The online blog The Daily Caller, the Washington Post and Britain's Daily Mail were among the media outlets that raised the issue of potential NCAA rule-breaking in their coverage of Trump's rally at the Iowa Fieldhouse Tuesday night. However, the NCAA told TheDailyCaller.com that there was no such violation.
"Acting on his or her own, a student-athlete may endorse a political candidate," an NCAA spokesperson told The Daily Caller Thursday in response to the blog's initial report posted Wednesday with the headline "Trump's Use Of Hawkeyes Football, Wrestling Teams Violates NCAA Rules."
The NCAA backed up statements made by Iowa athletic director Gary Barta to the Des Moines Register Wednesday. "University of Iowa student-athletes are encouraged to participate in the political process as individuals," Barta said in an email statement. "However, like any endorsement by a student or faculty member, their participation should not be considered representative of the entire team or university. In recent months, candidates from both parties representing a spectrum of ideals have visited Iowa City. We will continue to support this approach without influencing particular political choice or agendas."
The incident which launched this media coverage -- and considerable discussion in at least one online wrestling forum -- was a political rally for Trump Tuesday night at the IU Fieldhouse less than a week before the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucus. Trump had met privately with some members of the football and wrestling teams prior to the rally, according to the Des Moines Register. However, after taking the stage in the facility which had been the home for the Hawkeye wrestling program until Carver-Hawkeye Arena opened in the mid-1980s, the Republican presidential candidate urged members of the Iowa football team to join him on stage. A dozen football players came on stage, where they presented Trump with a replica Hawkeye jersey with his name and number one on its back.
After recognizing the football team, Trump shifted to wrestling, a sport he once participated in for one season as an 8th grader at the New York Military Academy, as the candidate confirmed two weeks ago during an interview on Takedown Wrestling Radio .
"Get the wrestlers up here," Trump said. "Come on, fellas. Where are they? Where are they? These guys -- I'm not messing with 'em ... Look at these guys. Undefeated team, University of Iowa."
Seven Hawkeye wrestlers took the stage with Trump in front of a crowd of approximately 2,000, according to multiple media reports.
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