The Iowa Women’s Wrestling team will be looking to defend their title at the NCWWC National Championships in Coralville, Iowa on Friday and Saturday, March 7-8.
The Hawks are considered a big favorite to win the team title with six wrestlers as the #1 seed: Rianne Murphy(103), Brianna Gonzalez(117), Macey Kilty(145), Kennedy Blades(160), Kylie Welker(180), and Jaycee Foeller(207).
It is pretty rare to have a wrestler make a World or Olympic team while in college. It is even more rare for a wrestler to bring home a medal from the Olympic or World Championships while still in college.
I went through past world and Olympic teams. I do to see where there has ever been three current Olympic/World team members competing on a college wrestling team at the same time.
To have three straight weights with a current Olympic or World medalist is not only impressive but unprecedented.
Macey Kilty won bronze at the 2024 World World Championships, Kennedy Blades won silver at 2024 Olympics and Kiley Welker won bronze at the 2024 World Championships.
The Olympics had six weights contested. The non-Olympic weights competed at the 2024 World Championships.
Macey Kilty – 145
Kilty is currently ranked and seeded #1 at 145. She defeated at the time #1 ranked defending national champion teammate Reese Larramendy 8-1 at Soldier Salute and by a 12-0 tech fall in the finals at the Region VII Championships.
Kilty, from Stratford, Wisconsin, transferred into the program this summer with one year of eligibility remaining . She won silver at 65kg at the 2023 and bronze at the 2024 Senior World Championships and was a 2018 Cadet World champion. She has won six age-level World medals for Team USA.
This is the first year of competition in college for Kilty.
Kennedy Blades – 160
Blades is ranked and seeded #1 at 160.
Earlier this week Blades was named as the UWW Wrestler of the Month for February after winning 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.
UWW(United World Wrestling) is the international governing body for wrestling based out of Switzerland.
Blades won silver at the Summer Olympics in Paris last summer at 76kg/176 lbs. She transferred to Iowa and is competing in her first year of college wrestling.
Blades, from Chicago, Illinois, was a 2021 U20 world champion and 2023 U20 bronze medalist. She was also a 2023 U23 silver medalist.
Kiley Welker
Welker is ranked and seeded #1 at 180.
Welker, a redshirt sophomore from Franksville, Wisconsin, won an NCWWC national title at 170 lbs. last season for the Hawks. In October Welker won a U23 World title and won bronze at the 2024 Senior World Freestyle Championships. She was named as the 2024 NCAA Women’s Wrestler of the Year by The Open Mat.
Welker was also a 2021 Junior World champion, 2021 U23 World Bronze medalist, and placed 10th at the 2021 Senior World Championships.
Kylie Welker was the first recruit to commit to the University of Iowa Women’s Wrestling program.
Tickets for the NCWWC National Championships are still available at https://www.ncwwc.com/
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
Full coverage on FloWrestling
It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.
Go Hawks!
