Kennedy Blades of the University of Iowa has been named as the UWW Wrestler of the Month for February.
Blades won gold at 68kg at the Zagreb Open Ranking Event in Zagreb, Croatia on February 7 where she was 4-0 with two pins and two tech falls.
Blades competed at 68 kg/150 lbs. after winning silver at the Paris Olympics at 76 kg/167 lbs. in August.
The Zagreb Open was the first UWW Senior Ranking Tournament of the year and Olympic cycle. Results will factor into seedings at the World Championships and Olympics.
UWW(United World Wrestling) is the international governing body for wrestling based out of Switzerland.
Congratulations to Kennedy Blades for this prestigious international award.
Zagreb Open in Zagreb, Croatia
68 kg – Kennedy Blades (USA)
WIN Kendra Dacher (France), fall 0:35
WIN Adela Hanzlickova (Czech Republic), fall 2:51
WIN Noémi Szabados (Hungary), tech fall 10-0
WIN Karolina Pok (Hungary) tech fall 12-0
Blades, originally from Chicago, Illinois, was a 2021 U20 world champion and 2023 U20 bronze medalist. She was also a 2023 U23 silver medalist.
As the #1 ranked and #1 seed at 160 lbs., Blades will lead Iowa into the NCWWC National Championships this weekend. This is the first year of competition for Blades in the college ranks.
The Iowa Women’s Wrestling team will be defending their title at the NCWWC National Championships in Coralville, Iowa on March 7-8.
Tickets are still available at https://www.ncwwc.com/
FloWrestling will have full coverage on their premium service.
NCWWC National Championships
Xtreme Arena
Coralville, Iowa
Friday, March 7
Session 1: Championship 1st round – 10 AM
Session 2: Quarterfinals – 5 PM
Saturday, March 8
Session 3 – Consolation semifinals and finals – 10 AM
Session 4: Finals – 6 PM
*Times listed are CST
It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.
Go Hawks!
