Iowa announced on Sept. 23, 2021, that it would become the first Division I Power Five school to add women’s wrestling. Now, the Hawkeyes are just over two weeks away from kicking off their inaugural season.

Iowa’s first dual will be on Nov. 4 against East Stroudsburg University in Pennsylvania. The Hawkeyes will close out the weekend at Princeton on Nov. 5. 

The Hawkeyes will host two dual meets inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena this season — Nov. 12 against Sacred Heart, Presbyterian, and Lindenwood and Jan. 21 with teams to be announced. 

“We’re so excited to be able to have our first dual in Carver-Hawkeye Arena,” head coach Clarissa Chun said at media availability Wednesday. “No better place to host a wrestling event, let alone a women’s wrestling event. We’re so grateful for the opportunities we have.”

The National Collegiate Women’s Wrestling Championship — which is not sanctioned by the NCAA — is set for March 8-9 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Chun said there is a possibility that the NCAA could sanction a national women’s wrestling tournament by the 2025-26 season. Chun was an assistant coach on the women’s national team from 2017-21 and helped lead the U.S. to 17 world medals. 

“Really just a historic moment right now, and our program and our team are very excited to be able to represent the Hawkeyes,” Chun said. “It’s a moment that thousands and millions of girls across the world have waited for, a moment like this, an opportunity to be able to go to the University of Iowa, become a Hawkeye, get a great education, and be able to represent on the wrestling mat as a female athlete.”

This year’s roster includes two fifth-years, four seniors, one junior, 12 sophomores, and nine freshmen. There are also three Iowa natives — 116-pounder Felicity Taylor, 130-pounder Lilly Luft, and 143-pounder Ella Schmit.

Chun said it was hard to narrow down who to recruit because there are so many talented women’s wrestlers across the country who are “very ambitious.” Because of this talent and the speed at which the sport is growing, Chun urged other Division I programs to add women’s wrestling. 

Chun said she and the coaching staff — including associate head coach Greg Mayabb and assistant coach Tonya Verbeek —  are still learning and growing in the recruiting process. Mayabb served as the manager of Greco-Roman programs for USA Wrestling from 2017-22. Verbeek coached the men’s and women’s national teams from 2019-21 and won three Olympic medals when she used to compete at 55 kg. 

“It’s been a journey. There are moments where it felt like things needed to go quickly, but realizing I need to slow it down at times to make sure we’re doing the right things to move the program in the right direction,” Chun said. “With building the program, it was how much do we start with, how many student-athletes do we start with. We have 10 weight classes; how much is too much, how much is not enough type of thing.”

Chun also said it was hard to figure out a schedule because there are over 160 women’s wrestling programs at the collegiate level. Since women wrestle freestyle in college, as opposed to men, who wrestle folkstyle, matches could last just 10 seconds because of the rules. If an opponent takes a 10-point advantage at any point in the bout, the match is over. 

Since women’s matches tend to go faster, most of Iowa’s competition this season will be in opens, not dual meets, which gives more women on the roster a chance to compete. This is also why Iowa’s first home dual meet will feature four schools. 

“What teams do we get out to and dual in our first year? That’s the challenge,” Chun said. “That’s still something we continue to figure out, it being the first. Let’s see how this works out and assess what went well and what would we change differently.”

The women will have wrestle-offs on Thursday, which is when Iowa athletes compete against one another in the practice room. The athletes will not be required to meet scratch weight for wrestle-offs, which means weighing in at or below the actual poundage of their weight class. Chun said this is because they are still two weeks out from competition, so they are allowing a little wiggle room. 

Chun said she told her athletes there is no guarantee they will earn a starting spot if they win their wrestle-off matches. 

“What is the refueling like, warm up like, what are the little things that go through their mind as they’re preparing to step out on the mat for a wrestle-off,” Chun said. “How do you create that shift of I’m competing for an opportunity to have a spot. Doesn’t mean I get the spot, but it’s a lot of learning pieces to have a wrestle off for the individual and for coaches. That’s why we are having a wrestle-off.”

Both the fanbase as well as the Iowa women’s wrestlers have high expectations for this season.

Taylor and Schmit said they just try to come into practice every day and have fun and get better, not worrying about the outside noise. Taylor added if she and her teammates are doing what they’re supposed to during practice, positive results will come during competition. 

Chun said her athletes are up for the challenge to prove themselves as one of the best women’s wrestling programs in the nation and impress her every day with “how they do business” as student-athletes. The head coach added that no person on the team is more important than the next, and she wants the Hawkeyes to hold each other accountable and push one another to their highest potential. 

“I think it’s kind of instinct, and we’re all used to having the spotlight on us, and we definitely never let it get to us,” Schmit said. “Coach always says that when we’re out on that mat, there’s a bubble over us, and anything outside of the circle doesn’t matter. So that’s kind of just a good model.”