Iowa redshirt freshman OL Gennings Dunker wins 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.
Dunker clears 12’6” pic.twitter.com/SOqzz8Yqvi
— John Steppe (@JSteppe1) July 16, 2022
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.
Riley Moss gets his second attempt at 11 ft to go over. He’s hanging in there with the linemen. pic.twitter.com/AC0nZxcgHC
— John Steppe (@JSteppe1) July 16, 2022
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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