Three Iowa Hawkeyes won titles at the 2025 Pan American Championships in Monterrey, Mexico. Today Macey Kilty(65 kg) and Kiley Welker(76kg) won titles. On Friday Kennedy Blades won the gold at 68 kg.
Kilty, who won bronze at the 2024 World Freestyle Championships, breezed through the competition for the title. After a tech fall and :23 pin Kilty won by a 10-0 tech fall over Miki Rowbottom (Canada) in the finals.
Welker, who also won bronze at the 2024 World Freestyle Championships at 72 kg, is competing at 76 kg this year. Welker won an 8-2 decision and a 10-0 tech fall before defeating Thamires Martins Machado (Brazil) 8-1 in the finals.
Blades defeated Nathali Griman Herrera (Venezuela) in the Round of 16 and the finals. In the Round of 16 Blades won by a 6-2 decision. In the finals Blades defeated Herrera 14-5 for the title. Blades won by a tech fall in the quarterfinals and semifinals. Blades won silver at the 2024 Olympics at 76 kg.
In March Blades, Welker and Kilty all won individual titles in leading Iowa to their second straight NCWWC national team title.
Former Iowa national champions Terry Steiner(National Women’s Coach) and Bill Zadick(National Freestyle Coach)were the head coaches for Team USA at Pan Ams.
Kilty, Blades, Welker and teammate Brianna Gonzalez(53 kg) qualified for the Best 2 of 3 bouts at Final X on June 14 in Newark, New Jersey.
The winner at Final X will represent Team USA at the 2025 World Freestyle Championships in Zagreb, Croatia on September 14-18.
Senior Pan American Championships in Monterrey, Mexico
Macey Kilty – 65 kg
Quarterfinals: Macey Kilty tech fall over Alexis Gomez (Mexico), 10-0
Semifinals: Macey Kilty fall over Leticia De Oliveira Gaion Piazza (Brazil), 0:23
Finals: Macey Kilty tech fall over Miki Rowbottom (Canada), 10-0
Kennedy Blades – 68 kg
Round of 16: Kennedy Blades dec over Nathali Griman Herrera (Venezuela), 6-2
Quarterfinals: Kennedy Blades tech fall over Grabriela Pedro Da Rocha (Brazil), 11-1
Semifinals – Kennedy Blades tech fall over Virginia Jimenez Fernandez (Chile), 10-0
Finals – Kennedy Blades dec over Nathali Griman Herrera (Venezuela), 14-5
Kylie Welker – 76 kg
Quarterfinals: Kiley Welker(USA) dec over Linda Machuca (Argentina), 8-2
Semifinals: Kiley Welker tech fall over Genesis Reasco Valdez (Ecuador), 10-0
Finals: Kiley Welker dec over Thamires Martins Machado (Brazil), 8-1
It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.
Go Hawks!
