One year ago, the Iowa women’s wrestling team needed a Kylie Welker decision victory to narrowly beat top-ranked North Central College and win the first NWCA National Duals championship in program history. One year later, the stars aligned for a repeat of that same matchup — but this time it wasn’t as close. This time around, the Hawkeye’s didn’t need a last-minute victory. This time, Iowa took care of business and utterly dominated the Cardinals, 28-13.
In just two seasons, head coach Clarissa Chun’s Hawkeye program has been solidified into the world of women’s wrestling and established as one of the premier programs in the entire sport.
In the inaugural season for the program last year, Chun and her coaching staff went 16-0 in dual competitions, led Iowa to a 2024 National Collegiate Women’s Wrestling Championship, and simultaneously produced six individual champions and 12 All-Americans. But with the back-end of this season now underway, one crucial difference comes in the impactful additions made over the offseason.
The first addition that has made an immediate impact has been Macey Kilty, a graduate student that has given the Hawkeyes an immediate boost in the 145-pound weight class. The 2024 Pan American Gold Medalist has posted an 18-0 record for Iowa this season along with taking first-place finishes in the North Central Open and the Soldier Salute.
Third-year Kennedy Blades has been the other major addition to the Iowa roster this season. After winning the silver medal in the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics, Blades came into the year with a lot of hype around her name. And so far this season she has not disappointed, taking the collegiate world by storm and showing everyone that she is one of the most dominate wrestlers in the 160-pound weight class.
Blades has posted a perfect 14-0 record with 13 of those victories coming via technical fall. While only competing in two open competitions, Blades has made easy work in both — winning the Luther Hill Open and the Soldier Salute in dominating fashion.
This year, as the Hawkeyes won their second-straight NWCA National Dual title, both Kilty and Blades played massive roles. Kilty bested former Hawkeye and now No. 4 Bella Mir at 145 pounds before Blades beat No. 7 Tiera Jimerson, 11-0, at 160. Even Welker at 180 pounds wrapped things up quickly, pinning Shenita Lawson in 41 seconds.
“With every year we continue to grow, continue to get better,” Welker said. “We have a lot of really good additions to the team this year.”
Another thing these additions bring to the team is an increase of competition. For Welker, the addition of Blades and Kilty have brought the best out of her as a wrestler in pushing her every day in the wrestling room.
“Competition in the room is fantastic,” Welker said. “You have Macey, Kennedy … around my weight. We have so many good girls, and we all bring so many different things to the table. Being able to rotate through those girls as practice partners has been really crucial for all of us.”