The Iowa Hawkeyes will host Big Ten rival Wisconsin on Sunday, February 18 at 1 PM. The meet will be televised on BTN. Sunday will also be Senior Day in the last home dual meet of the season and the last opportunity to improve seeds for Big Tens.

You can always count on an intense dual meet when Iowa faces a Chris Bono coached Wisconsin team. The Badgers are 9-4 on the season and ranked #16 in the country.

There are several matches of ranked opponents. At 125 it will be #5 Drake Ayala vs. #3 Erick Barnett and #8 Caleb Rathjen vs. #19 Joseph Zargo at 149.

At 165 it will be #7 Mike Caliendo vs. #5 Dean Hamiti and 174 will have #7 Patrick Kennedy vs. #12 Max Maylor.

I am most looking forward to the matches at 125 and 165.

Iowa has two wrestlers listed at 133 with Cullan Schriever and Brody Teske to face unranked Nicolar Rivera.

The Hawks also have two listed at Hwt with #29 Brad Hill and Ben Kueter to face unranked Gannon Rosenfeld.

I look for Iowa to get back on track with a big win on Sunday.

Iowa will go to Oklahoma State for the final dual meet of the year a week from Sunday on February 25.

I expect a sold out Carver-Hawkeye Arena to be fired up and ready to go for Senior Day and the last home meet of the season.

You can listen to the Iowa-Wisconsin dual meet on iheart.com, YouTube, and AM 800 KXIC where Steven Grace and Mark Ironside will call the action.

4 IOWA HAWKEYES (10-2, 5-2) 2023-24 Overall

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

125 2/5/4/6 Drake Ayala So. Fort Dodge, Iowa/Fort Dodge 18-3

133 18/20/23/19 Cullan Schriever Jr. Mason City, Iowa/Mason City 8-3

-or- Brody Teske Sr. Duncombe, Iowa/Fort Dodge 10-3

141 2/2/2/3 Real Woods R-Sr. Albuquerque, New Mexico/Montini Catholic (Ill.) 12-2

149 12/8/11/9 Caleb Rathjen So. Ankeny, Iowa/Ankeny 13-3

157 6/5/5/6 Jared Franek Grad. Harwood, North Dakota/West Fargo 18-3

165 7/7/7/8 Michael Caliendo So. Geneva, Illinois/Batavia 19-2

174 7/7/5/5 Patrick Kennedy Jr. Kasson-Mantorville, Minnesota/Kasson-Mantorville 10-4

184 Aiden Riggins R-Fr. Janesville, Iowa/Waverly-Shell Rock 11-11

197 10/11/12/7 Zach Glazier Sr. Albert Lea, Minnesota/Albert Lea 19-1

285 –/29/–/– Bradley Hill R-Fr. Bettendorf, Iowa/Bettendorf 15-5

-or- Ben Kueter Fr. Iowa City, Iowa/Iowa City 2-1

^ WIN/Intermat/Flo/AWN

WISCONSIN BADGERS (9-4, 3-3) 2023-24 Overall

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

125 7/3/3/3 Erick Barnett Sr. Greenville, Wisconsin/Hortonville 20-3

133 Nicolar Rivera R-Fr. Stoughton, Wisconsin/Stoughton 12-7

141 Felix Lettini R-Fr. Clark, New Jersey/St. Peters Prep 3-14

-or- Zan Fugitt Fr. Nixa, Missouri/Nixa 8-4

149 18/19/15/16 Joseph Zargo Jr. South River, New Jersey/Bergen Catholic 15-5

-or- Julian George Fr. Manasquan, New Jersey/Christian Brothers 1-3

157 Luke Mechler R-So. Stoughton, Wisconsin/Stoughton 6-13

-or- Cody Goebel R-Fr. Mukwonago, Wisconsin/Mukwonago 14-9

165 5/5/5/3 Dean Hamiti Jr. Joliet, Illinois/Joliet Catholic 21-1

174 18/12/14/13 Max Maylor Grad. Highland, Wisconsin/Highland 14-4

184 –/16/18/17 Shane Liegel Grad. Spring Green, Wisconsin/River Valley 18-6

-or- Luke Condon Fr. Poway, California/Poway 9-2

197 Josh Otto R-Sr. Brookfield, Wisconsin/Arrowhead 1-9

285 Gannon Rosenfeld R-Fr. North Mankato, Minnesota/Mankato West 3-11

^ WIN/Intermat/Flo/AWN

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

This is the biggest weekend of the year for our incoming Iowa Wrestling recruits. There is a lot to keep track of over the next five days with ten recruits competing.

We have four recruits that will be at their state tournament: Dru Ayala, Kael Voinovich, Jake Howell, and Leister Bowling. 

Miguel Estrada (Masters), Brady Benham (Regionals), and Val Solorio (District 7) will compete in their state tournament qualifier. 

Leo DeLuca will be at the National Prep Qualifier and Joe Kennedy will be at the Section Tournament.

Karlee Brooks will be competing at the Klippan Lady Open in Klippan, Sweden. Brooks will represent Team USA in the Senior division at 53 KG/116 lbs. on Saturday and Sunday.

As I have done for years I will continue to post a blog of where our incoming recruits will be competing for the weekend and a follow up blog with results.

Recruiting Class of 2024

Dru Ayala – Fort Dodge, Iowa  120 lbs.

Wed/Sat Feb 14-17 – at Iowa High School State Tournament

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

Season completed – State Champion.

Miguel Estrada – Bakersfield (Frontier HS), California  152 lbs.

Fri/Sat Feb 16-17 – at Masters (Fresno)

Angelo Ferrari – Melissa, Texas  175 lbs.

No competition scheduled.

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

Thur/Sat Feb 15-17 – at Colorado State Championships (Denver)

Kael Voinovich – City High HS, Iowa City, Iowa  157 lbs.

Wed/Sat Feb 14-17 – at Iowa High School State Tournament

Joe Kennedy – Kasson-Mantorville, Minnesota  152 lbs.

Sat Feb 17 – at Section Championship (Rochester)

Brady Benham – Sperry, Oklahoma  165 lbs.

Fri/Sat Feb 16-17 – at 3A Regionals

Recruiting Class of 2025

Leo DeLuca  – Blair Academy New Jersey  120 lbs.

Sat Feb 17 – National Prep Qualifier (Blair)

Leister Bowling – Mead, Colorado  175 lbs.

Thur/Sat Feb 15-17 – at Colorado State Championships (Denver)

Women’s Recruiting Class of 2024

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

Sat Feb 17 – at District 7 (North Allegheny)

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

Sat/Sun Feb 17-18 – at Klippan Lady Open (Sweden)

Cadence Diduch – Freeport, Illinois  135 lbs.

No competition scheduled.

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

Season completed – State Champion.

Naomi Simon – Decorah, Iowa 170 lbs.

Season completed – State Champion.

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

I wanted to look ahead at the remaining schedule as the college wrestling season comes to a close.

Iowa has two dual meets left when they host Wisconsin on Sunday and visit Oklahoma State a week from Sunday.

After a two week break we will have Big Tens before another break to get us to the NCAA National Championships.

All of the remaining competitions will be televised.

I will have my usual preview for each of the remaining competitions.

Sunday, February 18 – Wisconsin  1 PM (BTN)

Sunday, February 25 – at Oklahoma State  2 PM (FS1)

Sat and Sun March 9-10 – at Big Ten Championships (College Park, Maryland) (BTN)

Thurs-Sat March 21-23 – at NCAA Championships (Kansas City, MO) 

Listed is the most recent  lineup of Wisconsin and Oklahoma State from this past weekend.

*InterMat Rankings from Feb 6. I will update this blog when the new InterMat Rankings are released.

125

Drake Ayala – #7

Eric Barnett (WI) – #4

Troy Spratley (Ok St) – #11

133

Cullan Schriever – #20

Nicolar Rivera (WI) – Not ranked

Daton Fix (Ok St) – #3

141

Real Woods – #2

Felix Lettini (WI) – Not ranked

Tagen Jamison (Ok St) – #8

149

Caleb Rathjen – #12

Joe Zargo (WI) – #22

Jordan Williams (Ok St) – #16

157

Jared Franek – #5

Luke Mechler (WI) – Not ranked

Teague Travis (Ok St) – #11

165

Mike Caliendo – #6

Dean Hamiti (WI) – #5

Izzak Olejnik (Ok St) – #3

174

Patrick Kennedy – 7th

Max Maylor (WI) – 12th

Braydon Thompson (Ok St) – 20th

184

Aiden Riggins – Not ranked

Shane Liegel (WI) – #16

Dustin Plott (Ok St) – #2

197

Zach Glazier – #11

Josh Otto (WI) – Not ranked

Luke Surber (Ok St) – #15

Hwt

Brad Hill – #29   Ben Kueter – Not ranked

Gannon Rosenfeld (WI) – Not ranked

Konner Doucet (Ok St) – #10

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

Incoming Iowa recruit Miguel Estrada has been chosen to represent the USA All-Star Team in the Pittsburgh Classic on Saturday, March 30. Estrada will face a member of the Pennsylvania All-Star team that has yet to be announced at 152 lbs.

The Pittsburgh Classic will be held in the AHN Arena at Peters Township High School in McMurray, Pennsylvania. The USA All Stars-PA All Stars meet will begin at 5 PM CST.

The Pittsburgh Classic will be broadcast live on FloWrestling.

This is the 50th Anniversary of this All Star meet that has showcased many NCAA National Champions and All Americans over the years.

Estrada, from Frontier High School in Bakersfield, California, is ranked #5 at 150 lbs. by MatScouts and is a member of the Iowa Wrestling Recruiting Class of 2024..

Estrada won his Section tournament Saturday and will have Masters this weekend. The California State Tournament will be on February 22-24.

As I have done for years I will continue to post a blog of where our incoming recruits will be competing for the weekend and a follow up blog with results.

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

Incoming Iowa recruit Karlee Brooks will compete in the Klippan Lady Open in Klippan, Sweden. Brooks will represent Team USA in the Senior division at 53 KG/116 lbs. Brooks will compete on Saturday and Sunday, February 17-18.

Brooks, originally from Phoenix, Arizona, is in Colorado Springs, Colorado at the U.S. Olympic Training Center as a member of the EAP (Elite Accelerator Program). She is currently ranked #2 at 120 lbs. and #11 in the P4P rankings.

Brooks is a member of the Iowa Women’s Wrestling Recruiting Class of 2024.

From USA Wrestling:

There is usually a stream of this event provided by the hosts in Sweden, which will be shared when available via USA Wrestling’s social platforms.

I will have a follow up blog with results.

For full Senior and U17 roster:

https://www.themat.com/news/2024/february/09/talented-u-s-age-group-women-to-compete-in-klippan-lady-open-in-sweden-feb-16-18?fbclid=IwAR2aH2-VOSePfxscl93L2GNiUucG0ka8LXrwDVJKNsLqEwfFZ34JkbatEdc

KLIPPAN LADY OPEN

Saturday, February 17

6 AM – Senior preliminaries

10 AM – Senior preliminaries

Sunday, February 18

3 AM – Senior competition

6 AM – Senior finals

*****Times listed are CST

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

Incoming Iowa Wrestling recruits had a good weekend in the tournament season.

Keyan Hernandez won his fourth Montana state title when he won the 126 lbs. bracket. Hernandez had two falls and a tech fall before winning by a 4-1 decision in the finals.

We had five recruits qualify for their state tournament: Dru Ayala, Kael Voinovich, Jake Howell, Leister Bowling and Cadence Diduch. All except Diduch will compete at their state tournament next weekend. Diduch will compete at State on February 23-24.

Miguel Estrada won his Section tournament and will have Masters next weekend. The California State Tournament will be the following weekend on Feb 22-24.

Brady Benham competed at the Oklahoma State Duals where he received a bye in the only dual meet that Sperry competed in.

There will be even more competition to keep track of next weekend for our incoming recruits as we are in the heart of state tournament time.

I will have a full wrap up for season stats when all of our incoming recruits complete their high school season.

As I have done for years I will continue to post a blog of where our incoming recruits will be competing for the weekend and a follow up blog with results.

Recruiting Class of 2024

Dru Ayala – Fort Dodge, Iowa  120 lbs.

Sat Feb 10 – 3A District 5 (Ft. Dodge)

Quarterfinal – Dru Ayala (Fort Dodge) won by fall over Tilman Schon (Spencer) (Fall 1:08)

Semifinal – Dru Ayala (Fort Dodge) won by tech fall over Brock Hessenius (LeMars) (TF-1.5 4:17 (20-5))

1st Place Match – Dru Ayala (Fort Dodge) won by tech fall over Nick McCallister (Waukee) (TF-1.5 3:04 (28-13))

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

Fri/Sat Feb 9-10 – at Montana State Championships (Billings)

Champ. Round 1 – Keyan Hernandez (Billings West) won by fall over Grady Winston (Butte) (Fall 1:22)

Quarterfinal – Keyan Hernandez (Billings West) won by fall over William Barnes (Flathead (Kalispell)) (Fall 0:53)

Semifinal – Keyan Hernandez (Billings West) won by tech fall over Ross Tolliver (Great Falls / MSDB) (TF-1.5 4:58 (18-0))

1st Place Match – Keyan Hernandez (Billings West) won by decision over Mason Gutenberger (Belgrade) (Dec 4-1)

Miguel Estrada – Bakersfield (Frontier HS), California  152 lbs.

Sat Feb 10 – at CIF Central Section Division 1 (North HS, Bakersfield)

Champ. Round 1 – Miguel Estrada (Frontier) won by tech fall over Matthew Valdez (Clovis West) (TF-1.5 1:58 (20-5))

Quarterfinal – Miguel Estrada (Frontier) won by fall over Frank Solis (Clovis North) (Fall 4:42)

Semifinal – Miguel Estrada (Frontier) won by fall over Christian Herrera (Bakersfield) (Fall 3:12)

1st Place Match – Miguel Estrada (Frontier) won by major decision over Noah Reynolds (Clovis) (MD 17-6)

Angelo Ferrari – Melissa, Texas  175 lbs.

No competition scheduled.

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

Fri/Sat Feb 9-10 – at 5A Region 2 (Parker, CO)

Quarterfinal – Jake Howell (Cherry Creek) won by fall over David Gonzalez (Central – Grand Junction) (Fall 1:11)

Semifinal – Jake Howell (Cherry Creek) won by fall over Braden Conroy (Eaglecrest) (Fall 1:40)

1st Place Match – Jake Howell (Cherry Creek) won by fall over Matthew Redfearn (Arapahoe) (Fall 1:11)

Kael Voinovich – City High HS, Iowa City, Iowa  157 lbs.

Feb 10 – at 3A District 2

Semifinal – Kael Voinovich (Iowa City, City High) 37-1 won by fall over Aiden Mohagen (Muscatine) (Fall 1:31)

1st Place Match – Kael Voinovich (Iowa City, City High) won by fall over Nolan Riddle (Fort Madison) (Fall 1:22)

Joe Kennedy – Kasson-Mantorville, Minnesota  152 lbs.

No competition scheduled.

Brady Benham – Sperry, Oklahoma  165 lbs.

Sat Feb 10 – at 3A State Duals (Enid, Oklahoma)

165 – Brady Benham (Sperry) over (Pawnee) Forfeit

Recruiting Class of 2025

Leo DeLuca  – Blair Academy New Jersey  120 lbs.

No competition scheduled.

Leister Bowling – Mead, Colorado  175 lbs.

Fri/Sat Feb 9-10 – at 4A S Region 3 (Monument, CO)

Champ. Round 1 – Leister Bowling (Mead) won by fall over Bryson Neal (Vista Ridge) (Fall 1:16)

Quarterfinal – Leister Bowling (Mead) won by fall over Nikolaus Herzik (Cheyenne Mountain) (Fall 1:42)

Semifinal – Leister Bowling (Mead) won by tech fall over Alex Smith (Riverdale Ridge) (TF-1.5 4:13 (19-4))

1st Place Match – Leister Bowling (Mead) won by major decision over Elijah Contreras (Pueblo East) (MD 15-4)

Women’s Recruiting Class of 2024

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

No competition scheduled.

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

No competition scheduled.

Cadence Diduch – Freeport, Illinois  135 lbs.

Fri/Sat Feb 9-10 – at IHSA Sectional (Geneseo)

Quarterfinal – Cadence Diduch (Freeport (H.S.)) won by fall over Raegen Hansen (Macomb) (Fall 1:29)

Semifinal – Cadence Diduch (Freeport (H.S.)) won by tech fall over Makayla Jones (Kankakee (Sr.)) (TF-1.5 2:10 (18-3))

1st Place Match – Cadence Diduch (Freeport (H.S.)) won by fall over Eva Beck (Minooka) (Fall 1:31)

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

Season completed – State Champion.

Naomi Simon – Decorah, Iowa 170 lbs.

Season completed – State Champion.

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

NWCA NCAA Women’s Coaches Rankings were released today. Iowa remained #1 in the Dual Meet Rankings and #2 in the Tournament Rankings.

In the Tournament Rankings North Central remained #1 with 128 points and 15 ranked wrestlers. Iowa is second with 95 points and 15 ranked wrestlers. King is third with 88 points and 12 ranked wrestlers.

Leading the way for the Hawks are three #1 ranked wrestlers with Emilie Gonzalez(101), Marlynne Deede(155), and Kylie Welker(170). 

Sterling Dias(101), Ava Bayless(109), and Reese Larramendy(143) are ranked #2.

Iowa has a ranked wrestlers at every weight except 123. 

Iowa has the top two ranked wrestlers in the country at 101 with #1 Emilie Gonzalez and #2 Sterling Dias. Felicity Taylor is now ranked #4 at 116 after competing at 123 earlier in the season.

The next competition for Iowa will be the NCWWC Regionals at Simpson College (Indianola, Iowa) on Friday, February 23. This will be the qualifier for the National Collegiate Women’s Wrestling Championships (NCWWC) in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on March 8-9.

NWCA NCAA Women’s Coaches Rankings – February 8, 2024

101 – #1 Emilie Gonzalez  #2 Sterling Dias

109 – #2 Ava Bayless

116 – #3 Brianna Gonzalez  #4 Felicity Taylor

123 – Nobody ranked

130 – #9 Emily Frost

136 – #10 Lilly Luft

143 – #2 Reese Larramendy  #4 Ella Schmit 

155 – #1 Marlynne Deede  #9 Bella Mir

170 – #1 Kylie Welker  #3 Haley Ward

191 – #3 Jaycee Fowler  #8 Alivia White

Complete rankings:

https://nwcaonline.com/documents/2024/2/8/NWCA_WWR_IND_020824.pdf

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

We have a huge weekend of wrestling for our incoming Iowa Wrestling recruits. Keyan Hernandez will compete at the Montana State Tournament in Billings on Friday and Saturday.

Five of our incoming recruits will compete at Districts/Regionals/Sectionals to qualify for the State Tournament the following weekend. Dru Ayala, Jake Howell, Kael Voinovich, Leister Bowling and Cadence Diduch will compete in the first step to becoming a state champion.

I have not found any results for Miguel Estrada this season. He is ranked #5 at 150 lbs. by MatScouts. I do see where Frontier is competing at CIF Central Section Division 1 at North High School in Bakersfield on Saturday. I will keep you posted.

Estrada has been chosen to represent the USA All-Star Team in the Pittsburgh Classic on Saturday, March 30. Estrada will face a member of the Pennsylvania All-Star team that has yet to be announced at 152 lbs.

Kiara Djoumessi and Naomi Simon won state titles last weekend at the Iowa Girls State Wrestling Championships.

As I have done for years I will continue to post a blog of where our incoming recruits will be competing for the weekend and a follow up blog with results.

Recruiting Class of 2024

Dru Ayala – Fort Dodge, Iowa  120 lbs.

Sat Feb 10 – 3A District 5 (Ft. Dodge)

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

Fri/Sat Feb 9-10 – at Montana State Championships (Billings)

Miguel Estrada – Bakersfield (Frontier HS), California  152 lbs.

Sat Feb 10 – at CIF Central Section Division 1 (North HS, Bakersfield)

Angelo Ferrari – Melissa, Texas  175 lbs.

No competition scheduled.

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

Fri/Sat Feb 9-10 – at 5A Region 2 (Parker, CO)

Kael Voinovich – City High HS, Iowa City, Iowa  157 lbs.

Feb 10 – at 3A District 2 (Bettendorf)

Joe Kennedy – Kasson-Mantorville, Minnesota  152 lbs.

No competition scheduled.

Recruiting Class of 2025

Leo DeLuca  – Blair Academy New Jersey  120 lbs.

No competition scheduled.

Leister Bowling – Mead, Colorado  175 lbs.

Fri/Sat Feb 9-10 – at 4A S Region 3 (Monument, CO)

Women’s Recruiting Class of 2024

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

No competition scheduled.

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

No competition scheduled.

Cadence Diduch – Freeport, Illinois  135 lbs.

Fri/Sat Feb 9-10 – at IHSA Sectional (Geneseo)

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

Season completed – State Champion.

Naomi Simon – Decorah, Iowa 170 lbs.

Season completed – State Champion.

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

The NCAA announced that Women’s Wrestling has been recommended to have NCAA championship status in 2026. Division I, Division II, and Division III would have a national collegiate women’s wrestling championship.

This is not final but it looks very probable that this will happen. The recommendation has been made and the steps are being taken to make this a reality for the winter of 2026. The press release by the NCAA below will provide you with details.

I will keep you up to date on the process of making this official.

This is great news for all of wrestling. The growth of women’s wrestling has been amazing throughout the country. This will further promote and grow our great sport of wrestling.

The Iowa Women’s Wrestling program is in their first year of competition. 

The next competition for Iowa will be the NCWWC Regionals at Simpson College (Indianola, Iowa) on Friday, February 23. This will be the qualifier for the National Collegiate Women’s Wrestling Championships (NCWWC) in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on March 8-9.

I have been covering the University of Iowa Women’s Wrestling program on this blog since the day it was announced the program would be created on September 21, 2021.

From the NCAA:

Women’s wrestling moves toward NCAA championship status, projected for winter 2026

by Corbin McGuire, NCAA

Committee on Women’s Athletics recommends three divisions sponsor legislation to add sport as national collegiate championship

Women’s wrestling on Wednesday took a big step toward becoming the 91st NCAA championship sport, with its projected first NCAA championship occurring in winter 2026.

The NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics voted at its meeting Wednesday to recommend Divisions I, II and III sponsor legislation to add a national collegiate women’s wrestling championship. The Association-wide committee oversees the Emerging Sports for Women program, which includes women’s wrestling.

“We are excited to recommend women’s wrestling as the 91st NCAA championship sport,” said Ragean Hill, chair of the Committee on Women’s Athletics and executive associate athletics director/senior woman administrator at Charlotte. “We are extremely proud of the work that USA Wrestling has done to make this a reality in such a short period of time. Also, a special thank you to the men’s wrestling community for believing in our young women and championing this process.”

Following the committee’s recommendation, the projected timeline to add a women’s wrestling championship is:

* Each division is expected to review the recommendation and sponsor a proposal by its respective 2024-25 legislative cycle deadline.

* The recommendation also includes establishing a Women’s Wrestling Committee, which would begin its work in January 2025, to allow time to prepare for a championship in winter 2026.

* If sponsored, the divisions are expected to vote on the proposals during the 2025 NCAA Convention in Nashville, Tennessee, Jan. 15-18.

* If adopted on that timeline, the first women’s wrestling championship would be held in winter 2026.

* Before a women’s wrestling national collegiate championship can be established, funding must be considered by the appropriate financial oversight committees among other competing priorities during the relevant annual budget development cycle.

These required next steps and timeline are consistent with past sports added as national collegiate championships through the Emerging Sports for Women program.

“USA Wrestling is excited that the NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics has recommended women’s wrestling to become an official NCAA championship,” said Rich Bender, executive director of USA Wrestling, one of the national governing bodies of women’s wrestling. “As part of the coalition of wrestling organizations that has supported women’s wrestling through the NCAA Emerging Sports for Women process, this is a huge milestone for our sport and for our NCAA women student-athletes. We look forward to working with the NCAA leadership in the coming months during the approval process, with the goal of having the first NCAA Women’s Wrestling National Championships in the 2025-26 season.”

If approved by NCAA members, women’s wrestling will become the sixth sport to earn NCAA championship status through the Emerging Sports for Women program, established in 1994 based on a recommendation from the NCAA Gender Equity Task Force. It would join rowing (1996), ice hockey (2000), water polo (2000), bowling (2003) and beach volleyball (2015).

“Wrestle Like a Girl is thrilled that the NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics has recommended women’s wrestling to become an official NCAA championship sport,” said Sally Roberts, CEO of Wrestle Like a Girl, one of the national governing bodies of women’s wrestling. “This momentous occasion further empowers women in sports and brings us closer to fulfilling the promise made 51 years ago with the passage of Title IX. With the many battles won, women’s wrestling will be rightfully enshrined with dignity and recognition as an NCAA championship sport for women. It is a victory for all the athletes, supporters and allies who have worked passionately to make this dream a reality. The tireless efforts have paid off, and we are proud to stand with our sisters in sports to celebrate this accomplishment. This is a significant step forward in women’s empowerment, and we are honored to be part of it.”

Before the committee can make a recommendation to add a championship for an emerging sport, 40 schools must sponsor it at a varsity level and meet the sport’s minimum competition and participant requirements. Women’s wrestling, which became an emerging sport in 2020, eclipsed that number in the 2022-23 academic year.

“The rise in sponsorship and participation numbers for women’s wrestling is yet another proof point of the rapid growth of women’s sports. The sport is also a growing Olympic pipeline, helping produce multiple medalists at the 2020 Games,” NCAA President Charlie Baker said. “The NCAA is excited to continue investing in the sport to help it grow and provide more opportunities for student-athletes.”

Added Maddie Avila, a sophomore women’s wrestler at North Central (Illinois): “I think it represents our hard work — all the blood, sweat and tears that we’ve put into this sport. We have to put countless hours into this sport, and we are working just as hard as the men, so it will be really awesome, for women’s sports in general, to have women’s wrestling represented by the NCAA at the championship level.”

According to the latest sports sponsorship and participation data, nearly 800 student-athletes competed in women’s wrestling across 51 teams in 2022-23. More than 70 schools reported that they intended to sponsor the sport for the 2023-24 academic year.

College women’s wrestling also boasts a diverse student-athlete population. Per NCAA demographics research, 43% of the student-athletes on women’s wrestling rosters are minorities, which is tied for the fourth-highest percentage among NCAA women’s sports.

Current NCAA women’s wrestlers compete in a season-ending national competition that is organized by the coalition of wrestling organizations. The National Collegiate Women’s Wrestling Championships are set for March 8-9 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. For information, visit: https://www.ncwwc.com/

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

There will be a HAWK Klub party at the Radisson Hotel after the Iowa-Penn State dual meet Friday, February 9. Dan Gable will be the guest speaker.

The Radisson is at 1220 1st Ave. in Coralville just North of I-80 by Exit 242.

Going to a HAWK Party is part of your fan experience of attending a big Iowa Wrestling meet. I highly recommend all of their socials to all Iowa Wrestling fans.

HAWK Klub (Hawkeye Area Wrestling Klub) was formed in 1978 and is the oldest college wrestling fan support organization in the country. 

For membership information about HAWK Klub: http://hawkklub.com/

I have great memories as a student at Iowa hearing legendary voice of Iowa Wrestling Phil Haddy announce during a dual meet:

“There will be a HAWK Klub Party after tonight’s meet.”

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!