CEDAR FALLS — No. 1 Iowa women’s wrestling executed through two challenging days of competition to win the NWCA National Duals title on Saturday for the second-straight season.
The Hawkeyes faced off with McKendree University in the semifinal, defeating the Bearcats, 33-11, to advance to the final. There, they took on North Central College and won again, 28-13, to claim the title.
Sterling Dias led off the second day for the Hawkeyes, taking on Gabriele Tedesco at 103 pounds. Following two slow-moving minutes, including three passive calls, Tedesco got on the board with two push-outs to take a 2-0 lead heading into period two. Tedesco added on to make it 4-0 before Dias even got on the board. Dias could not claw back as she fell by decision, 6-3.
Emilie Gonzalez looked to get the Hawkeyes in the win column as she faced off with Samantha Miller at 110 pounds. Miller got on the board first for McKendree with a takedown before Gonzalez responded with a takedown of her own. Following the break, Gonzalez took the lead in period two with a takedown and never looked back as she secured the victory by fall, 10-2.
At 117 pounds, Brianna Gonzalez faced Norah Swaim. Gonzalez took the lead early with a takedown — although Swaim took the lead, 4-2. But a review changed the call to a two-point takedown for Swaim instead of four points, and Gonzalez jumped back in front with an escape, which she followed with a takedown to carry a 5-2 lead into the second period. After the break, Gonzalez extended her lead to 9-2 with a takedown followed by a reversal. Gonzalez rode this lead through the remainder of the period, taking a 9-2 victory by decision to push Iowa’s team lead to 9-4.
Second-year Cali Leng faced Shelby Moore at 124 pounds. Moore struck first with a takedown just 40 seconds in to take a 2-0 lead, which she maintained into period two. Moore extended her lead to 3-0 with a push-out early in period two. Leng got on the board with a push-out too, but it was too little too late for Leng as she fell by decision, 6-2.
Fifth-year Emmily Patneaud looked to get the Hawkeyes back on track as she faced Alexandra Szkotnicki at 131 pounds. Patneaud got on the board late in the first period, taking a 1-0 lead into the break. Szkotnicki knotted the match up at one before taking a 3-1 lead with a takedown. And Patneaud was unable to respond as she fell by decision, cutting the Iowa lead to 11-10.
At 138 pounds, Iowa’s Nanea Estrella faced off with Viktorya Torres. Estrella got on the board first with a takedown just 30 seconds in. After the break, Estrella executed a takedown to increase her lead to 5-0 before locking up the win by fall.
Iowa’s Reese Larramendy took on Savannah Gomez at 145 pounds. Larramendy took a 1-0 lead late in period one and extended it to 2-0 with a push-out in period two. Larramendy began to pull away late in the second period before Gomez got on the board with a takedown, but Larramendy ultimately claimed the victory, 8-2.
At 160 pounds, Olympic medalist and current Hawkeye Kennedy Blades faced Kaylynn Albrecht. Blades took the lead early as she drove Albrecht out of bounds for a push-out. Blades followed with another push-out and takedown to take a 4-0 lead. The lead only continued to grow as Blades took an 8-0 lead into the break, executing a takedown early in period two to claim the victory, 12-0, by tech fall.
Kylie Welker looked to continue the win streak for the Hawkeyes against Tristan Kelly at 180 pounds. Welker jumped out to a 2-0 lead early with a takedown. Kelly had no answer as Welker defeated her by fall in just under one minute, extending Iowa’s lead to 28-11.
Alivia White closed out the first dual for the Hawkeyes at 207, taking on Manusiu Muti. Muti quickly gained a 1-0 advantage before White secured a takedown and control to take the lead at 4-1. White then perfectly executed a throw to pin Muti and win by tech fall, locking up the win for the Hawkeyes at 33-11.
One more time
The Hawkeyes looked to claim a championship title as they faced off with North Central in the final contest.
Dias started things off again for Iowa, facing Madison Avila at 103 pounds. Dias snatched the lead first, gaining a 1-0 advantage late in the first period. The score remained at 1-0 in favor of Dias as the first period came to a close. Dias extended her lead to 2-0 before Avila got on the board with a push-out, and Avila tied the match at two before Dias recorded a push-out with just eight seconds remaining to secure the victory by decision, 3-2.
Iowa’s Ava Bayless took on Kendra Ryan at 110 pounds. Ryan got on the board first before Bayless responded with an escape to cut Ryan’s lead to 2-1. Bayless stole the lead from Ryan with a takedown to make it 3-2, and she increased her lead with another takedown to secure the victory by decision, 5-2.
At 117 pounds, Gonzalez faced off with Sydney Petzinger. Petzinger struck first, piling on six points within 30 seconds. But Gonzalez persevered and scored nine-straight points in period two after being down 7-1 after the first to win, 10-7, by decision.
“She’s hyper-focused,” head coach Clarissa Chun said of her 117-pounder. “She knows that she’s never out of the match … She keeps adjusting and working towards what she wants to do.”
At 124 pounds, Leng took on Janessa George and grabbed a 1-0 lead with a push-out following two passive calls on George. Leng took her lead into period two, where she extended it with a takedown. George could not find an answer as Leng rode out her lead the rest of the way, securing the victory, 3-0, by decision.
Redshirt second-year Hawkeye Emily Frost made her first appearance of the day for the Hawkeyes at 131 pounds against Amani Jones. Frost snatched a lead early, but Jones responded almost instantly to take a 2-1 lead. Jones extended her lead to 6-1 with a four-point takedown. Frost managed to get back on the board with a takedown in the second period, but Jones shot back with a takedown of her own to extend her lead to 9-3. Jones was too much for Frost to handle in the end as Jones claimed the victory by tech fall to cut Iowa’s team lead to 13-7.
At 138 pounds, Estrella returned to take on Sara Sterner. Estrella grabbed an early lead with a takedown, but Sterner made sure that didn’t last long as she executed a four-point takedown. Estrella gave Sterner a taste of her own medicine with a four-point takedown of her own, but Sterner shot right back with another to give her an 8-6 lead in a back-and-forth first period. Estrella cut the lead to 8-7 at the end of period one. In period two, Estrella knotted the score at eight before executing a picture-perfect takedown to reclaim the lead, 10-8. Estrella extended her lead to 13-8 to take take the victory.
Macey Kilty made her first appearance of day two for the Black and Gold too, facing off with former Hawkeye Bella Mir at 145 pounds. Kilty came out firing, taking a 4-0 lead within the first minute. Mir cut the lead in half with a takedown, but Kilty answered with another two points to make it 6-2. Kilty grew her lead to 10-2 before the end of period one. Period two was a stalemate before Mir piled up four points late as Kilty claimed the victory 11-6. The lead for the Hawkeyes grew to 19-9.
Blades returned to the mat at 160 pounds and picked up right where she left off, executing two takedowns within the first 20 seconds to jump ahead at 6-0. Blades cruised her way to a tech fall victory. Blades went 4-0 through both days with all four victories coming by tech fall.
“The last two days have been amazing, especially just being with the team,” Blades said. “We fought in every match … I haven’t done duals in a long time, so it felt amazing to have everyone fight for Iowa, and we were together.”
Blades also mentioned her competitiveness and where it comes from:
Welker faced off with Shenita Lawson at 180 pounds. Welker pinned Lawson in just under 30 seconds, extending Iowa’s lead to 28-9. White closed the day for the Hawkeyes, falling to Traeh Haynes by tech fall at 207. Iowa won the National Duals championship by a score of 28-13.
“North Central is competitive,” Chun said. “They’re a great team. They have a great lineup across 103 to 207. This is what wrestling is about. We want that competition. It’s those hard-fought matches that you learn so much more about yourself. It makes us better.”
Up next
The Hawkeye women’s wrestling team returns to action on Saturday, Jan. 18, where it will face Augustana College and fourth-ranked Grand Valley State in the second edition of Iowa Duals at 6:00 p.m. at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City.