Marlynne Deede announced that she is transferring to the University of Iowa Women’s Wrestling program as a graduate transfer. Deede was a four-time All American and national champion for Augsburg. She will have one year of eligibility remaining.

Deede, originally from Springville, Utah, has competed at 155 lbs. for her college career. She placed sixth in 2020 and third in both 2021 and 2022. This past season Deede won the NCWWC 155 lbs. National title with a 31-2 record with 8 pins and 18 tech falls.

For her career Deede was 77-20 with 20 pins and 42 tech falls. Deede has the Augsburg school record for career wins and tech falls. 

Deede has made it known that she will continue to compete after her college career for the Hawkeye Womens Wrestling Club.

The Hawks signed 15 incoming recruits and transfers in the Class of 2022. Iowa has already received commitments from eight wrestlers for the Recruiting Class of 2023 and now adds Deede to the roster as a graduate transfer.

The University of Iowa is the first Division I Power 5 Conference member to have women’s wrestling. The Hawks have their first year of official competition next season.

Iowa Women’s Wrestling Recruiting Class of 2023

Ava Rose – 112

Bella Ngo – 116

Emily Frost – 127

Lilly Luft – 132

Danni Swihart – 135 

Haley Ward – 152

Rose Cassioppi – 164

Alivia White – 200

Marlynne Deede – 155 (Transfer)

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

It was a great weekend of wrestling for the Iowa Women’s Wrestling team and incoming recruits. Bella Mir won the 68 KG title at the U20 Women’s Nationals in Spokane, Washington. Mir won by a tech fall, pin, and two decisions to make the finals. In the best of three finals Mir had two first period pins over London Houston of Washington in 1:24 and 1:54 to claim the title.

Mir is a true freshman out of Las Vegas, Nevada where she was a four-time state champion for Centennial High School.

Mir will now represent Team USA at the 2023 U20 World Freestyle Championships in Warsaw, Poland August 14-20.

Three Hawks placed second with Nyla Valencia (50 KG), Ella Schmidt (65 KG), and Kylie Welker (76 KG). Reece Larramendy placed third at 65 KG and Ava Bayless was sixth at 50 KG. Sterling Dias injury defaulted at 50 KG from the tournament after the quarterfinals.

Incoming recruits Haley Ward placed second at 72 KG, Emily Frost placed fourth at 59 KG, Lilly Luft was fourth at 62 KG, and Rose Cassioppi was third at 72 KG. Danni Swihart (62 KG) and Alivia White (76 KG) did not place. All are in the Recruiting Class of 2023. Real impressive showing by our incoming recruits.

On Saturday Iowa Hawkeye Felicity Taylor won the U23 Women’s Nationals at 53 KG.

A great performance by the Iowa Hawkeyes and our incoming recruits this weekend in Spokane against national level competition. 

The Hawks will be well represented at the U.S. Open for Senior Women’s Freestyle in Las Vegas in two weeks. I will keep you posted right here on my blog.

U20 Nationals

Nyla Valencia 50 KG – 2nd

Ava Bayless 50 KG – 6th

Sterling Dias 50 KG – DNP

Ella Schmidt 65 KG – 2nd

Reese Larramendy 65 KG – 3rd

Isabella Mir 68 KG – Champ

Kylie Welker 76 KG – 2nd

U20 Nationals – Incoming recruits (Class of 2023)

Emily Frost 59 KG – 4th

Lilly Luft 62 KG – 4th

Danni Swihart 62 KG – DNP

Haley Ward 72 KG – 2nd

Rose Cassioppi 72 KG – 3rd

Alivia White 76 KG – DNP

U23 Nationals

Felicity Taylor 53 KG – Champ

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

Former Iowa Wrestling NCAA National champion Cliff Moore was inducted into the Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame. Moore was inducted in the Class of 2023 in a ceremony on Monday at the IWHOF in Cresco, Iowa.

Moore, originally from Sherril, Iowa was one of the best Iowa high school wrestlers that I have ever seen. Moore was a three-time state champion and four-time finalist at Dubuque Hempstead. After placing second as a freshman, Moore was undefeated in his last three seasons winning state titles at 112, 119, and 125 with a career record of 139-2.

At the University of Iowa Moore was a three-time All American and two-time Big Ten champion for coach Jim Zalesky.

After placing sixth in 2002 and 2003 at 133 Moore moved up to 141 as a senior. He entered the NCAA National Tournament as the #5 seed. I was able to see a lot of Moore’s career in high school and college. Without a doubt the biggest match of his career for me was the NCAA semifinals.

Fifth seed Moore faced #1 seed Scott Moore of Virginia who had 32 pins going into the match. Cliff Moore dominated the entire match with a 14-2 major decision. That was one of the biggest wins as an Iowa Wrestling fan that I can ever remember. Total domination.

In the finals Moore defeated Matt Murray of Nebraska 5-2 to become the 2004 NCAA National champion.

Moore competed for the Hawkeye Wrestling Club after graduation and made the USA National Freestyle Team in 2006. He was also a member of the Iowa Wrestling Coaching staff in 2005 and 2006.

After twelve years as an assistant coach at Edinboro Moore has been an assistant coach at West Virginia the past five seasons.

A much deserved honor for Cliff Moore to become a member of the Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame.

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

Members of the Iowa Women’s Wrestling team and incoming recruits are registered to compete at Women’s Nationals this weekend. Nationals for U23, U20, U17, and U15 will take place in The Podium in Spokane, Washington. These tournaments are a part of the World Team Trials process to represent Team USA at the World Championships.

U23 Nationals will be on Friday and Saturday, April 14-15. U20 Nationals will be on Saturday-Sunday, April 15-16.

Felicity Taylor will compete at 53 KG in the U23 Nationals. Taylor represented Team USA in the World Cup last December.

Kylie Welker will be competing at 76 KG in the U20 Nationals. Welker was the #1 recruit in the country for the Class of 2022. Incoming recruits Rose Cassioppi will be at 76 KG and Emily Frost at 59 KG.

FloWrestling will provide a live stream on their premium service.

I will have a follow up blog with results.

U23 Nationals

Felicity Taylor – 53 KG

U20 Nationals

Nyla Valencia – 50 KG

Sterling Dias – 50 KG

Emilie Gonzalez – 50 KG

Reese Larramendy – 65 KG

Isabella Mir – 68 KG

Kylie Welker – 76 KG

U20 Nationals – Incoming recruits (Class of 2023)

Emily Frost – 59 KG

Rose Cassioppi – 76 KG

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

The 2023 Hawkeye Wrestling Club Annual Banquet will be held on Saturday, May 6. The banquet will be at the Graduate at 210 S Dubuque Street in Iowa City. Doors open at 5 PM.

From hawkeyewrestlingclub.com:

Join us for our 2023 HWC Annual Banquet – Celebrating 50 years of Excellence! Enjoy hor d’oeuvres and buffet style dinner while mingling with other knowledgeable fans and Hawkeye legends. The presentation will include talks from HWC members, coaches and alumni of our storied program. Live and silent auction items will surely be a fun way to compete with other loyal supporters and raise money for our team!

The HWC is celebrating 50 years of excellence. The HWC has been a major contributor to the success of Iowa wrestling over the years. The annual banquet is an important fundraiser to ensure that the HWC continues to provide opportunities for former Iowa wrestlers to pursue their goals in International competition.

To reserve your seat:

https://boom.hawkeyewrestlingclub.com/event/hwc-annual-banquet-50-years-of-excellence/e452956/register/new/select-tickets

To donate to the HWC:

https://boom.hawkeyewrestlingclub.com/give/452956/#!/donation/checkout

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

Former Hawkeye Dan Erekson is registered to compete at the U.S. Open at 125 kg. The U.S. Open will be at the South Point Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. The Senior division will be held on Thursday-Friday, April 27-28.

Erekson won the Gold at the 2022 Veterans World Championships in Division A in Plovdiv, Bulgaria last October. After the tournament Erekson announced that he would resume his wrestling career in the Senior division. 

From McCall, Idaho, Erekson was a two-time All American for the Hawks and a member of the 2008, 2009, and 2010 NCAA National Championship teams.

All of the competition for the U.S. Open will be covered on the premium service of FloWrestling.

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

William Penn in Oskaloosa, Iowa announced the hiring of Jake Kadel as Women’s Wrestling Coach and Cash Wilcke as Assistant Men’s and Women’s Wrestling Coach. Kadel and Wilcke were both coaching at Iowa Wesleyan University that recently announced that the college would be closing this year.

This past season Kadel and Wilcke led the Iowa Wesleyan Women’s program to a seventh place finish at the NAIA National Championship with five All Americans and an individual National champion.

Kadel has been coaching at Iowa Wesleyan for the last three years and was the head coach for both the men’s and women’s team this past season. Kadel was a four-time Letterwinner for the University of Iowa from 2013-2016. He was named as the Coaches Appreciation Award winner in 2016 and Academic All-Big Ten. 

Originally from New London, Iowa Kadel was a four-time state placewinner and two-time Finalist.

Wilcke has been coaching at Iowa Wesleyan the last two seasons as an assistant for both the men’s and women’s program. Wilcke was a four-time Letterwinner for the University of Iowa from 2017-2020 and was a three-time NCAA Qualifier for the Hawks in 2017-2019 at 184 lbs. 

Wilke is originally from Battle Creek, Iowa where he won two state wrestling titles for OA-BCIG High School. Wilcke will be an assistant coach for both the men’s and women’s wrestling team.

Congratulations and best of luck to these two former Iowa Hawkeye wrestlers on their new coaching positions.

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

This was a challenging blog to write. To try and list all of the accomplishments of Spencer Lee as an Iowa Hawkeye just does not do justice for what he did. Lee is arguably the best and most influential Iowa wrestler of all time. That is saying a lot. 

I have a lot of great memories of watching this guy wrestle for the University of Iowa. The entertainment this one wrestler provided for me and the Iowa Wrestling Nation is nearly impossible to describe.

Lee was one of the greatest high school wrestlers of all time when he made his way to Iowa City from Murrysville, Pennsylvania and Franklin Regional High School. Lee had already won three straight World Freestyle titles (1 Cadet and 2 Junior) by his junior year of high school.

On November 12, 2015 I had a blog entitled: Spencer Lee is coming to town.  In the ten year plus history of my Iowa Wrestling Fan Blog that is the #1 most read blog I have ever had. The blog was about Lee coming to town for the historic Grapple on the Gridiron. I believe that post generated over 40,000 hits on Hawkeye Report alone.

When Lee committed to Iowa on April 20, 2016 I called it: “The recruiting shot heard around the wrestling world.” That one commitment stands out in the history of Iowa Wrestling. 

Lee was one of several members of former Iowa Hawkeye All American Jody Strittmatter’s Young Guns Wrestling Club. The success of that era of Young Guns may never be matched by a wrestling club ever.

I was having a hard time describing what I saw Lee do in competition as a true freshman. While writing a blog I came up with: Spencer Lee is…Spencer Lee. I have never seen a college wrestler like him before and I more than likely never will again.

I was standing matside in the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls for Spencer Lee’s first college wrestling match on Saturday, December 9, 2017.  What a great run he had as a true freshman winning the National title at 125. 

My favorite memory of Spencer Lee as an Iowa Hawkeye is when he pinned Nathan Tomasello of Ohio State in the Semifinals of the 2018 NCAA National Tournament in 6:05. That match can not be topped as a favorite memory for me.

Spencer Lee was a three-time NCAA champion and four-time All American. He was more than just stats. Lee made people want to watch wrestling. He was a once in a lifetime type of talent.

Lee dominated in academics as well. Spencer Lee has already graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sport and Recreational Management – Business. He is currently working on his Master’s degree in Sport and Recreational Management.

Lee was named Academic All-Big Ten three times and is also a three-time NWCA Scholar Athlete.

I also need to mention the memorable entrance song for home meets at Carver for Lee was We Will Rock You by Queen. I think it is safe to say that Iowa Wrestling fans will think of Spencer Lee when we hear the first few beats to that song for well, ever.

What great memories I have of hearing the first few beats of We Will Rock You and to then see Spencer Lee come out of the tunnel in Carver. Amazing memories.

I have no doubt that whatever Spencer Lee pursues for a career that he will be very successful.

I have a category that I seldom use and for good reason. Only a select few qualify. The ultimate level for me I titled: “Chiseled in stone legend.” Spencer Lee is…Spencer Lee. Spencer Lee is also without a doubt a “Chiseled in stone legend.”

Good luck and thank you Spencer Lee for representing Iowa Wrestling so well on and off the mat. 

Accomplishments of Spencer Lee:

Three-time NCAA National Champion

Four-time All American

Two-time Hodge Trophy winner

Three-time Big Ten champion

Three-time Big Ten Wrestler of the Year

O.W. of the 2023 Big Ten Championships

2018 Big Ten Freshman of the Year

12 career falls in under one minute

29 first period falls

40 of 98 career victories ended in the first period – 29 falls/11 tech falls

Career 26-0 record in Carver-Hawkeye Arena

Big Ten Medal of Honor winner

James E. Sullivan Award winner (2020)

Named NCAA Most Dominant Wrestler (2020)

Two-time Mike Howard Most Valuable Wrestler at Iowa 

Coaches Appreciation Award recipient

Three-time Academic All-Big Ten

Three-time NWCA Scholar Athlete

2020 U.S. Open champion

Big Ten Sportsmanship Award winner

2018 Big Ten Freshman of the Year

2018 Amateure Wrestling News Hammer Award

Seven-time Big Ten Wrestler of the Week

Three-time Freestyle World Champion: Cadet (2014), Junior World Champion (2015, 2016)

Bachelor of Arts degree in Sport and Recreational Management – Business

Spencer Lee wins again https://iowawrestlingblog.com/2021/08/spencer-lee-wins-again/

Spencer Lee – 125 lbs. Five-time All American

2018 – National Champion

2019 – National Champion 

2020 – All American – #1 seed at Nationals that were cancelled

2021 – National Champion

2022 – Redshirt

2023 – 6th

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

The Iowa Women’s Wrestling program will have a freestyle clinic on Tuesday, April 18 from 6:15 PM to 8:15 PM. The clinic will be held in the Iowa Wrestling room in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

The clinic is limited to the first 30 high school girls that are currently a sophomore-senior. Cost is $10 per person.

Members of the Iowa Women’s Wrestling staff with World Champion head coach Clarissa Chun will be the clinicians. The clinic will include technique, drilling, and sparring.

The University of Iowa is the first Division I Power 5 Conference member to have women’s wrestling. The Hawks have their first year of official competition next season.

To register and for more information:

https://www.campworksonline.com/index.cfm/register?eventID=3005

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!