We have a big weekend of competition for our incoming recruits.

Leo DeLuca will be a part of the Blair-Wyoming Seminary dual meet tonight. This is always a great meet between two of the best high school teams in the country every year. FloWrestling will have live coverage of the dual meet.

Harvey Ludington will have a dual meet at Lacey tonight and a home meet against Hunterdon on Saturday.

Ty and Jarrel Miller are scheduled to compete at Escape the Rock in Philadelphia on Saturday and Sunday. The is an elite tournament with 66 teams. FloWrestling will have live coverage of the tournament.

On Saturday Leister Bowling will be the Lobo Invitational in Aspen Park.

On Friday and Saturday Paolo Ciatto will be at the New Rochelle Shoreline Tournament.

Samantha Sachs will be at the Ayala Women’s Invitational in Chino Hills on Friday and Saturday. Another big tournament in California with 65 teams.

As I have done for years on this blog I will post a blog on Friday for upcoming weekend competitions and a follow up blog with results on my “Recruits in action” series.

Recruiting Class of 2025

Leo DeLuca – Blair Academy(Morristown, New Jersey) 120 lbs. 

Fri Jan 17 – Wyoming Seminary

Paolo Ciatto – Iona Preparatory(New Rochelle, New York)  170 lbs.

Fri/Sat Jan 16-17 – at New Rochelle Shoreline Tournament

Leister Bowling – Longmont(Mead HS), Colorado  175 lbs.

Sat Jan 17 – at Lobo Invitational(Aspen Park)

Ty Miller – North Olmsted(St. Ed’s HS), Ohio 175 lbs. 

Sat/Sun Jan 18-19 – at Escape the Rock(Philadelphia)

Jarrel Miller – North Olmsted(St. Ed’s HS), Ohio  190 lbs. 

Sat/Sun Jan 18-19 – at Escape the Rock(Philadelphia)

Harvey Ludington – Brick, New Jersey(Brick Memorial HS)  190 lbs. 

Fri Jan 17 – at Lacey

Sat Jan 18 – Hunterdon

Recruiting Class of 2026

Owen McMullen – Johnstown(Bishop McCort HS), Pennsylvania  

No competition scheduled.

Women’s Recruiting Class of 2025

Isabella Gonzales – Fresno(Clovis East HS), California  120 lbs. 

No competition scheduled.

Samantha Sachs – Glendora, California  130 lbs.  

Fri/Sat Jan 17-18 – at Ayala Women’s Invitational(Chino Hills)

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

The Iowa Hawkeyes remained ranked #1 in the new NWCA NCAA Women’s Coaches Poll. Iowa is #1 with 123 points followed by North Central at 95 and King with 80.

Iowa now has an impressive six wrestlers ranked #1 in the country: Rianne Murphy(103), Brianna Gonzalez(117), Macey Kilty(145), Kennedy Blades(160), Kylie Welker(180), and Jaycee Foeller(207).

Macey Kilty replaced teammate Reese Larramendy for #1 at 145 and Kennedy Blades is finally ranked #1 at 160. 

Cali Leng is #7 and the first Hawk to be ranked at 124 this season. Alivia White replaced teammate Katja Osteen at 207 and is ranked #6. Cadence Diduch is ranked for the first time at #6 at 138.

Iowa now has a ranked wrestle at all ten weights.

The Hawks dominated in winning NWCA National Duals last weekend and look to only be getting better.

January 16 NWCA NCAA Rankings

Tournament Rankings

1. Iowa – 123
2. North Central – 95
3. King – 80

103 – Rianne Murphy #1

103 – Sterling Dias #3

110 – Ava Bayless #2

110 – Emilie Gonzalez #5

117 – Brianna Gonzalez #1

124 – Cali Leng #7

131 – Emilie Frost #10

138 – Nanea Estrella #3

138 – Cadence Diduch #6

145 – Macey Kilty #1

145 – Reese Larramendy #2

160 – Kennedy Blades #1

180 – Kylie Welker #1

180 – Naomi Simon #6

207 – Jaycee Foeller #1

207 – Alivia White #6

The Iowa Women’s Wrestling team will host Iowa Duals II Saturday, January 18 in legendary Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Hawks will face Augustana at 6 PM followed by Grand Valley State at 6:30.

This will be the final home dual meet of the season for Iowa.

The dual meets will be streamed live on B1G+.

The duals will be broadcast on Hawkeye Radio Network via Youtube with Steven Grace on the call. 

Iowa Duals II

Saturday, January 18

Carver-Hawkeye Arena

5:30 PM  Augustana vs. Grand Valley State

6 PM – Iowa vs. Augustana

6:30 PM – Iowa vs. Grand Valley State

*NWCA NCAA Women’s Coaches Poll from Dec 20

From HawkeyeSports.com:

Single dual ticket sales are now available. Please call 1-800-IAHAWKS and select option 2 to be connected to a ticket sales representative or visit https://hawkeyesports.com/tickets/ to learn more.

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

The Iowa Women’s Wrestling team will host Iowa Duals II Saturday, January 18 in legendary Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Hawks will face Augustana at 6 PM followed by Grand Valley State at 6:30.

This will be the final home dual meet of the season for Iowa.

The Hawks are ranked #1 in the country and look to be even better than last year’s national championship team.

Iowa rolled through NWCA National Duals last weekend against the best competition in the country.

As a fan I hope we see Iowa has all of their stars on the mat Saturday with Kiley Welker, Kennedy Blades, and Macey Kilty. That trio has been at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado this week for a camp as our #1 wrestler on our world team.

The team signed autographs last year after a dual meet and I hope that they do again on Saturday night for the fans. 

This will be a great night of wrestling that should bring in a good crowd to see the best women’s college wrestling team in the country.

The dual meets will be streamed live on B1G+.

The duals will be broadcast on Hawkeye Radio Network via Youtube with Steven Grace on the call. 

Iowa Duals II

Saturday, January 18

Carver-Hawkeye Arena

5:30 PM  Augustana vs. Grand Valley State

6 PM – Iowa vs. Augustana

6:30 PM – Iowa vs. Grand Valley State

From HawkeyeSports.com:

Single dual ticket sales are now available. Please call 1-800-IAHAWKS and select option 2 to be connected to a ticket sales representative or visit https://hawkeyesports.com/tickets/ to learn more.

103 – Rianne Murphy #1

103 – Sterling Dias #2

110 – Ava Bayless #2

110 – Emilie Gonzalez #5

117 – Brianna Gonzalez #1

124 – Not ranked

131 – Skye Realin #6

138 – Nanea Estrella #3

145 – Reese Larramendy #1

145 – Macey Kilty #3

160 – Kennedy Blades #2

180 – Kylie Welker #1

180 – Naomi Simon #7

207 – Jaycee Foeller #1

207 – Katja Osteen #5

*NWCA NCAA Women’s Coaches Poll from Dec 20

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

At the 2025 NCAA Convention In Nashville, Tennessee today the NCAA voted and approved adding Division I Women’s Wrestling as a championship sport.

This is great news for the entire sport of wrestling.

Currently Iowa competes in the NCWWC(National Collegiate Women’s Wrestling Championships).

The first official NCAA Division I Championships will be in 2026.

The 2025 NCWWC National Championships will be in Coralville, Iowa on March 7-8.

A vote will be held tomorrow for Division II and Division III getting their own NCAA Championships.

Women’s wrestling has been one of the most popular of all emerging sports in the country. At the collegiate level the number of teams participating has more than doubled over the last two years.

At the high school level there are now 46 states that have a sanctioned girl’s state wrestling tournament.

The University of Iowa has been a great promotion for women’s college wrestling. In their first year of competition Iowa won the NCWWC national title and NWCA National Duals.

Iowa crushed the all-time attendance record last season with 8,207 fans at Trailblazer Duals on November 12, 2023 in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. This was the first ever home dual meet in Iowa Women’s Wrestling history.

Iowa is currently ranked #1 in the country and defended their team title at NWCA Duals last weekend. 

Iowa will compete next at home with Iowa Duals II on Saturday, January 18. The Hawks will face Augustana and Grand Valley State starting at 6 PM. This will be the final home meet of the season for Iowa.

From HawkeyeSports.com:

Single dual ticket sales are now available. Please call 1-800-IAHAWKS and select option 2 to be connected to a ticket sales representative or visit https://hawkeyesports.com/tickets/ to learn more.

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

The WPIAL(Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League) announced that Spencer Lee will be inducted into their Class of 2025 Hall of Fame.

The 18th WPIAL Hall of Fame class will officially be inducted on Friday, June 6 at the DoubleTree Hotel in Green Tree, Pennsylvania.

Originally from Murrysville, Pennsylvania, Lee was a three-time state champion with a 144-1 career record for Franklin Regional High School.

Lee won three age group world titles during his high school career with a U17 world title in 2014 and a U20 world title in 2015 and 2016.

At the University of Iowa Lee was a three-time NCAA national champion and four-time All American with a 98-6 career record.

He was also a three-time Big Ten champion and two-time Dan Hodge Trophy winner.

At Iowa Lee was a three-time NWCA Scholar Athlete selection and three-time Academic All Big Ten.

The past summer Lee won silver at 57 kg at the Olympics.

Lee was successful in 2024 in his first year of international wrestling in the Senior division. In addition to the Olympic silver medal Lee also won the Pan-American Championships in Acapulco, Mexico and the World Olympic Games Qualifier in Istanbul, Turkey.

Lee will compete for Team USA at the Henri Deglane Grand Prix in Nice, France on Saturday, January 18. 

Congratulations to Spencer Lee for being named to the WPIAL Hall Of Fame.

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

The Iowa Hawkeyes will host Illinois Friday in sold out legendary Carver-Hawkeye Arena at 6 PM.

#9 Illinois has nine wrestlers ranked and we can expect an entertaining dual meet from start to finish.

The top match of the night will be at 133 with #4 Drake Ayala taking on Lucas Byrd who is #1 in one ranking.

The Hawks have options listed in the probable lineups at 125, 133 and 184. We will see either Joey Cruz or Kale Petersen at 125. Three wrestlers are listed at 141 with Ryder Block, Jace Rhodes and Cullan Schriever and at 184 we have Gabe Arnold and Angelo Ferrari. 

I am looking forward to 184 with either Arnold or Ferrari taking on #10 Edmond Ruth in what may be the most exciting match of the night.

Miguel Estrada is listed at 157 to face Jason Kraisser who is a graduate and ranked #15 in the country. This will be a great opportunity for fans to see what Estrada has against a veteran ranked Big Ten wrestler in a big dual meet as he steps in for #1 Jacori Teemer who is out with an injury.

This is a big meet for Ben Kueter at Hwt where he will face senior Luke Luffman that is ranked anywhere from 7-11. Kueter needs to win this type of match to be an All American this season. This will be a test to see where Kueter is at with the tough competition in the Big Ten and the country because the competition only gets tougher the rest of the season. 

Overall I am expecting a great dual meet for fans in attendance and watching on TV. A sold out Friday night crowd in Carver-Hawkeye arena will be ready to go.

The Hawkeye Wrestling Club will host a Pre-Match Social on Friday before the Iowa-Illinois meet at Donnelly’s Pub at 110 E College St in Iowa City from 3-6 PM.

#2 Iowa vs. #9 Illinois

Friday, January 17 at 6 PM

Carver-Hawkeye Arena

Live on BTN

Steven Grace and Mark Ironside call the action on AM 800 KXIC and audio streamed online at HawkeySports.com via YouTube.

Probable Lineups

125 –/28/28/– Joey Cruz So. Fresno, California/Bullard 13-6 -or- Kale Petersen R-Fr. Rockwell, Iowa/Greene County 5-2 vs. Caelan Riley Jr. Libertyville, Illinois/Libertyville 3-7

133 2/4/3/3 Drake Ayala Jr. Fort Dodge, Iowa/Fort Dodge 10-1 vs. 1/2/2/2 Lucas Byrd R-Sr. Cincinnati, Ohio/La Salle 11-0

141 –/30/21/– Ryder Block R-Fr. Waverly, Iowa/Waverly-Shell Rock 2-2 -or- Jace Rhodes So. Mason City, Iowa/Mason City 5-2 -or- Cullan Schriever Sr. Mason City, Iowa/Mason City 3-5 vs. 16/12/17/14 Danny Pucino R-Jr. Libertyville, Illinois/Libertyville 9-2

149 3/3/3/ Kyle Parco Sr. Danville, California/De La Salle 11-0 vs. 14/12/15/ Kannon Webster R-Fr. Toulon, Illinois/Washington Community 8-3

157 Miguel Estrada Fr. Bakersfield, California/ Frontier 12-0/1-2* vs. 15/20/22/ Jason Kraisser Gr. Ellicott City, Maryland/Centennial 8-3 

165 2/2/2/2 Michael Caliendo Jr. Geneva, Illinois/Batavia 11-0 vs. 11/11/15/ Braeden Scoles R-Fr. Kewaskum, Wisconsin/Kewaskum 10-1

174 5/5/5/ Patrick Kennedy Sr. Kasson-Mantorville, Minnesota 7-0 vs. 18/21/19/– Danny Braunagel R-Sr. Belleville, Illinois/Althoff Catholic 6-5

184 9/5/5/8 Gabe Arnold R-Fr. Albany, Georgia/Iowa City 9-1 -or- Angelo Ferrari Fr. Melissa, Texas/Melissa 10-0 vs. 11/10/13/10 Edmond Ruth R-Sr. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 8-3

197 1/2/1/1 Stephen Buchanan Grad. Loyal, Wisconsin/Loyal 11-0 vs. 16/18/13/12 Zac Braunagel R-Sr. Belleville, Illinois/Althoff Catholic 8-3

285 16/12/13/18 Ben Kueter R-Fr. Iowa City, Iowa/Iowa City 9-1 vs. 8/11/11/7 Luke Luffman R-Sr. Urbana, Illinois/Urbana 9-2

* Unattached 

^WIN/InterMat/Flo/AWN (Rankings based on weight class listed at) 

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

The Iowa Hawkeyes will host Illinois Friday in sold out legendary Carver-Hawkeye Arena at 6 PM.

#9 Illinois has nine wrestlers ranked and we can expect an entertaining dual meet from start to finish.

The top match of the night will be at 133 with #4 Drake Ayala taking on Lucas Byrd who is #1 in one ranking.

The Hawks have options listed in the probable lineups at 125, 133 and 184. We will see either Joey Cruz or Kale Petersen at 125. Three wrestlers are listed at 141 with Ryder Block, Jace Rhodes and Cullan Schriever and at 184 we have Gabe Arnold and Angelo Ferrari. 

I am looking forward to 184 with either Arnold or Ferrari taking on #10 Edmond Ruth in what may be the most exciting match of the night.

Miguel Estrada is listed at 157 to face Jason Kraisser who is a graduate and ranked #15 in the country. This will be a great opportunity for fans to see what Estrada has against a veteran ranked Big Ten wrestler in a big dual meet as he steps in for #1 Jacori Teemer who is out with an injury.

This is a big meet for Ben Kueter at Hwt where he will face senior Luke Luffman that is ranked anywhere from 7-11. Kueter needs to win this type of match to be an All American this season. This will be a test to see where Kueter is at with the tough competition in the Big Ten and the country because the competition only gets tougher the rest of the season. 

Overall I am expecting a great dual meet for fans in attendance and watching on TV. A sold out Friday night crowd in Carver-Hawkeye arena will be ready to go.

The Hawkeye Wrestling Club will host a Pre-Match Social on Friday before the Iowa-Illinois meet at Donnelly’s Pub at 110 E College St in Iowa City from 3-6 PM.

#2 Iowa vs. #9 Illinois

Friday, January 17 at 6 PM

Carver-Hawkeye Arena

Live on BTN

Steven Grace and Mark Ironside call the action on AM 800 KXIC and audio streamed online at HawkeySports.com via YouTube.

Probable Lineups

125 –/28/28/– Joey Cruz So. Fresno, California/Bullard 13-6 -or- Kale Petersen R-Fr. Rockwell, Iowa/Greene County 5-2 vs. Caelan Riley Jr. Libertyville, Illinois/Libertyville 3-7

133 2/4/3/3 Drake Ayala Jr. Fort Dodge, Iowa/Fort Dodge 10-1 vs. 1/2/2/2 Lucas Byrd R-Sr. Cincinnati, Ohio/La Salle 11-0

141 –/30/21/– Ryder Block R-Fr. Waverly, Iowa/Waverly-Shell Rock 2-2 -or- Jace Rhodes So. Mason City, Iowa/Mason City 5-2 -or- Cullan Schriever Sr. Mason City, Iowa/Mason City 3-5 vs. 16/12/17/14 Danny Pucino R-Jr. Libertyville, Illinois/Libertyville 9-2

149 3/3/3/ Kyle Parco Sr. Danville, California/De La Salle 11-0 vs. 14/12/15/ Kannon Webster R-Fr. Toulon, Illinois/Washington Community 8-3

157 Miguel Estrada Fr. Bakersfield, California/ Frontier 12-0/1-2* vs. 15/20/22/ Jason Kraisser Gr. Ellicott City, Maryland/Centennial 8-3 

165 2/2/2/2 Michael Caliendo Jr. Geneva, Illinois/Batavia 11-0 vs. 11/11/15/ Braeden Scoles R-Fr. Kewaskum, Wisconsin/Kewaskum 10-1

174 5/5/5/ Patrick Kennedy Sr. Kasson-Mantorville, Minnesota 7-0 vs. 18/21/19/– Danny Braunagel R-Sr. Belleville, Illinois/Althoff Catholic 6-5

184 9/5/5/8 Gabe Arnold R-Fr. Albany, Georgia/Iowa City 9-1 -or- Angelo Ferrari Fr. Melissa, Texas/Melissa 10-0 vs. 11/10/13/10 Edmond Ruth R-Sr. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 8-3

197 1/2/1/1 Stephen Buchanan Grad. Loyal, Wisconsin/Loyal 11-0 vs. 16/18/13/12 Zac Braunagel R-Sr. Belleville, Illinois/Althoff Catholic 8-3

285 16/12/13/18 Ben Kueter R-Fr. Iowa City, Iowa/Iowa City 9-1 vs. 8/11/11/7 Luke Luffman R-Sr. Urbana, Illinois/Urbana 9-2

* Unattached 

^WIN/InterMat/Flo/AWN (Rankings based on weight class listed at) 

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

The Hawkeye Wrestling Club will host a Pre-Match Social on Friday, January 17 at Donnelly’s Pub at 110 E College St in Iowa City from 3-6 PM.

The Hawks face #13 Illinois at 7 PM in sold out legendary Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

The HWC Socials are free of charge and provide a great opportunity to meet HWC wrestlers, former Hawkeye greats and other Iowa Wrestling fans.

From HawkeyeWrestlingClub.com:

For the past two years we have been partnering with local bars and restaurants to provide our fans with Pre-Match Socials! Our goal is to create an atmosphere where our community can grow and enjoy Hawkeye Wrestling together. Our social events are open to the public and free of charge! Guests can win raffle prizes, meet Hawkeye legends, and enjoy drink specials Before the Whistle!

Hawkeye Wrestling Club Pre-Match Socials

Friday, January 17th – Donnelly’s Pub (Illinois)

Saturday, January 25th – Sports Column (vs. Ohio State)

Friday, February 7th – Joe’s Place (vs. Nebraska)

Sunday, February 16th – Iowa Athletic Club (vs. Northwestern)

Sunday, February 23rd – Big Grove Brewery (vs. Oklahoma State )

Sunday, March 9th – NCAA’s Between Sessions Social (B1G Championship)

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

FloWrestling announced “FloWrestling Night in America” for Wednesday, February 26. The main event will be a challenge match between 2024 Olympic 57 kg silver medalist Spencer Lee vs. 2024 60 kg world champion Masanosuke Ono of Japan.

The night of elite international wrestling will take place at Xtreme Arena in Coralville, Iowa. 

The co-main event will be Aaron Brooks vs. Zahid Valencia. Additional matches will be announced.

FloWrestling will have live coverage on their premium service.

I will keep you up to date with additional matches and ticket information.

Lee was successful in 2024 in his first year of international wrestling in the Senior division. In addition to the Olympic silver medal Lee also won the Pan-American Championships in Acapulco, Mexico and the World Olympic Games Qualifier in Istanbul, Turkey.

The 2024 World Championships was held for non-Olympic weights. Ono won the 60 kg title with a 5-0 record with four tech falls including over 2023 world champion Vito Arujau of Team USA. In the finals Ono defeated Zaur Uguev(Russia), an 2020 Olympic champion and two-time world champion, 10-2. Ono also won a 2024 U20 world title.

Spencer Lee will compete at the 51st annual Henri Deglane Grand Prix in Nice, France on Saturday, January 18. 

I will have a follow up blog with results.

2024 Henri Deglane Grand Prix in Nice, France

Saturday, January 18

3:30 AM CST – Qualification Rounds through Finals

1:30 PM CST – Awards

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

The National Girls High School Rankings for January has been released. The rankings are a product of USA Wrestling, FloWrestling, and the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.

This is the first rankings of the high school regular season.

The Iowa Women’s Wrestling program has two incoming recruits that are well represented in the rankings.

Isabella Gonzales is ranked #1 at 120 lbs. and #3 P4P(pound for pound) in the country.

Samantha Sachs is ranked #1 at 130 and #1 P4P.

Iowa Women’s Wrestling Recruiting Class of 2025

Isabella Gonzales – Fresno(Clovis East HS), California  120 lbs. #3 P4P, #1 at 120

Gonzales placed fifth at 53kg/116 lbs. at the 2024 U17 World Championships in Amman, Jordan in August.

Gonzales was a U17 Pan-Am champion in 2023 and a U15 Pan-Am champion in 2022. She is a two-time California state champion and won a Super 32 title.

Samantha Sachs – Glendora, California  130 lbs.  #1 P4P. #1 at 130

Sachs won a Junior National title in Fargo last summer at 130 and was a state runner-up in California.

In October Sachs won the 130 lbs. title at the Brian Keck Memorial Pre-Season Nationals in Des Moines, Iowa.

As I have done for years I post a blog on Friday for upcoming weekend competitions and a follow up blog with results on my “Recruits in action” series.

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!