CEDAR FALLS – If there is one observation that women’s college wrestling fans have concluded this season, it may be the consistent dominance of the Iowa Hawkeyes, a team that seems to quickly take care of their opponents and always remain in the hunt to secure points.
This aggressive style of wrestling was something that Iowa head coach Clarissa Chun wanted to establish when she was named the program’s first head coach in 2021.
Chun’s strategy promptly established the Hawkeyes as a national powerhouse, winning both the NWCA and NCWWC national championships in the program’s inaugural season in 2023-24. And not only was Iowa winning, they were crushing opponents, with most teams managing only a few team points in each bout.
That supremacy has continued into the early portion of the 2024-25 season, where the Hawkeyes have been ranked No. 1 throughout most of the year and are again demolishing opponents.
But day two of the NWCA National Duals was different, as Iowa’s young wrestlers were tested to win matches in different ways.
After earning a 33-11 victory over fourth-seeded McKendree University in the semifinals to begin the day, Iowa advanced to the championship match against No. 2 seed North Central College–a familiar foe who the Hawkeyes placed behind in the NCC Open on Dec 15.
“North Central is competitive,” Chun said. “They have a great team and a great lineup from 103 to 207. This is what wrestling is all about.”
Instead of mowing through the entire roster, Iowa, as expected, was met with an immediate challenge from the Cardinals and knew from the beginning that this dual would not be a walk in the park.
The Hawkeyes jumped out to a comfortable 12-3 lead after four bouts, but the scoreboard didn’t entirely paint a clear picture of the action, as three of the four triumphs stemmed from comeback efforts.
At 103 pounds, second-ranked Sterling Dias faced off against 10th-ranked Madison Avila for the Cardinals. Up 2-0 with 2:04 remaining, Dias gave up a handful of points in the waning seconds of the period to even up the score. But with her back against the wall, Dias remained aggressive and secured a game-winning point with eight seconds on the clock to secure an opening victory for Iowa.
No. 2 Ava Bayless followed and quickly found herself down by two points to No. 4 Kendra Ryan. Bayless bounced back to score late in the first and catapulted off of that momentum, scoring the next four points en route to a 5-2 triumph.
The most valiant comeback effort came in the form of 117-pounder Brianna Gonzalez. Gonzalez entered the match undefeated, but quickly fell into a 7-1 hole to No. 2 Sydney Petzinger in the first round.
But Gonzalez refused to lose, collecting six points in the first 1:30 of the second period to push momentum back in her favor. Gonzalez still trailed late in the final frame, but recorded three points in the final minute to secure the victory. These incredible victories left North Central in stunned silence, and the Hawkeyes rode the large wave of emotion to a dominating 28-13 victory, claiming the program’s second consecutive NWCA National Dual championship.
Third-year Kennedy Blades credits Iowa’s intense, somewhat uncomfortable situational work in practice for helping them prepare for some of the sport’s most tense moments.
“In practice, we do a lot of situation drills,” Blades said. “We have so many high-level girls in the room that we just compete against each other. The coaches have really helped us prepare for these really tough matches and for the girls to bite down. I mean it really showed today.”
“For me, those are the exciting ones[matches], not only as a wrestler but as a teammate to watch,” fellow third-year Kylie Welker added. “Having those one-point matches is a testimony to who we are and the hard work really showed today.”