On Saturday, the Iowa State Creamery was open 2 to 6 p.m. to celebrate the launch of their new flavor of ice cream created by Iowa State alumnus, Kyven Gadson.

Gadson graduated from Iowa State in 2014, won an NCAA Championship in 2015 and went on to qualify for the 2021 USA National Team. He is the second Olympic alternate in wrestling.

Gadson collaborated with the Iowa State Creamery to create his signature flavor, “Champion Chip Kyven Dough.”

“Cookie dough has always just been my favorite, growing up I loved cookies, I loved ice cream,” Gadson said. 

Students and wrestling fans were looking forward to not only trying the ice cream but also visiting with Gadson, who was there taking pictures with fans.

“I heard about this from Kyven Gadson himself, I follow him on Instagram and he started posting a while back about it,” Mike Gerhardt, a senior in supply chain management, said. “I’ve been following the wrestling team since he was here and then I heard they were doing this and I thought [that’s pretty cool].”

Gadson put a twist on traditional cookie dough ice cream by loading it with lots of toppings: cookie dough, chocolate chips and dulce de leche. 

The combination of flavors made for an almost frappuccino-style flavor. The caramel mixed with undertones of coffee added emphasis to this unique twist on cookie dough ice cream. While the flavors all worked together, the addition of the chocolate chips were a bit unnecessary due to the already extreme sweetness from the dulce de leche.

Gadson studied child, adult and family services as an Iowa State student. He went to graduate school for higher education leadership and learning and in 2020 he and Erica Andorf founded the Be Rare Initiative, a nonprofit to promote healthy social and emotional learning through creative outlets. 

For the future, Gadson has plans to keep chasing his wrestling career goals.

“I’ll still go and train and do other things at the Olympic Training Center and continue to pursue that dream for Paris in 2024,” Gadson said.

Final verdict on Champion Chip Kyven Dough: 9/10