The University of Iowa led the nation in attendance in 2023-24 for a record 17th straight year. The Hawks had 89,082 fans attend a dual meet in legendary Carver-Hawkeye Arena for an average of 14,847 fans per dual meet.

 Penn State(7,337 fans per dual) was second and Iowa State(6,691 fans per dual) was third.

This marked the 25th straight year that Iowa has averaged more than 8,000 fans per dual meet.

Iowa has led the nation in attendance in every season that Tom Brands has been the head coach starting with the 2006-07 season.

Iowa has led the nation in home attendance in 21 of the 22 seasons it has been tracked.

What has impressed me the most is that Iowa has sold out Carver-Hawkeye Arena in early November before the start of the season in each of the last three years. That is amazing.

Hawk fans will be looking forward to seeing the Hawks make their entrance from the new state of the art wrestling facility through a tunnel and onto the floor of Carver Hawkeye Arena. A sellout crowd will be more than ready to go. I cannot wait.

The full Iowa Wrestling schedule for the 2023-24 season was released on October 17 last year. I will keep you up to date when the 2024-25 schedule is released.

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

Todd Conner

All American Ella Schmit and incoming recruit Otto Black will be competing at the U20 Pan American Championships in Lima, Peru.

Greco-Roman is on Thursday and women’s freestyle on Friday.

Black will represent Team USA at 63kg and will face Vitor De Medeiros Alves of Brazil in the first round.

Schmit will face Ana Torres Cardona of Puerto Rico at 65kg.

Schmit is the defending 65kg Pan Am champion after winning the Gold in Chile last year.  

Schmit placed 7th at NCWWC Nationals as a member of the 2024 national championship Hawkeye team.

Originally from Bettendorf, Iowa, Schmit was the 2022 Dan Gable Ms. Wrestler of the Year.

Black won U20 Greco-Roman Nationals in April and the U20 World Team Trials in May. He will represent Team USA at the 2024 U20 Greco-Roman World Championships in Pontevedra, Spain on September 2-8 .

Black, from Park, Colorado, won a 138 lbs. 4A Colorado state title this season with a 52-0 record and is a member of the Iowa Wrestling Recruiting Class of 2024.

Live coverage of Pan Ams will be available on the FloWrestling premium service.

I will have a follow up blog with results.

U20 Pan American Championships in Lima, Peru

***Times listed are CST

Thursday, July 11 – Greco-Roman

10 AM – Qualification rounds, repechage

5PM – Medal matches

Friday, July 12 – Women’s Freestyle

10 AM – Qualification rounds, repechage

5PM – Medal matches

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

The final National Girls High School Rankings for the 2023-24 season have been released. The rankings are a product of USA Wrestling, FloWrestling, and the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.

Six of the seven incoming recruits for Iowa are ranked. Karlee Brooks remained #1 at 120 and is #16 in the P4P (Pound for Pound). Cadence Diduch is #2 at 135 and #12 P4P and Naomi Simon is #2 at 170 and #13 P4P.

Rianne Murphy went from #4 to #2 at 105 and Val Solorio remained at #4 at 100 lbs. Kiara Djoumessi is #15 at 140 and Mia Goodwin is not ranked after being #29 at 110 in the last rankings.

Cadence Diduch(62kg) won Bronze and Naomi Simon(76kg) placed fifth at the Grand Prix of Spain last weekend.

Diduch and Simon won U20 Nationals in April. They will represent Team USA at the 2024 U20 World Freestyle Championships in Pontevedra, Spain on September 2-8.

I will have a preview and follow up blogs with results as our recruits compete at Junior Nationals in Fargo on Saturday and Sunday, July 13-14.

Iowa Women’s Wrestling Recruiting Class of 2024 in the National Girls High School Rankings

Val Solorio (Canon-McMillan HS, Pennsylvania) – #4 at 100 lbs.

Rianne Murphy (Crown Point, IN – Wyoming Seminary) – #2 at 105 lbs.

Mia Goodwin (Virginia Beach, VA – Kellam HS) – Not ranked at 110 lbs.

Karlee Brooks  (Valiant College Prep, Phoenix, AZ) – #1 at 120 lbs., #16 P4P

Cadence Diduch (Freeport, Illinois) – #2 at 135 lbs. #12 P4P

Kiara Djoumessi (Waverly-Shell Rock HS, Iowa) –  #15 at 140 lbs.

Naomi Simon (Decorah, Iowa) – #2 at 170 lbs., #13 P4P

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

Fargo. That one word is now used to describe the largest wrestling tournament in the world.

The 2024 U.S. Marine Corp Junior and 16U Nationals will take place July 12-20. The floor of the Fargo Dome in Fargo, North Dakota will be covered with wrestling mats as wrestlers from across the country compete.

This tournament has come a long way since The Fieldhouse on the campus of the University of Iowa first hosted Junior Nationals in 1971. Future Iowa Hawkeye Dan Holm (Illinois) won a national title at 154 lbs.

I believe it was at these early tournaments that Sandy Stevens began her career as an announcer.

I attended my first Junior Nationals in Cedar Falls in 1983 to watch Royce Alger of Lisbon win a 154 lbs. Junior National title. I went to my last Junior Nationals in Fargo in 2005 to see Ryan Morningstar of Lisbon win a national title at 154.

I went every year Junior Nationals were in the UNI-Dome (1983-1990). I sure miss this tournament in the UNI-Dome.

A good article on the history of Junior Nationals:

https://www.win-magazine.com/2020/07/17/moments-that-made-the-junior-nationals-over-nearly-50-years/

The largest wrestling tournament in the world is continuing to grow. The addition of women’s wrestling has made a big impact for continued growth for the tournament.

From USA Wrestling in 2023:

2023 USMC Junior/16U Nationals entries, in comparison to 2022 record event

• 16U women’s freestyle: 740 vs. 518 (+ 222 entries)
• 16U men’s freestyle: 1,595 vs. 1,436 (+159 entries)
• 16U Greco-Roman: 1,206 vs. 1,044 (+162 entries)
• Junior women’s freestyle: 853 vs. 944 (- 91 entries)
• Junior men’s freestyle: 1,596 vs. 1,563 (+33 entries)
• Junior Greco-Roman: 1,444 vs. 1,141 (+ 3 entries)

USA Wrestling blitzed the overall record with 7,134 entries this year, blasting through the 7,000 athlete barrier and topping the 2022 record of 6,646 athletes by 488 athletes, a healthy increase of 7.3%.

Incoming recruits for the men’s and women’s program will be competing. Junior Girls will be on Saturday and Sunday, July 13-14. Junior Boys will be on Monday-Wednesday, July 15-17.

Schedule for Junior and 16U Nationals:

https://usawrestlingevents.com/event/2400001702/schedule

FloWrestling will have full coverage on their premium service.

I will have a preview and follow up blogs with results for incoming recruits for both programs..

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

Five members of the University of Iowa Women’s Wrestling team competed at the Grand Pix of Spain in Madrid today.

Kylie Welker won the Gold at 72kg as the only American champion in three styles. Welker was dominant with two pins over three-time World medalist Zhamila Bakbergenova of Kazakhstan and a 12-0 technical fall against American Aspen Barber.

76kg Olympian Kennedy Blades placed third at 72kg.

Welker won a national title at 170 lbs. and led Iowa to the 2024 NCWWC and National Duals titles in the first year of competition for the program. Welker won Bronze at the 2021 U23 World Championships and was a 2021 Junior World champion.

Cadence Diduch(62kg) and Reese Larramendy(65kg) both won Bronze.

Iowa Assistant Coach Tonya Verbeek was a member of the coaching staff.

Brianna Gonzalez(50kg), Cadence Diduch(62kg), Reese Larramendy(65kg) and Naomi Simon(76kg) will represent Team USA at the 2024 U20 World Freestyle Championships in Pontevedra, Spain on September 4-6.  

Diduch and Simon are members of the incoming Recruiting Class of 2024. 

Kylie Welker(72kg) will compete at the U23 World Championships in Tirana, Albania on October 24-25.

Grand Prix of Spain 

53kg: Brianna Gonzalez – 5th

62kg: Cadence Diduch – Bronze

65kg: Reese Larramendy – Bronze

72kg – Kylie Welker – Gold

76kg: Naomi Simon – 5th

53 kg – Brianna Gonzalez (Baldwin, Calif./Iowa Women’s WC/Titan Mercury WC), 5th

LOSS Karla Godinez Gonzalez (Canada), 5-0

LOSS Christianah Ogunsanya (Nigeria), tech. fall, 10-0

62 kg – Cadence Diduch (Freeport, Ill./Alber Athletics WC), bronze

WIN Lydia Perez (Spain), 4-4

LOSS Astrid Paola Montero Chirinos (Venezuela), tech. fall, 10-0

WIN Miren Huarte Montes (Spain), tech. fall, 10-0

65 kg – Reese Larramendy (Reno, Nev./Iowa Women’s WC), bronze

WIN Manuela Noguerol de Souza (Spain), tech. fall, 10-0

LOSS Irina Kazyulina (Kazakhstan), fall

WIN Marta Ojeda Navarro (Spain), tech. fall, 10-0

LOSS Kendra Dacher (France), 10-7

WIN Jonelle Clarke (Canada), tech. fall, 10-0

72 kg – Kylie Welker (Franksville, Wis./Iowa Women’s WC/Titan Mercury WC), gold

WIN Zhamila Bakbergenova (Kazakhstan), fall

WIN Aspen Barber (United States), tech. fall, 12-0

WIN Zhamila Bakbergenova (Kazakhstan), fall

76 kg – Naomi Simon (Decorah, Iowa/Northeast Iowa WC), 5th

LOSS Elmira Syzdykova (Kazakhstan), 8-4

LOSS Brianna Fraser (Canada), fall

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

The elite level for our great sport of wrestling is representing the United States in International competition on a World or Olympic team.

Iowa Wrestling fans have a lot to follow in the coming months. We will have one wrestler in the Summer Olympics, five competing in the U20 World Championships and two in the U23 World Championships.

The pinnacle of our sport is the Olympics. Spencer Lee will represent the United States at 57kg in Paris at the Summer Olympics on August 8-9.

Lee was dominating in qualifying the United States at 57kg at the World Olympic Games Qualifier in Istanbul, Turkey on May 11. 

Lee is currently with Team USA at their last Olympic Training Camp at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

August 8 and 9 cannot get here fast enough.

Brianna Gonzalez(50kg), Cadence Diduch(62kg), Reese Larramendy(65kg) and Naomi Simon(76kg) won U20 Nationals in April. They will represent Team USA at the 2024 U20 World Freestyle Championships in Pontevedra, Spain on September 4-6.  

Diduch and Simon are members of the incoming Recruiting Class of 2024.

Ben Kueter will be at 125kg for Team USA at the U20 World Freestyle Championships in Pontevedra, Spain on September 7-8. Kueter won the U20 World Team Trials in Geneva, Ohio in June. Keuter was a 2022 U20 World Champion at 97kg/213 lbs.  

Patrick Kennedy won the 79kg title at U23 Nationals in Geneva, Ohio last month. Kennedy will now represent Team USA at the U23 World Freestyle Championships in Tirana, Albania on October 26-27.

Kylie Welker placed fourth at the Olympic Team Trials at 76 kg and made the Senior National Team. As a result she was able to challenge for the 72kg spot on the U23 World Team. 72kg is a non-Olympic weight.

Welker won a best of three wrestle-off last week and will now compete at the U23 World Championships in Tirana, Albania on October 24-25.

I will keep you up to date with a preview for all of our wrestlers competing in the Olympic and World Championships.

Summer Olympics in Paris, France on August 8-9.

57k: Spencer Lee

U20 World Freestyle Championships in Pontevedra, Spain on September 4-6. 

50kg: Brianna Gonzalez

62kg: Cadence Diduch 

65kg: Reese Larramendy 

76kg: Naomi Simon 

U20 World Freestyle Championships in Pontevedra, Spain on September 7-8. 

125kg: Ben Kueter

U23 World Championships in Tirana, Albania on October 24-27. 

72kg: Kylie Welker 

79kg: Patrick Kennedy

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

Three current Hawkeye wrestlers and two incoming recruits will represent Team USA at the 2024 Grand Prix of Spain on Saturday, July 6.

Brianna Gonzalez (50kg), Cadence Diduch (62kg), Reese Larramendy (65kg), Kylie Welker (72kg) and Naomi Simon (76kg) will be competing in Madrid, Spain.

Team USA will have 21 wrestlers competing in men’s and women’s freestyle and Greco-Roman.

Iowa Assistant Coach Tonya Verbeek will be on the coaching staff.

Welker won a national title at 170 lbs. and led Iowa to the 2024 NCWWC and National Duals titles in the first year of competition for the program. Last week Welker won a wrestle off to make the U23 World Team. She will compete at the 2024 U23 World Championships in Tirana, Albania on October 21-27. 

This will be the second U23 World Championships for Welker and fifth trip to a World Championships representing Team USA. Welker won Bronze at the 2021 U23 World Championships and was a 2021 Junior World champion.

Reese Larramendy won an NCWWC national title at 143 lbs. Larramendy placed fifth at the 2022 U20 World Championships. Brianna Gonzalez was a Runner-Up at 116 lbs. for the Hawks at NCWWC Nationals this season.

Larramendy, Gonzalez, Diduch and Simon won U20 Nationals in April. They will represent Team USA at the 2024 U20 World Freestyle Championships in Pontevedra, Spain on September 2-8.  

Diduch and Simon are members of the incoming Recruiting Class of 2024. 

I will have a follow up blog with results.

50 kg: Brianna Gonzalez (Baldwin, Calif./Iowa Women’s WC/Titan Mercury WC)

62 kg: Cadence Diduch (Freeport, Ill./Alber Athletics WC)

65 kg: Reese Larramendy (Reno, Nev./Hawkeye WC)

72 kg: Kylie Welker (Franksville, Wis./Iowa Women’s WC/Titan Mercury WC)

76 kg: Naomi Simon (Decorah, Iowa/Northeast Iowa WC)

Grand Prix of Spain

Saturday, July 6

3 a.m. – 7 p.m. – Qualification Rounds (Women’s freestyle)

9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. – Repechage, Medal matches (Women’s freestyle)

***Times listed are CST

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

Bella Mir of the University of Iowa won two titles at the American National IBJJF JIU-JITSU No-Gi Championships in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Mir won the Blue Belt title in the Medium-Heavy Division (158 lbs.) and the Blue Belt Open Class.

Videos of Mir’s matches are available on the premium service of FloGrappling.

Mir placed fifth at NCWWC Nationals this past season at 155 lbs. She also won titles at Soldier Salute and the Grand View Open

In her freshman season Mir placed fifth at 68 KG at the 2023 U20 World Freestyle Championships and won gold at the 2023 Poland Open.

Mir is originally from Las Vegas, Nevada where she was a four-time state champion. She began her MMA career at 17 and has a 3-0 career record.

Mir is the daughter of UFC Heavyweight champion Frank Mir.

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

Former Iowa Hawkeye Ty Eustice has been named as an Assistant Coach at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Eustice will join the staff of Head Coach Cary Kolat that recently added former Iowa great Barry Davis to the staff.

From NavySports.com:

“I am confident that Ty Eustice’s commitment and desire will help drive our team to a new level of achievement,” said Kolat. “His coaching will undoubtedly strengthen our program.”

Eustice has been the assistant head coach at Davidson, a D-1 college in North Carolina, since 2021.

After graduating from Iowa in 2006 Eustice began his coaching career in 2009 as an assistant coach at Cornell College.

He was the head wrestling coach at Iowa Lakes Community College in 2010 and 2011 and was an assistant coach at Minnesota State in Mankato, Minnesota from 2017-21. 

At Iowa Eustice placed fifth in 2005 and was an NCAA Finalist at 149 lbs. in 2006. He was also a four-time NCAA Qualifier for the Hawks.

Eustice was a four-time state champion originally from Blue Earth, Minnesota.

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

Kylie Welker of the University of Iowa defeated Aspen Barber 2-0 in the best of three series in Colorado Springs, Colorado to make the 2024 U23 World Team at 72kg. Welker won both bouts by a 10-0 tech fall.

The 2024 U23 World Championships are set for Tirana, Albania, October 21-27.

Welker placed fourth at the Olympic Team Trials at 76 kg and made the Senior National Team. As a result she was able to challenge for the 72kg spot on the U23 World Team. 72kg is a non-Olympic weight.

This will be the second U23 World Championships for Welker and fifth trip to a World Championships representing Team USA. Welker won Bronze at the 2021 U23 World Championships and was a 2021 Junior World champion.

Welker won a national title at 170 lbs. and led Iowa to the 2024 NCWWC and National Duals titles in the first year of competition for the program. 

Welker, originally from Franksville, Wisconsin (Waterford Union HS), was the first recruit to commit to the Iowa Women’s Wrestling program. 

In April Welker was named as the 2024 NCAA Women’s Wrestler of the Year by The Open Mat.

U23 Women’s World Team Wrestle-Offs

72 kg – Bout One – Kylie Welker tech. fall Aspen Barber, 10-0

72 kg – Bout Two – Kylie Welker tech. fall Aspen Barber, 10-0

2024 U23 World Championships will be in Tirana, Albania, October 21-27.

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!