Ben Bruns and Aiden Wyatt react to every Iowa State game following gameday in the fall!
Ben Bruns and Aiden Wyatt navigate you through every Iowa State game each Sunday for a little bit of clarity. Occasionally Bruns will get back in his three-point stance to teach a thing or two.
Ben Bruns, a native of Denver, Iowa, has always been a Cyclone. From his prep days playing for Mark Guenther on the first State Championship team in Denver Cyclone history in 1995 to being in Dan McCarney’s second recruiting class, then 20 years on Cyclone Radio Network after his playing days concluded, Bruns bleeds Cardinal red. As a player, Bruns was named ISHAA 1A Player of the Year his senior season. After redshirting his first year at ISU, he played in nine games as a redshirt freshman in 1997 but tore his ACL, MCL, and both cartilages in his right knee on a touchdown play early in the Colorado game. Bruns’ first start of his career would come the following year against Iowa in Iowa City; the famous 27-9 victory over the 27-point favorites. He would go on to start in 30 games as a Cyclone and earn 3rd team All-America honors from Football News, AP 1st team All-Big 12 honors, Coaches 2nd team All-Big 12, and finish 3rd in the voting for the Rimington Award, given to the best center in the country annually in 2000 as the Cyclones posted a 9-3 record and won the first bowl game in school history. As a starter, he and his teammates were 3-0 against the University of Iowa. Bruns was inducted into the Iowa High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame in 2011. He coached 10 seasons at West Des Moines Valley from 2001 to 2011, in which the Tigers would win five state championships. He currently coaches his son’s 7th-grade football team in Neenah, WI, and says ‘they are pretty bad-ass too.’ Bruns’ time on the radio included working with the late greats Pete Taylor and Bob Foster, legends Eric Heft and John Walters, and one of the smartest sports minds he’s been around, Brent Blum. Bruns served on the sidelines interviewing Dan McCarney, Gene Chizik, Paul Rhoads, and Matt Campbell. He couldn’t be prouder of the position the program is in today and is grateful for all the men who have given to the sport and the Cyclones – particularly the ones who paved the way but didn’t see the benefits of wins on the scoreboard from 1996-1999. Bruns is a construction executive for a large general contractor in NE Wisconsin and works nationally, focused on Industrialized Construction.
Aiden Wyatt is a recent graduate of Iowa State University, where he studied Journalism. Growing up a Cyclone sports fan in Reinbeck, Iowa, he is living his dream of being involved across the Iowa Everywhere network as well as Cyclone Fanatic as the Chief Podcast Officer. Aiden is an avid lover of Taylor Swift and The Process.
