Iowa women’s wrestling advances to semifinals at NWCA National Duals

The Hawkeyes defeated Adrian College and Presbyterian by wide margins on Friday.

January 5, 2024

Iowa’s 130-pound Lily Luft shows off the tigerhawk during the Trailblazer Duals between No. 3 Iowa, No. 6 Sacred Heart, No. 13 Presbyterian, and No. 11 Lindenwood at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Sunday, Nov. 12, 2023. Iowa women’s wrestling made history on Sunday, hosting the first women’s wrestling dual in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Hawkeyes defeated Presbyterian, 44-1, Lindenwood, 43-0, and Sacred Heart, 40-4.

Following a dominating team victory at the Soldier Salute, the Iowa women’s wrestling squad had a strong outing at the NWCA National Duals in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

Iowa faced off against Adrian College and Presbyterian during Friday’s opening round action.

Adrian College

The No. 2 seeded Hawkeyes began the day by dispatching Adrian College in the first round, 49-1.

Sterling Dias got Iowa off to a strong start at 101 pounds with a win over Alexis Hart-Butcher via pin to give the Hawks an early 5-0 lead.

After Ava Bayless won her 109-pound match, Brianna Gonzalez knocked off Carleigh Czerneski in a nearly five minute long match to give Iowa a 14-1 advantage.

Felicity Talor made quick work of Angela LoRusso at 123, and Emily Frost took care of Reece Martin at 130. Their two wins gave the Hawkeyes a 24-1 lead.

Lily Luft advanced at 136 via forfeit, and Reese Larramendy handled Talor Cutler to put Iowa up, 34-1.

Reese Larramendy and Bella Mir boat raced their respective opponents, and the Hawkeyes had officially put the dual on cruise control.

Alivia White pinned Xsaria Puente to officially advance Iowa into the quarterfinal round against Presbyterian.

In all, six Hawkeyes won their respective matches via pins.

Presbyterian

Next up on the docket for Iowa was the No. 7 Presbyterian Blue Hose, whom the Hawkeyes beat 44-1 in the Trailblazer Duals on Nov. 12.

In what seemed like a carbon copy of the previous meeting, Iowa defeated Presbyterian, 39-4, to clinch a spot in the semifinals.

Dias, Bayless, and Gonzalez raced out to easy wins, while Rose earned a hard fought 4-2 victory against Alyssa Mahan to put Iowa up 16-1.

The Hawkeyes suffered their first defeat of the day at 130 pounds, as Cassia Zammit defeated Frost, 4-2 , to cut Presbyterian’s deficit to 17-4.

Luft got Iowa back on the winning side with an easy win at 136, anf Ella Schmit pinned Madeline Kubicki at the 5:14 mark to give the Hawkeyes a 26-4 advantage.

The best battle of the dual was the 191 match between Jaycee Foeller and Ella Beam. At the 2:05 mark, Foeller pinned Beam to cap off a dominating afternoon.

Up next

Iowa will return to the mat tomorrow in the semifinal round against King University. The dual will begin at 10:30 CT and will be streamed live on FloWrestling.

About the Contributors

Brad Schultz, Sports Reporter

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Brad Schultz is a sophomore at the University of Iowa majoring in Journalism and Mass Communication with a minor in Sports Studies. This is first year working as a sports reporter and he has a deep passion and love for sports. Outside of the Daily Iowan, Brad is a contributor for Saturday Blitz, a college football site, with his content primarily covering Iowa and the Big Ten.

Ayrton Breckenridge, Managing Visuals Editor

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Ayrton Breckenridge is the Managing Visuals Editor at The Daily Iowan. He is a senior at the University of Iowa majoring in journalism and cinema. This is his fourth year working for the DI.