After a lengthy break for the holidays, the Iowa men’s and women’s wrestling programs will return to the mat on Sunday and Monday for the Soldier Salute at Xtream Arena in Coralville.
An undefeated 6-0 and ranked second behind the No. 1 Penn State Nittany Lions, the Hawkeye men are coming off of double-dual wins over Princeton and Army. The women, 9-0, are the top-ranked team in the country after crowning three champions at the NCC Open two weeks ago.
The time off has allowed for some much-needed rest and development before competition amps up again, starting this week with the tournament just outside of Iowa City.
The event
Now in its third year, the tournament runs four sessions over two days: 10 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. on Sunday as well as 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Monday.
On the men’s side, the Hawkeyes will welcome two teams they’ve already beaten this season in Bellarmine and No. 13 Iowa State. But the tougher competition comes in who they haven’t yet seen — No. 7 Minnesota, No. 19 Missouri, No. 4 Nebraska, No. 23 North Carolina, No. 14 South Dakota State, and No. 10 Northern Iowa.
Navy, Naval Academy Preparatory School, and Wyoming will also attend the tournament, which pits different seeded wrestlers against one another in battles for first place across the usual weight classes.
On the women’s side, the Hawkeyes will again see familiar competition, namely former No. 1 Life University. But also attending from across the country will be Baker, Indiana Tech, Texas Wesleyan, and Umpqua Community College. William Penn, Tiffin, and Dubuque will have much shorter trips to compete.
Actives and unlisted
The nature of the tournament allows the Hawkeyes to run many more wrestlers than traditional dual meets, both attached to the program in a black singlet or unattached.
Notably unlisted for the Hawkeye men is No. 7 Nelson Brands at 174 pounds, so Patrick Kennedy is the only athlete listed in the class. Still, expect fire from the senior, a takedown machine in his starts this season.
Also unlisted is No. 28 Ryder Block at 141 pounds and No. 1 Jacori Teemer at 157, the latter seemingly still nursing a leg injury from the dual with Iowa State last month. Starting in their places are four at 141 in Aidan Harris, Jace Rhodes, Cullan Schriever, and Jesse Ybarra as well as the lone Isaiah Fenton at 157.
Both No. 29 Joey Cruz and Kale Petersen will compete at 125 pounds, helping head coach Tom Brands nail down a starter at the inconsistent class when Big Ten play starts soon.
Star freshman Angelo Ferrari is listed as wrestling attached at 184 pounds, and he could see No. 5 Gabe Arnold in the final of the same division.
Notably unlisted for the Hawkeye women is Rianne Murphy at 103 pounds, so Sterling Dias will be her lone replacement in a return to the mat. In a similar role will be Lilly Luft at 138 pounds — a class featuring three more stellar Hawkeyes in Cadence Diduch, Nanea Estrella, and Danni Swihart.
Kylie Welker will be active at 180 pounds after a dominant showing at the NCC Open, this time alongside Naomi Simon. And Olympian Kennedy Blades is again set to take on the field alone at 160 pounds.