Iowa women’s wrestling’s Emily Frost garnered a new nickname after her performance on Sunday.
In the program’s inaugural home dual meet, the first-year pinned both of her opponents at 130 pounds, igniting the record-setting 8,207 fans inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena, which is believed to be the world record for a women’s wrestling dual.
“I think I’m gonna name her the head hunter because she just hunts for heads and pins everyone, so that’s nice to have her in our back pocket,” head coach Clarissa Chun said of Frost. “She’s been great. She’s a threat.”
Frost trailed Presbyterian’s Olivia Waller, 4-0, in her first match. But she wasn’t going down without a fight.
Frost used her signature headlock move to force Waller to her back for the pin in 4:53, causing one of the loudest cheers of the day. Frost joked that a headlock isn’t the only move she does, but if it’s there, she’s going to execute it.
“You can be down the whole match, you can have 10 seconds left. And I always know like, I can let it fly from wherever. You’re never done. You’re never ‘Oh, I’m down. I’ve lost the match,’” Frost said of her mindset when she was trailing. “You can always come back, and I just thought that the whole time. I was like, ‘I know I’m gonna hit my throw. I’m gonna get that pin. I’m gonna come back up.’”
In her second match against Lindenwood’s Cayden Condit, it only took Frost 41 seconds to earn the fall, once again bringing the Hawkeye faithful to their feet.
“My expectations of all the fans has completely been blown away. It’s awesome,” Frost said.
Hailing from New York, Frost didn’t get as much exposure to wrestling growing up as those from the Midwest. But it was never a secret to her that wrestlers from Iowa were dominant on the mat. She said whenever she went to national tournaments, wrestlers from Iowa were finishing the highest.
“I’m from New York, but I always knew that Iowa was a big wrestling state,” Frost said. “My coach, he’s like, ‘You’re going to Iowa. You know it’s a big wrestling state.’”
Frost is hopeful that girls’ wrestling will continue to grow in her home state.
In July 2022, the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) upgraded girls wrestling to “emerging sport” status.
In October, the NYSPHSAA announced that it approved freestyle wrestling for the Girls Wrestling State Championships.
In her short time at Iowa, Frost has seen the importance of sanctioning girls wrestling at the high school level.
The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union officially offered girls wrestling as a sanctioned sport in the 2022-23 school year. At the first Iowa girls’ state wrestling championships in February, over 5,000 fans flooded into Xtream Arena to witness history.
Frost and her teammates, who competed in front of over 8,000 people on Sunday, hope to inspire future generations and continue growing the sport in Iowa and across the nation.
“Growing up I never really saw the importance of sanctioning,” Frost said. “And I come here, and I’m seeing how much more it’s growing when it’s sanctioned. More girls are joining because they can wrestle other girls, and I didn’t see that was a barrier for some people or some parents before.”