The Iowa men’s and women’s wrestling program opened competition in dominant fashion at the Soldier Salute inside Xtream Arena in Coralville on Sunday.

The tournament, held over two days, pits seeded wrestlers against one another at the usual weight classes in a chase for first place. And it brings some of the best collegiate wrestling competition to Iowa City’s neighboring town — including top-10-ranked South Dakota State for the men and Life University for the women.

Both the Hawkeye men’s and women’s programs dominated in the first session this morning, leading in team scores before the break. The second session begins at 3:30 p.m.

Hawkeye men advance

Anthony Lavezzola led off for the Hawkeyes unattached at 125 pounds and lost his match by fall, 6-1, against Tucker Bowen of Wyoming. And Dru Ayala quickly fell behind, 5-0, to Northern Iowa’s Bowen Downey, before getting on the board with an escape. But Downey was too much for him as he lost, 14-3. 

At 141 pounds, though, Hawkeye senior Jesse Ybarra defeated Aidan Noonan of Wyoming by a 6-2 decision. The match was stuck at 3-2 in favor of Ybarra for most of the bout before he executed a three-point takedown to pull away and come out on top. Ybarra returned to action in round two, where he faced Julian Tagg of South Dakota State. Following a scoreless first period, Tagg got on the board to take a 1-0 lead. Ybarra was able to tie the bout and force a sudden victory period, where he ultimately fell by decision, 5-2. 

Iowa senior Koye Grebel took on Zac Cowan of Bellarmine at 149 pounds. After a 0-0 first period, Cowan quickly picked up an escape and takedown to go up 4-0 early in the second period. Grebel got on the board but ultimately lost by decision, 4-2.

Kael Voinovich, wrestling unattached, faced off with Nathan Higley of Bellarmine at 149 too. Voinovich secured a few impressive takedowns, including sending Higley airborne following an escape, leading him to a 16-7 victory by major decision. But Voinovich took on Gabe Willochell of Wyoming in round two and lost.

Iowa junior Caleb Rathjen defeated Nicholas Vafiadis of Navy by decision, 12-6, moving on to round two. Rathjen returned to action and picked up a 5-2 decision victory over Kane Naaktgeboren of Iowa State in a Cy-Hawk bout to advance to the quarterfinals. 

Freshman Miguel Estrada wrestled unattached and defeated Connor Thorpe of Northern Iowa, 14-4, in round one at 149 pounds. Estrada faced Colin Dupill of South Dakota State in round two and claimed a 7-2 victory by decision to move to the quarterfinals.

Iowa freshman Brady Benham, unattached, faced off against Finn Shepard of Tarleton State at 165 pounds. Following a hard-fought scoreless first period, a great reversal by Benham got him on the board with two points, followed by a four-point near fall to jump ahead, 6-0, and ultimately an 11-8 victory. Benham returned to action in round two against Marcus Espinoza-Owens of South Dakota State. Benham quickly fell behind 6-1 after the first period and could never recover. Espinoza-Owens went on to win by tech fall, 19-3. 

Freshman Brody Sampson took on Andrew Liber of Bellarmine as unattached at 197 pounds. Liber took a 3-0 lead with a takedown early in the second period before increasing that to 7-0 in the third period, which he rode out for the major decision victory over Sampson.

Hawkeye Sophomore Easton Fleshman took on Bellarmine’s Dalton Mayer at 285 pounds. Mayer took a quick 3-0 lead with a takedown and continued to increase his lead to best Fleshman by fall, 11-0. And Iowa’s Gage Marty lost to unattached Cameron Geuther, also at 285 pounds.

Iowa freshman Keyan Hernandez wrestled unattached against Iowa State’s Ethan Perryman at 125 pounds. Hernandez jumped out to a 3-0 lead before Perryman recorded an escape to bring the score to 3-1. Perryman was able to tie the bout at 4-4 late in period three, forcing a sudden victory period. Perryman picked up the victory by a 7-4 decision with a quick takedown. 

Hawkeye sophomore Joey Cruz faced off with Brandon Paez of Northern Iowa at 125 pounds. Cruz took an early 3-0 lead with a perfectly executed trip takedown. Cruz secured a late takedown to win the bout 13-2 and advance to the second round. 

Iowa junior Drake Ayala, ranked fourth in the country, received a bye in round one and faced Trayce Eckman of Bellarmine in round two. Ayala claimed a tech fall victory, 18-3, at 133 pounds in just over two minutes. 

Hawkeye 125-pounder Kale Petersen faced off with Josh Kyle of Wyoming and took a 6-3 lead into the second period before Kyle cut the lead to 6-4 with an escape early in period two. Petersen didn’t allow Kyle to score another point, though, as he claimed a 13-4 victory to advance to round two. 

Iowa’s Jace Rhodes defeated Missouri’s Drew Stanfield, 10-2, by major decision following a bye, moving on to the quarterfinals at 141 pounds. And also following a round-one bye, Iowa senior Cullan Schriever dominated Sam Sutton of Tarleton State in round two, winning, 18-1, by tech fall at 141 pounds. 

Iowa senior star Kyle Parco, also ranked fourth in the country, received a bye and defeated Garrett Funk of Northern Iowa by tech fall 18-1 at 149 pounds in round two. 

Redshirt freshman Isaiah Fenton began his day for the Hawkeyes in round two after receiving a bye at 157 pounds, facing Jonathan Ley of Navy. Ley took a 1-0 lead into the third period until Fenton tied it up early in the third. Ley took a 2-1 lead in the first tiebreaker period, and Fenton wasn’t able to respond as he fell by decision, 2-1.

Iowa’s No. 2 Michael Caliendo began his day with a dominant performance in round two following a first-round bye at 165 pounds, defeating Cole Nance of Bellarmine by tech fall, 20-2. And Sebastian Robles faced Dylan Elmore of Navy at 165 pounds in round two following a bye. Robles quickly fell behind and wasn’t able to recover, falling to Elmore, 8-0, by major decision. 

Iowa senior Patrick Kennedy received a first-round bye at 174 pounds and faced Silas Dailey of Minnesota in round two. Kennedy jumped out to a 6-1 lead early in the first period. Kennedy increased his lead to 17-3 in the second before securing a 20-3 tech fall victory to advance to the quarterfinals. 

Hawkeye freshman Angelo Ferrari, wrestling attached, faced Zyan Hall of Navy in round two at 184 pounds. Ferrari secured a takedown late in period one to take a 3-0 lead. Ferrari increased that lead to 4-0 in the second with an escape. Hall got on the board with an escape, countered by a takedown from Ferrari to take a 7-2 lead. Ferrari went on to secure a 10-2 major decision victory to advance to the quarterfinals. 

Aidan McCain received a first-round bye for the Hawkeyes and faced Burk Blasias of South Dakota State at 184 pounds. McCain quickly fell behind, 3-0, after a takedown from his opponent, who secured another takedown on him to increase his lead to 6-0 and a 14-5 win. 

Hawkeye fan-favorite No. 6 Gabe Arnold took on Iowa State’s Cole Carlucci at 184 pounds. Arnold jumped out to an early 6-1 lead in the Cy-Hawk bout. Arnold went on to win, 22-5, by tech fall. 

No. 2 Stephen Buchanan started his day for the Hawkeyes in round two at 197 and claimed a fall victory over Kennedy Wyatt of Bellarmine. And Iowa City’s own Ben Kueter, ranked 12th in the country, wrapped up session one for the Hawkeyes as he took on Thad Huff of Bellarmine at 285 pounds in round two. Kueter defeated Huff by fall in just over one minute. 

The Hawkeye men led the tournament in team points after session one with 53.5. 

And the women do too

Ava Bayless got the day started for the Hawkeyes and faced Kaci Bice of Life University. Bayless jumped out to an early 2-0 lead with a takedown and continued that fast start to secure a quick tech fall victory in just over one minute. 

Iowa redshirt sophomore Emily Frost took on Madilyn Peach at 131 pounds. Frost fell behind, 4-2, early on before coming back to tie the match at 8-8 after trailing by as many as 4 points. Frost secured a late headlock to secure a 9-8 victory by points. 

Hawkeye redshirt sophomore Sterling Dias faced off with Macie Anderson of Life University at 103 pounds. Dias jumped ahead with an early takedown for a 2-0 lead. Dias secured two more takedowns to win, 6-0. 

Brianna Gonzalez defeated Shea Reisel of Dubuque, 12-0, by tech fall at 117 pounds.

Ava Rose jumped out to a 4-0 lead over Devlynn Albrecht at 124 pounds, which became a back-and-forth battle as the two exchanged takedowns. Tied at 12, Albrecht ultimately won by just one. 

Cali Leng faced off with Zoey Freeman of Baker University at 124 pounds. Leng defeated Freeman by technical superiority, 12-2.

Iowa sophomore Lilly Luft took on Michaela Rankin of Brock University at 138 pounds. Lift took a 3-0 lead over Rankin early in the first period and secured a takedown to increase her lead to 5-0. Rankin responded with a takedown to cut the lead to 5-2, but Luft held onto that lead to win. 

Iowa redshirt freshman Danni Swihart faced off with Samantha Barragan at 138 pounds and fell, 7-1.  But Iowa’s Kennedy Blades bounced the Black and Gold back as she faced Cydney Bassett of Indiana Tech at 160 pounds. Blades defeated Bassett, 10-0, by technical superiority in just over one minute. 

Hawkeye redshirt sophomore Kylie Welker defeated Brooke Huffman of Team Nazar Training Center by technical superiority at 180 pounds. Welker only needed one minute and two seconds to defeat her. 

Hawkeye freshman Naomi Simon faced Arianna Mauch at 180 pounds. Simon quickly gained a lead on Mauch and never looked back, defeating her by a 10-0 margin.

Iowa’s Macey Kilty took down Harlow Skenandore, 10-0, by technical superiority at 145 pounds. 

Redshirt junior Hawkeye Katja Osteen faced Riley Dempewolf of Indiana Tech at 207 pounds. Osteen took a 1-0 lead into the second period and recorded back-to-back takedowns to increase her lead to 5-0. Osteen went on to defeat Dempewolf, 7-0. Teammate Jaycee Foeller defeated Abigail Fonseca by fall to advance to round two. 

Iowa sophomore Alivia White took on Savannah Isaac of Life Univerisity at 207 pounds. White fell behind early, 2-0, then bounced back with a takedown to tie the bout at two. Isaac then took the lead 6-2 heading into period two and crushed White, 12-3.

Samantha Calkins wrapped up session one for the Hawkeyes, defeating Daisy Cabriales of William Penn. Calkins gained an early 2-0 advantage, adding another four points to secure a quick tech fall victory, 6-0. 

The Hawkeye women sat in first place in team score after session one with 14 points.