By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – The Iowa football team didn’t just lose the game at Iowa State this past Saturday.

It also lost its starting tight end for likely the rest of the season.

Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said Tuesday at his weekly press conference that senior tight end Addison Ostrenga suffered an achilles injury in the first quarter against Iowa State.

“Addy, unfortunately has an achilles injury, so they repaired that yesterday, and is on the road to recovery,” Kirk Ferentz said.

Without Ostrenga, junior Zach Ortwerth is now listed as the starter at tight end.

Ortwerth has one catch for five yards this season. He finished last season with 11 catches for 133 yards.

“It’s just another opportunity,” Ortwerth said Tuesday.

Asked how tough it was to see Ostrenga go down, Ortwerth said:

“Yeah, it sucks. He’s a good teammate, a good leader, and I know he’ll always be there.”

Graduate Hayden Large and redshirt freshman and former walk-on DJ Vonnahme are now listed as the second and third tight ends on the depth chart.

“Me, DJ and Large are all working trying to get better,” said Ortwerth, who had one of Iowa’s dropped passes against Iowa State. “Getting back on the practice field this week felt good.”

Ostrenga, who is from Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, has 48 career catches, 330 receiving yards and three touchdowns as a Hawkeye. He made his 12th career start in last Saturday’s game at Iowa State.