The Iowa men’s and women’s wrestling teams took home 12 total champions between both programs at the Soldier Salute inside Xtream Arena in Coralville on Monday.

The No. 2 men sent nine wrestlers to the finals at the end of the two-day tournament, seven coming home with titles. And they won the team title with 248 points. The No. 1 women sent 10 wrestlers to the finals, and five returned with titles. The women’s team as a whole also won the team title with 215.5 points.

“We knew today was going to be a grittier day,” women’s head coach Clarissa Chun said. “The more you get into the competition, the tougher the matches are going to get … I thought our women did a good job overall trying to make sure they’re staying in it. The takeaways to work on are some technical ones that we just have to go back to the drawing board. As far as individually and collectively as a team, how can we capitalize in certain situations and not get caught in simple stuff?”

Iowa’s No. 4 Drake Ayala faced off against teammate Kale Petersen for the first-place title at 133 pounds. Ayala struck first with a 3-0 lead in the first period and increased his lead to 6-1 following the first. He added on early in the third, taking an 11-2 lead and building that to a 20-5 tech fall for the 133 pound-title. 

Senior No. 4 Kyle Parco took on Lachlan McNeil of North Carolina at 149 pounds for the first-place title. After two missed shot attempts from Parco, he finally secured the leg of McNeil and dropped him for a takedown. Parco extended his lead to 6-0 and took it into the second period. McNeil got on the board with an escape to start the second period, but no more points were scored until McNeil cut the lead to 7-4 in the third. Parco remained strong to claim first place with an 8-5 victory by decision. 

“Parco was dominant,” Iowa head coach Tom Brands said. “A quick finish led to quick back points. He dominated the match until about 40 to go, and then he’s in deep and has the guy up in the air. That guy’s good with your head on the outside, so you’ve got to finish with basics. Then we went high-flying and gave up a takedown then started to wrestle a little bit uncharacteristic of where we want to be”

At 165 pounds, No. 2 Michael Caliendo faced off with Andrew Sparks of Minnesota in the first-place bout. Caliendo struck first, taking a 3-0 lead before an escape from Sparks made it 3-1 headed into the second period. Sparks crawled back to take a 5-3 lead until Caliendo recorded an escape to make it 5-4 headed into the third period. Caliendo came right back with a beautiful reversal to make it 6-5. And after Sparks tied it back up at six, Caliendo came out on top, 7-6, with riding time. 

Hawkeye 174-pounder Patrick Kennedy continued his tear this season as he took on Danny Wask of Navy for the title at 174. Kennedy jumped ahead with a takedown to gain a 3-0 advantage. Wask responded with an escape to cut the lead to two, but Kennedy secured an escape to extend his lead to 4-1 at the start of period two. Kennedy rode out his lead for a 7-2 victory to claim the 174-pound title too.

Hawkeye teammates in freshman Angelo Ferrari and redshirt freshman No. 5 Gabe Arnold faced off in the 184-pound title game. Ferrari was awarded the victory over Arnold by medical forfeit.

No. 2 Stephen Buchanan took on Aeoden Sinclair of Missouri at 197 pounds. Buchanan scored an early takedown to take a 3-0 lead and extended his lead to 6-0 heading into the second period. He executed a three-point takedown followed by a push-out to extend his lead to 13-1, cruising on to a 15-4 major decision.

“He’s cool and composed and maybe rushed a little bit,” Brands said. “It’s 13-1 there, and 16-1 is a tech fall. He just needs to go out there and do what he does best and let it come to him because he’s so good with that flow.”

Iowa City’s own No. 12 Ben Kueter wrapped up the first-place bouts for the Hawkeye men, facing off against Bennett Tabor of Minnesota at 285 pounds. Kueter and Tabor went the entire match scoreless, but Kueter was able to secure the victory, 1-0, with riding time and take home the title at heavyweight. 

Brands knew Kueter wasn’t happy with the way his match went but made sure to let him know all that matters is the win.

“Sometimes you have to win how you have to win,” Brands said. “Kueter was not happy with himself and wanted to represent himself better than that, but he won a tough match.” 

The Iowa men finished first in team scoring over the weekend with 248 points, 121.5 points ahead of second-place Northern Iowa.

As for the women, at 110 pounds, redshirt sophomore Ava Bayless faced Anaya Falcon of Life University for the first-place title. Bayless took an early 2-0 lead before Falcon evened up the score with a takedown of her own. The latter gained the lead with a go-behind, making the score 4-2. Falcon increased her lead to 9-3 and rode it to a championship victory over Bayless, 16-5, by technical superiority.

Brianna Gonzalez battled with Salyna Shotwell of Life University for the first-place title at 117 pounds. Gonzalez took the first shot, securing a two-point takedown to take an early lead. She increased her lead to 6-0 following a perfectly executed counter to Shotwell’s shot attempt and held it for a 6-0 victory by points to claim first place. 

Emily Frost took on Life University’s Sarah Savidge for the 131-pound title. Savidge came out aggressively, taking a 2-0 lead with a quick takedown. Savidge extended her lead with three push-outs to make it a 5-0 deficit for Frost, the former holding her ground the rest of the way, not allowing a single point from Frost to claim the 131-pound title with a win by tech fall.

Freshman Cadence Diduch faced Samantha Barragan of Texas Wesleyan for the first-place title at 138 pounds. Diduch stormed out of the gates to an early 6-0 lead. Barragan got on the board to cut the lead to four at 6-2 and again cut into Diduch’s lead to make it 6-4 before the break. Barragan tied the match up at six, but Diduch snatched the lead back with six seconds remaining with a takedown to secure the title at 138 pounds. 

“It was a great opportunity for her to step in and compete in the finals and show what she’s capable of,” Chun said. “It was cool coaching her in the corner because she made mid-match adjustments, little adjustments from the 30-second break, and technical adjustments that she brought to the mat in the second period … She has this quiet way about her; she’s like a silent assassin. She’s just going to keep plugging, keep working, so it was exciting to see her get that outcome.”

Hawkeye teammates Macey Kilty and Reese Larramendy battled for the 145-pound title. Kilty took the lead almost immediately and held onto it through the remainder of the bout to take the first-place title at 145 pounds, 8-1.

Olympic silver medalist Kennedy Blades faced off with Life University’s Latifah McBryde for the first-place title at 160 pounds, which she won with ease in a 13-3 technical superiority victory that saw takedown upon takedown.

“She’s a professional,” Chun said. “There’s no bigger stage than being on the Olympic stage, so she’s prepared mentally for things like this to happen … In a questionable situation, she’s confident in her position … She’s great. She’s a competitor. She was ready for it.”

Freshman Naomi Simon took on teammate Kylie Welker for the 180-pound title, and Welker showed dominance as she secured the title with a quick 10-0 victory over her teammate by technical superiority. 

At 207 pounds, Jaycee Foeller wrapped up the first-place matches for the Iowa women, taking on Savannah Isaac of Life University. Foeller scored first, taking a 1-0 lead, but it was short-lived as Isaac secured a takedown for a 2-1 lead. Isaac held that lead for the remainder of the bout, winning the 207-pound title, 2-1.

The Hawkeye women came out on top of the leaderboard in team scoring with 215.5 points, beating out Life University by 16.5 points. Life University gave Iowa the most fits throughout the tournament, especially on day two where it took the lead in team scoring at one point. Chun made sure Life University got the credit it deserved. 

“Everyone looks at Iowa because of where we’re at in the sphere of college athletics, but Life [University] is tough,” Chun said. “There are so many tough teams out there — North Central; Grand Valley State is a new program making itself known. There are a lot of great female wrestlers across the country, and they’re going somewhere … [Life] makes us better, so I’m so grateful they’re here at Soldier Salute. It’s good to have that competition amongst other schools.”

Up next

The Iowa women’s wrestling team returns to action Jan. 10-11 when it competes at the NWCA National Duals at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The men return to the mat on Jan. 12, when they take on Wisconsin to kick off the Big Ten duals season.

Brands was pleased with the performance of his wrestlers but knows they’ve got work to do. 

“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” Brands said. “We’re going into a training phase now … This competition, we love it here in our home backyard. We love it.”