Four members of the Iowa Women’s Wrestling program will be competing at the North Central College Invitational on Sunday, December 10. Wrestling will begin at 9 AM in the Merner Field House in Naperville, Illinois.

123 lbs.

Ava Rose

Cali Leng

130 lbs.

Anakya Besco

136 lbs. Sierra Brown Ton

TrackWrestling will have full coverage of the tournament.

I will have a follow up blog with results.

The varsity program will be in action next on Sunday, December 17 at the Las Vegas Desert Duals.

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

Brianna Gonzalez of the University of Iowa has been named the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Region 5 Women’s Wrestler of the Month. On the season Gonzalez is 10-0 with four pins and five tech falls.

Gonzalez, from El Monte, California, is currently ranked #4 at 116 lbs. in the NWCA Rankings. Last season she competed unattached in her first year in the program.

The varsity program will be in action next on Sunday, December 17 at the Las Vegas Desert Duals.

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

The Hawkeye Wrestling Club will host a Pre-Match Social on Friday, December 8 before the Iowa-Columbia dual meet. Sports Column at 12 S Dubuque St in downtown Iowa City will host the social from 3-7 PM.

Iowa will host Columbia in legendary Carver-Hawkeye Arena at 7 PM before a sellout crowd.

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

The next HWC Social will be December 30 at 30 HOP in Coralville before Soldier Salute.

I checked the H.A.W.K. website to see about a HAWK Klub Party after the dual meet but they do not have anything listed at this time. I will keep you posted for the rest of the season.

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

The Iowa Hawkeyes return to legendary Carver-Hawkeye Arena with a dual meet against Columbia on Friday, December 8 at 7 PM CST. This is the first dual meet ever between Iowa and Columbia. All home Iowa Wrestling dual meets are a sellout this season.

The Probable Lineups released by the University of Iowa shows options at several weights. Cullan Schriever, who has not competed this season, is listed at 133 along with Brody Teske and Jace Rhodes. The highest ranked wrestler for Columbia is #11 Angelo Rini at 133.

At 149 Iowa has Victor Voinovich and Caleb Rathjen listed. I am hoping we see Rathjen in competition soon as I believe he has a lot of potential.

At 174 both Patrick Kennedy and Drake Rhodes are listed. They will face the second highest ranked wrestler from Columbia in #13 Lennox Wolak.

All of the other weights have our regular starters listed.

At 8-0, undefeated Zach Glazier is climbing up the rankings to #17.

I look for a good performance out of Iowa who will not compete again until Soldier Salute on Dec 29-30.

The Iowa-Columbia dual meet will be streamed live on BIGt with Alex Marinelli and Kaleb Young on the call.

You can listen to the dual on 800 KXIC with Steven Grace and Mark Ironside on iheartradio and YouTube.

#4 IOWA HAWKEYES (4-0) 2023-24 Overall

Wt. Rank^ Name Yr. Hometown/High School Record

125 11/17/15/15 Drake Ayala So. Fort Dodge, Iowa/Fort Dodge 8-1

133 Cullan Schriever Jr. Mason City, Iowa/Mason City 0-0

-or- Jace Rhodes R-Fr. Mason City, Iowa/Mason City 4-1

-or- 15/9/10/11 Brody Teske Sr. Duncombe, Iowa/Fort Dodge 4-2

141 1/1/1/1 Real Woods R-Sr. Albuquerque, New Mexico/Montini Catholic (Ill.) 4-0

149 15/9/9/11 Victor Voinovich III So. Brecksville, Ohio/Brecksville 7-2

-or- Caleb Rathjen So. Ankeny, Iowa/Ankeny 5-1

157 4/2/2/2 Jared Franek Grad. Harwood, North Dakota/West Fargo 8-0

165 8/7/7/7 Michael Caliendo So. Geneva, Illinois/Batavia 7-1

174 Drake Rhodes R-Fr. Billings, Montana/Billings West 8-2

-or- 14/14/–/– Patrick Kennedy Jr. Kasson-Mantorville, Minnesota/Kasson-Mantorville 1-1

184 Aiden Riggins R-Fr. Janesville, Iowa/Waverly-Shell Rock 6-2

197 –/18/25/17 Zach Glazier Sr. Albert Lea, Minnesota/Albert Lea 8-0

285 Bradley Hill R-Fr. Bettendorf, Iowa/Bettendorf 6-3

^WIN/InterMat/Flo/AWN

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LIONS (0-2) 2023-24 Overall

Wt. Rank^ Name Yr. Hometown/Last School Record

125 –/27/20/– Nick Babin Sr. Emerson, New Jersey/Emerson 5-5

-or- Sulayman Bah Fr. Bronx, New York/The Kiski School 2-3

133 12/11/11/12 Angelo Rini Sr. Kirtland, Ohio/St. Edward 5-1

141 Kai Owen So. Tampa, Florida/Wyoming Seminary Prep 4-4

149 Richard Fedalen So. Laurel, Maryland/McDonough School 1-3

157 Jaden Le Jr. San Diego, California/Rancheo Bernardo 5-4

-or- Andy Garr Sr. Auora, Ohio/Aurora 0-4

165 Kyle Mosher Sr. Rockville Centre, New York/South Side 4-4

174 15/26/13/– Lennox Wolak Sr. Columbus, Ohio/Dublin Coffman 0-2

-or- Garret Bilgrav Sr. Robbinsville, New Jersey/Robbinsville 1-4

184 –/31/22/– Aaron Ayzerov Jr. Paramus, New Jersey/Paramus 5-4

-or- Jack McGill Jr. Collegeville, Pennsylvania/Spring-Ford 5-1

197 –/27/33/– Jack Wehmeyer So. Sellersville, Pennsylvania/Malvern Prep 6-4

-or- Adam Haselius Fr. Plesant Lake, Michigan/Northwest 6-3

285 Billy McChesney So. Greenburg, Pennsylvania/Greenburg Salem 5-3

^WIN/InterMat/Flo/AWN

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

It was big news when elite recruit Leo DeLuca committed to the University of Iowa on Monday. DeLuca is an elite Class of 2025 recruit from national powerhouse Blair Academy in New Jersey. He won a Junior National title last summer at 120 lbs. and a Cadet National title at 113 in 2021.

FloWrestling has DeLuca ranked as the #1 ranked recruit in the country and MatScouts has DeLuca ranked as the sixth best overall recruit in the Class of 2025. MatScouts has DeLuca #19 in the current overall  P4P rankings and #2 at 113.

Blair always wrestles one of the toughest schedules in the country every year. This season they start off with Ironman followed by Beast of the East. DeLuca will see plenty of nationally ranked competition throughout the season.

As I have been doing for years I will post a blog with a preview of where our recruits (Men and Women) are competing for the weekend on Friday and then a follow up blog with results throughout the season.

Blair 2023-24 Wrestling Schedule

Fri/Sat Dec 8-9 – Walsh Ironman (Cuyahoga Falls, OH)

Fri/Sat Dec 15-16 – Beast of the East (University of Delaware)

Sat Dec 27-28 – Sami for the Belt (East Orange, New Jersey)

Sat Jan 6 – St. Christopher’s Event (Richmond, VA)

Fri Jan 12 – at Wyoming Seminary (Kingston, PA)

Sat Jan 13 – Tri Duals

Sat Jan 20 – St. Ed’s Duals (Lakewood, OH)

Sat Jan 27 – Tri Duals

Thurs Feb 1 – Delbarton

Sat Feb 3 – at MAPL Tournament (The Lawrenceville School)

Sat Feb 17 – National Prep Qualifier (Blair)

Fri/Sat Feb 23-24 – at National Prep Tournament (Lehigh)

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

Naomi Simon signed with the Iowa Hawkeyes on November 9 to be a member of the Recruiting Class of 2024.

Simon is a three-time state champion from Decorah, Iowa. She won a state title at 170 last season with a 37-0 record and has an 82-0 career record. 

In the recent National Girls High School Rankings on 11/28/23 Simon was listed as #2 at 170 lbs. and #23 P4P (pound for pound).

Simon has had a lot of success nationally. Last summer Simon won a Junior National title at 164 lbs. Recently Simon won the 170 lbs. title at the USA Wrestling Preseason Nationals. In September Simon won by a first period pin at Who’s Number 1.

This past weekend Simon was dominating in winning the 170 lbs. title at the Dan Gable Donnybrook where she was 5-0 with five pins.

As I have been doing for years I will post a blog with a preview of where our recruits (Men and Women) are competing for the weekend on Friday and then a follow up blog with results throughout the season.

Decorah 2023-24 Wrestling Schedule

Thurs Dec 7 – New Hampton

Fri Dec 8 – at South Winneshiek Invitational (Luther College) 

Thurs Dec 14 – at Waukon

Fri Dec 15 – at Fort Dodge Invitational 

Fri Dec 22 – Osage/Holmen

Thurs Jan 4 – Waverly-Shell Rock

Sat Jan 6 – at Anamosa Invite

Thurs Jan 11 – at Crestwood

Thurs Jan 18 – Charles City

Sat Jan 20 – at Mason City Invitational

Fri Jan 26 – at Regionals (Mason City)

Thus/Fri Feb 1-2 – at Iowa Girls State Tournament (XTREME Arena-Coralville)

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

Dru Ayala of Fort Dodge, Iowa committed to the University of Iowa on October 31 and will be in the Iowa Wrestling Recruiting Class of 2024. Ayala placed fifth as a freshman and was a state runner-up the past two seasons with a 106-12 career record.

MatScouts has Ayala ranked #12 in the country at 120 lbs. He is projected to compete at 125 for the Hawks.

Ayala won the title at 120 at the Dan Gable Donnybrook last weekend. Fort Dodge has a tough schedule that will offer top competition from across the Midwest.

Dru is the younger brother of Drake Ayala that is ranked #17 in the country at 125 for the Iowa Hawkeyes.

As I have been doing for years I will post a blog with a preview of where our recruits (Men and Women) are competing for the weekend on Friday and then a follow up blog with results throughout the season.

Fort Dodge 2023-24 Wrestling Schedule

Th Dec 7 – at Conference Tri (DM North)

Fri/Sat Dec 8-9 – at Council Bluffs Wrestling Classic

Tues Dec 12 – Conference Tri

Sat Dec 16 – Don Miller Invitational

Sat Dec 23 – at St. Pius Warrior Duals (Kansas City, MO) 

Thur Jan 4 – at Conference Tri (Waterloo East)

Sat Jan 6 – at St. Eds Duals (Cleveland, Ohio)

Thur Jan 11 – Ames

Sat Jan 13 – at JHAWK (Cedar Rapids)

Thur Jan 18 – Marshalltown 

Sat Jan 20 – at Ed Winger Invitational (Urbandale)

Tues Jan 23 – at Mason City

Sat Jan 27 – at Alliance Conference Tournament (DM North)

Sat Feb 10 – Districts

Wed/Sat Feb 15-18 – at State

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

Leo DeLuca announced on Instagram that he has committed to the University of Iowa. DeLuca is an elite Class of 2025 recruit from national powerhouse Blair Academy in New Jersey. He won a Junior National title last summer at 120 lbs. and a Cadet National title at 113 in 2021.

FloWrestling has DeLuca ranked as the #1 ranked recruit in the country and MatScouts has DeLuca ranked as the sixth best overall recruit in the Class of 2025. MatScouts has DeLuca #19 in the current overall  P4P rankings and #2 at 113.

DeLuca is projected to compete at 125/133.

I will now follow DeLuca in competition on my weekly blogs for incoming Iowa Wrestling recruits.

This is a huge pickup for the Hawks. 

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

Val Solorio committed to the University of Iowa Women’s Wrestling program on September 30 as a member of the Recruiting Class of 2024. She is ranked #5 at 100 lbs. in the most recent National Girls High School Rankings. Solorio will begin the season at the Women of Ironman this Saturday and Sunday, December 9-10.

Solorio was a 16U National champion in 2021. She competed on the first two women’s cards for Who’s #1 in 2021 and 2022. In the final Girls National High School Rankings for the 2023 season Solorio was ranked 4th at 100 lbs.

Solorio moved from Panama City Beach, Florida where she won a state title in 2022 and will compete for Canon-McMillan High School in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania for her senior season.

The PIAA Girls Championships in Hersey will be the first one ever in Pennsylvania on March 7-9.

As I have been doing for years I will post a blog with a preview of where our recruits (Men and Women) are competing for the weekend on Friday and then a follow up blog with results throughout the season.

Canon-McMillan High School 2023-24 Wrestling Schedule     

Sat Dec 9 – at The Women of Ironman (Walsh Jesuit)

Wed Dec 13 – at Connellsville

Sun Dec 17 – at Queen of the Mountain (Central Mountain HS)

Wed Dec 20 – at Upper St. Clair

Thurs/Fri Dec 21-22 – Findlay Invitational 

Wed Dec 27 – Powerade

Wed Jan 3 – Mount Lebanon

Wed Jan 10 – at Seneca Valley

Sun Jan 14 – at Cumberland Valley Girls Duals

Sun Jan 21 – at Olentangy Liberty, Ohio

Wed Jan 24 – Southmoreland

Tues Feb 6 – at Trinity

Sat Feb 17 – at District 7 (North Allegheny)

Sat Mar 2 – West Regional

Th-Sat Mar 7-9 – at PIAA Girls Championships (Hershey)

It was the first big weekend of high school wrestling across the country. Incoming Iowa Wrestling recruits did real well.

At the Dan Gable Donnybrook in Coralville three incoming recruits won titles. Dru Ayala (120), Kiara Djoumessi (140), and Naomi Simon (170). The girl’s division was held on Friday and the boy’s was on Friday and Saturday.

In dual meets against Butte and Capitol Keyan Hernandez won by a fall and tech fall.

Cadence Diduch was 4-0 with four pins in winning the 135 lbs. title at the Bulldogs Invite.

The remaining incoming recruits for the Class of 2024 did not compete over the weekend.

I will be back on Friday to get you ready for an even bigger weekend of competition for our incoming recruits.

Recruiting Class of 2024

Dru Ayala – Fort Dodge, Iowa  120 lbs.

Dan Gable Donnybrook (Coralville)

Champ. Round 1 – Dru Ayala (Fort Dodge) 5-0 won by major decision over Matthew Tran (Iowa City, West) 4-2 (MD 14-5)

Champ. Round 2 – Dru Ayala (Fort Dodge) 5-0 won by tech fall over Broc Vaughan (Kasson-Mantorville) 3-2 (TF-1.5 4:47 (24-9))

Quarterfinal – Dru Ayala (Fort Dodge) 5-0 won in the ultimate tie breaker over Devon Harrison (Liberty) 4-1 (UTB 4-2)

Semifinal – Dru Ayala (Fort Dodge) 5-0 won by major decision over Damien Moseley (Ozark) 3-2 (MD 17-6)

1st Place Match – Dru Ayala (Fort Dodge) 5-0 won by decision over Luke Koenen (Wayzata) 4-1 (Dec 2-0)

Keyan Hernandez – Billings (West), Montana 126 lbs.

Sat Dec 2 – Butte/Capitol Duals

Keyan Hernandez fall over Grady Winston (Butte) 2:23

Keyan Hernandez tech fall over Cashton Spolar (Capitol) 22-7

Miguel Estrada  Bakersfield (Frontier HS), California  144 lbs.

Did not compete this weekend.

Angelo Ferrari – Melissa, Texas  175 lbs.

No events scheduled.

Jake Howell –  Glenwood Village (Cherry Creek HS), Colorado  215 lbs.

Competed in 5A Football State Finals.

Val Solorio – Canon-McMillan HS, Pennsylvania  100 lbs.

No events scheduled.

Karlee Brooks – Valiant College Prep HS (Phoenix, AZ)  120 lbs.

No events scheduled.

Cadence Diduch – Freeport, Illinois  135 lbs.

Sat Dec 2 – Bulldogs Invite (Waukegan)

Champ. Round 1 – Cadence Diduch (Freeport) 9-0 won by fall over Bree Hirsch (Lake Forest ) 2-2 (Fall 0:13)

Quarterfinal – Cadence Diduch (Freeport) 9-0 won by fall over Brianna Perez (Round Lake) 5-7 (Fall 1:44)

Semifinal – Cadence Diduch (Freeport) 9-0 won by fall over Miah Banda (Plainfield Central) 5-4 (Fall 0:39)

1st Place Match – Cadence Diduch (Freeport) 9-0 won by fall over Quinna Sheets (Grayslake North) 3-1 (Fall 1:59)

Kiara Djoumessi – Waverly-Shell Rock, Iowa  140 lbs.

Dan Gable Donnybrook (Coralville)

Champ. Round 1 – Kiara Djoumessi (Waverly-Shell Rock) 17-0 received a bye () (Bye)

Champ. Round 2 – Kiara Djoumessi (Waverly-Shell Rock) 17-0 won by fall over Kirsten Abeya (Ozark) 2-3 (Fall 0:22)

Quarterfinal – Kiara Djoumessi (Waverly-Shell Rock) 17-0 won by major decision over Hayden Bratland (Ankeny) 9-3 (MD 11-3)

Semifinal – Kiara Djoumessi (Waverly-Shell Rock) 17-0 won by fall over Amelia Wadsworth (Decorah) 9-6 (Fall 1:20)

1st Place Match – Kiara Djoumessi (Waverly-Shell Rock) 17-0 won by fall over Naomi Templeman (Raccoon River-Northwest) 13-4 (Fall 4:29)

Naomi Simon – Decorah, Iowa 170 lbs.

Dan Gable Donnybrook (Coralville)

Champ. Round 1 – Naomi Simon (Decorah) 15-0 won by fall over Kaylee Jordan (Mount Vernon) 8-5 (Fall 1:06)

Champ. Round 2 – Naomi Simon (Decorah) 15-0 won by fall over Reagan Lubahn (Waukon) 6-5 (Fall 0:26)

Quarterfinal – Naomi Simon (Decorah) 15-0 won by fall over Aleah Johnson (Raccoon River-Northwest) 11-5 (Fall 1:34)

Semifinal – Naomi Simon (Decorah) 15-0 won by fall over Reagan Haynes (Algona) 16-4 (Fall 1:09)

1st Place Match – Naomi Simon (Decorah) 15-0 won by fall over Esperanza Calvillo (Apple Valley) 4-1 (Fall 2:41)

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!