Iowa women’s wrestling head coach Clarissa Chun knew the roster she would bring to the North Central College Open on Dec. 15 would be lighter than previous competitions.
With finals week right around the corner, Chun was only able to bring 17 athletes with the rest of the team preparing for the rigorous academics that lie ahead.
One of the girls who pushed Chun to put her on the lineup was second-year Kylie Welker, though, the former National Collegiate Women’s Wrestling Championships winner who was eager to make her tournament debut for the 2024-25 season.
“Kylie wanted to compete,” Chun said. “She wanted to work on things she has been working on in the [wrestling] room.”
Regarded as one of the highlights returning for Iowa this season, Welker hasn’t seen much of the mat outside of a few dual competitions. The former All-American has only wrestled against three of the Hawkeyes’ nine opponents, posting a 3-0 record with every victory coming via fall.
The absence has been due to Welker’s qualification and participation in both the U23 National Championships and Senior World Championships over the past four months. While Welker’s preoccupation hasn’t been a problem, Chun and her coaching staff are trying to do all the right things when it comes to returning her to the collegiate level slowly and surely.
“It’s really hard to throw her into the college season right away,” Chun said. “It’s really about trying to be smart about when — the timing and the amount of matches, making sure they stay healthy, which she is.”
Previous competitions like the Iowa and Jewell dual meets were merely warm-ups for Welker. Once she gave the green light to be able to compete to her full potential, Chun wasted no time in inserting her into a rigorous tournament style of play.
Welker’s conditioning would be tested further after the seeding placed her in a preliminary battle against Julianna Onate from Joliet Junior College — extending her outlook to six matches if she could make it to the championship rounds.
“College tournaments are always a grind because you get a lot of matches, but that’s what we came here for,” Welker said.
After the decisive victory over Onate in the first minute of the competition, Welker would display the most complete performance of her young season. Welker went on to win the first three matches of the tournament in dominant fashion, topping all of her opponents in under two minutes via technical fall.
The semifinal matchup would be against Sacred Heart’s Madison Sandquist, the third-ranked 180-pound wrestler in the country who was coming off of winning a wrestler-of-the-month nod.
But despite the increase in competition, Welker made quick work of the top-ranked wrestler. After notching a handful of two-point maneuvers, Welker was able to capture the technical fall and advanced to the championship round.
Welker was yet again able to earn an easy victory in pursuit of her first championship of the season. Going against North Central’s Brittyn Corbishley, the fifth-placed wrestler in the 191-pound class last season, Welker recorded a 10-0 victory to claim first.