it was the redshirt sophomore from Lena, Ill., that bested the rest. Other Iowa offensive linemen that competed featured transfer guard Rusty Feth and Tyler Elsbury.

Dunker won it with this throw courtesy of Hawkeye Heaven.

Hawkeye fan Jennifer Kurka did a wonderful job relaying the play-by-play, so we’ll politely point you in the direction of her Twitter thread documenting all the hay bale hurling fun.

Suffice it to say, the champion’s attire was a hit for some and an eyesore to others.

In addition to his hay bale fame, Dunker appeared in 10 games last season with the Hawkeyes and started the TransPerfect Music City Bowl against Kentucky at right guard. Entering the spring, Dunker was listed as the backup right guard behind sophomore Beau Stephens.

A tradition since 1971, Solon Beef Days was a celebration put on by four civic groups in Solon trying to revitalize on “Old Time Celebration” like the community enjoyed with the June Jubilee Days and Homecoming during the 1940s.

It was such a hit in 1971 that they did it again in 1972 and every year since. Over the years, it’s morphed into an important local fundraiser for the community.

Profits from the celebration are funneled back into the community as donations to the school district, civic groups, city and county projects and organizations, senior citizens groups, the Solon Parks Department and so much more.

Since its inception, the Solon Beef Days Committee alone has donated in excess of $385,000 on a variety of local community projects, causes and scholarships.

Now, the question becomes this: Will Dunker come back to successfully defend his title each of the next two summers?

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Report Card: Grading the Iowa Hawkeyes’ 27-0 win over the Nevada Wolf Pack

The Iowa Hawkeyes blanked Nevada, 27-0. Naturally, the best all-around performance thus far earns improved marks in this week’s report card.

Even though Mother Nature had other ideas, ultimately, nothing could stop the Iowa Hawkeyes from turning in their best start-to-finish performance of 2022. The Hawkeyes improve to 2-1 on the season and will now turn their attention to Rutgers next Saturday night from SHI Stadium at 6 p.m. on FS1.

As a result, the Nevada Wolf Pack exit Iowa City the victim of a 27-0 shutout and drop to 1-2 on the season.

“We got off the mat and got back in the fight and did a good job in unusual circumstances tonight. So to stay focused, that was good to see. Just really pleased. We showed some progress in certain areas. Happy about that. Obviously, it was good to get Nico (Ragaini) back and Keagan (Johnson) back and then Brody (Brecht) was able to get involved a little bit too at the receiver position. So gave us a few more guys to throw to.

“All in all, the team effort was good. Again, you go 60 minutes broken down over seven hours, not easy to do. Defensively, you all saw the game, those guys played a good game. They were aggressive and very tough to run against and they made the passing yardage tough as well. I thought especially in the first half. It was a little disjointed once we got back in the second half. But in the first half I thought we had a little rhythm offensively. The run game wasn’t perfect, but we did some better things so that was encouraging,” Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz said of the victory.

Before completely turning the page over to Rutgers, let’s hand out some Nevada grades. Pull up a chair. Class in session.

Iowa redshirt freshman OL Gennings Dunker wins 20th annual hay bale toss at Solon Beef Days

Iowa Hawkeyes redshirt freshman offensive lineman Gennings Dunker won the 20th annual hay bale toss at Solon Beef Days.

Tell me this isn’t the most Iowa headline you’ve ever seen!

Gennings Dunker, a redshirt freshman offensive lineman for the Iowa football team, took first place in the 20th annual Hay Bale Toss at Solon Beef Days in Solon, Iowa.

In a way, it was the first real competition for Iowa football this season, preparing their competitive edge for the start of the season on Sept. 3 against South Dakota State. While a friendly competition with a bit of a goofy premise on paper, the annual hay bale toss is a massive competition between Hawkeyes players.

Multiple Hawkeyes took place in the competition, a usual occurrence for the popular attraction. Dunker won the competition with a toss that cleared 12 feet, 6 inches.

While he came short of the all-time record, no other player was able to match his 12 feet, 6 inch mark. Two other players made it past the 12-foot benchmark, interior offensive lineman Tyler Elsbury and defensive lineman Yahya Black in his hay bale tossing debut.

The most impressive performance of the night did not come from the winner, though, or even from one of the linemen. One other player made it to the 12 feet round, 193-pound cornerback Riley Moss.

While Moss is known for creating turnovers and being one of the best defensive backs in the nation, he wasn’t really known for his ability to launch horse food high in the air. That is until now.

While there might not be a direct correlation between successfully throwing a hay bale in the air and football, there have been some Hawkeyes greats to win the competition in the past.

Both Solon native Tyler Linderbaum and former right tackle Tristan Wirfs won the hay bale toss competition, and one of them is an NFL first-team All-Pro. Not saying Dunker is a future first-round pick, but, hey, there’s history on his side!

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