“For her.”

That’s the motto Iowa women’s wrestlers have been living by since arriving on campus.

“For them, it’s a good reminder of how to represent themselves and as a program when we can lead with gratitude and know that there is a bigger why than themselves,” head coach Clarissa Chun said.

Three homegrown Hawkeyes are especially embracing this ‘For her’ mindset – Spillville, Iowa, native Felicity Taylor, Lilly Luft out of Charles City, Iowa, and Ella Schmit from Bettendorf, Iowa.

Taylor and Luft, along with several others on Chun’s squad, have ‘For her’ tattooed on their arms. For the three Iowa wrestlers, doing it ‘For her’ means appreciating the women who paved the way for them as well as inspiring young girls throughout their home state who are just beginning their wrestling careers.

Taylor, Luft, and Schmit have a close relationship being from the same state and want to embrace the “Iowa style” in the Hawkeye wrestling room. This “Iowa style” is defined by grit and mental toughness.

“I think it’s really important because you look around, and there’s a lot of girls from all over the country, but I think it’s really motivating for the girls in high school in Iowa to see that you can go from high school in Iowa and wrestle Division I here,” Schmit said.

Homegrown Hawks

Taylor was cut from the South Winneshiek High School wrestling cheerleading squad her freshman year.

But this didn’t steer her away from the wrestling mat.

To stay in shape during the winter for cross country, Taylor decided to try the sport her father had long encouraged her to pursue.

“I mentioned it to a classmate, I was like, ‘Oh, I’ll just try wrestling,’” Taylor said.  “And then he was like, ‘You would never even make it through practice.’ So, then I was like, ‘Okay, well now I really want to try it.’ So, I went home and talked to my parents, and here I am.”

Taylor went on to ink her name in the history books.

With two state titles and 109 career wins under her belt, she became the first Iowa high school girl’s wrestler to reach the 100-win milestone.

After she graduated in 2018, Taylor continued her wrestling journey at McKendree University.

There, she helped the Bearcats win three national team titles and took home an individual championship in March 2021.

Later that year, the University of Iowa announced it was adding a women’s wrestling program — the first NCAA Division I and Power Five conference school to offer the sport.

Taylor was on the fence about moving back to her home state when she heard the news, but when McKendree head coach Sam Schmitz announced he accepted a role at a different school, it made the decision easy for Taylor.

“Once I knew that we had an opportunity to bring Felicity back home, I knew we had to try,” Iowa women’s wrestling head coach Clarissa Chun said after Taylor committed to the Hawkeyes on June 28, 2022. “She is a great leader in the sport of women’s wrestling and in Iowa. I think it creates a lot of hope and opportunities for aspiring athletes from Iowa.”

However, Taylor was not the first Iowa native to commit to the Hawkeyes.

It was Schmit, who was also the first girl’s wrestling varsity starter at Bettendorf High School. Over her prep career, Schmit won three state titles and was named the 2022 Dan Gable Ms. Wrestler of the Year as a senior.

She committed to Chun and the Hawkeyes on Feb. 5, 2022. For Schmit, who grew up watching Iowa sports, it was a dream come true.

“I think it’s kind of my thing at this point. I like to be the first, kind of like a pioneer paving the way,” Schmit said.

Schmit’s older brother wrestled, so she would get “dragged along” to his practices. Schmit said she would sit and do homework during practice, which she “didn’t like.”

One day, she climbed all the way up the body-weight rope after practice. The coach was impressed and told Schmit’s parents that she should wrestle.

Schmit recalled her first time wrestling inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena when she was a child for an all-day youth tournament called Conflict at Carver. She said no one at the time imagined that Iowa would ever have a women’s wrestling program.

“I still go back and look at the pictures of me,” Schmit said. “I was probably, like, 60 pounds wrestling in Carver and now to think that we’re going to be doing that in a few weeks — it’s crazy.”

Schmit witnessed girl’s wrestling take off in her final years of high school. Taylor, on the other hand, was at McKendree when girl’s wrestling started to make major strides in Iowa.

Though the pair experienced the growth of the sport from different perspectives, it means just as much to both.

When Taylor went to the first ever sanctioned girl’s state wrestling championship meet last March in Coralville, Iowa, happy tears streamed down her face.

Taylor only competed against a girl once in high school, so watching hundreds of girls wrestle for championship titles in front of a sold-out crowd of approximately 5,000 people was surreal for her. In 2022-23, more than 2,400 Iowa girls wrestled, according to Trackwrestling. Just 164 girls participated during Taylor’s senior prep season.

“It’s kind of hard to think about it now,” Taylor said of the growth of the sport. “I think as time goes on it will be easier to see how big it is. But for now, it’s cool to just, like, be in the moment and take everything in. But it’ll be cool to look back on it someday, for sure.”

While Schmit and Taylor watched from the stands, Luft was competing in Iowa’s first sanctioned girl’s state tournament in March.

Luft ended her final year with a 40-0 record and a state title – the third of her career. The 130-pounder holds the state record for most career wins by a female wrestler at 125-6.

Throughout her high school career, Luft kept her brother, Logan, in mind. Logan died in an ATV accident in 2017 when he was just 15 years old, and wrestling was his favorite sport.

“I think of him every second of every day,” Luft told The Des Moines Register. “I know that he’s watching over and cheering me on, and I just want to make him proud.”

Choosing to be a Hawkeye was a no-brainer for Luft as Iowa had “everything she ever wanted.” She committed to Iowa prior to her senior season in September 2022.

“We have two Olympians on our team with just such a great coaching staff and the variety of partners that we have to practice with every single day,” Luft said. “I feel like it’s just at such a high level that when we do step on the mat at tournaments, I feel like it’ll just make it that much easier when we’ve been practicing at such a high level every day.”

Luft said her fellow teammates from Iowa have displayed great leadership and helped acclimate her to college life in her first year.

As the season starts in just under two weeks, the Hawkeyes are focused on becoming “1 percent better each day,” acknowledging that they still have plenty of things to work on.

“Lilly is tough as nails and gritty. She goes hard. She won’t back down from anything or anyone, which is awesome,” Chun said. “Like everything else, we want to keep nurturing that piece she has and still work with other elements of it. There is still room for growth. That’s the great thing. There is always room for growth for each and every one of our student-athletes here.”