The No. 1 Iowa women’s wrestling team dominated at the NCWWC Region VII Championships at Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa, on Saturday in a strong showing leading up nationals in two weeks.

The Hawkeyes took home 10 individual champions, while advancing all 15 who competed. Ten Hawkeyes brought home individual titles while five others finished second in their respective weight classes.

Redshirt second-year Sterling Dias made her first appearance of the day for the Hawkeyes at 103 pounds, taking on Carissa Hersom of Wartburg. Dias made quick work, defeating her by fall in 56 seconds. First-year Rianne Murphy faced Ava McNeal of Sioux Falls in the 103-pound semifinals too, quickly scoring a double-leg takedown and pinning McNeal in just 31 seconds to advance to the final. 

Hawkeye teammates Murphy and Dias faced each other there, and Dias found the board first with a takedown halfway through period one. Dias doubled up just before the break, taking a 4-0 lead into period two. Murphy got on the board, but her teammate was too much as Dias claimed the title with an 8-2 victory by decision. 

At 110 pounds, redshirt second-year Emilie Gonzalez cruised to the final with three technical fall victories. And following a first-round bye, redshirt second-year Ava Bayless cruised her way to the finals at 110 pounds with a technical fall victory and a pin. 

So Gonzalez and Bayless faced off in the final at 110 pounds, and Bayless scratched the scoreboard first with a takedown, but the teammates were in a stalemate for the remainder of the first period. Early in the second, Bayless secured another takedown to stretch her lead to four. Gonzalez could not get on the board as Bayless defeated her teammate by decision, 4-0, to take the title. 

Brianna Gonzalez continued the domination for the Hawkeyes as she secured two technical fall victories to lock up a spot in the final at 117 pounds. In the final, Gonzalez took on Shea Reisel of Dubuque. Gonzalez grabbed an early lead and ran with it, finishing Reisel with 20 seconds left in the first period to win, 11-0, by tech fall.

Cali Leng powered into the 124-pound finals with victories by pin, technical fall, and a 7-0 decision over Augustana’s Sandie Pfeil. Leng faced off with Wartburg’s Liannette Ortiz in the final. Ortiz found the board first, but Leng responded quickly with a takedown to gain a 2-1 advantage into the second period. Leng built her lead in the second as she ultimately defeated Ortiz, 12-1, by tech fall. 

“Cali wrestles true to who she is,” head coach Clarissa Chun said. “All season, she was probably considered an underdog. This is her first tournament being seeded, and how she took that and performed was no different than how she’s competed all season.”

Emmily Patneaud mowed down the competition, advancing to the final at 131 pounds with a pin in the quarterfinals and a technical fall victory in the semifinals. Patneaud took on Kylie Rule of Wartburg in the final although Rule grabbed an early lead with a takedown before Patneaud evened things up with a takedown in period two. Patneaud snatched the lead with another takedown as she rode her lead to secure the comeback victory by decision, 5-2.

Nanea Estrella advanced to the finals with a 12-0 win by technical fall, followed by a hard-fought 5-2 victory over Nina Makem of Augsburg. Estrella faced Aniyah Kelly of Wartburg in the championship final. The redshirt fourth-year jumped out to a 6-0 lead before Kelly cut into the lead with a takedown. Estrella added onto her lead to secure the victory, 12-2, by tech fall.

At 145 pounds, Macey Kilty rolled into the finals with ease. Kilty secured a pin in round one, a quick technical fall victory in the quarterfinals, and another pin in the semifinals. Kilty pinned May Prado of Wartburg in just 26 seconds in that semifinal match. Also at 145, Reese Larramendy cruised through the first two rounds with technical fall wins to lock herself into the semifinal round, followed by an 11-4 decision victory in the semifinals to secure a spot in the final.

Kilty and Larramendy battled for the title at 145 pounds, and Kilty jumped ahead early and built her lead to 8-0 heading to the break. In period two, Kilty secured a four-point finish to defeat her teammate, 12-0, by tech fall.

Hawkeye fan-favorite Kennedy Blades wasted no time at 160 pounds, defeating her first three opponents each by technical fall. All three of Blades’ matches lasted a combined one minute and 41 seconds. Blades returned for the title match against Keeley Kehrli of Simpson. Blades again attacked early, executing a double-leg takedown on the edge to grab a 4-0 lead. Blades went on to defeat Kehrli by tech fall, 10-0.

At 180 pounds, Kylie Welker dominated her way into the finals with back-to-back 10-0 technical fall wins over Augustana teammates Katie Whelan and Sawyer Graham. First-year standout Naomi Simon also cruised into the finals at 180 with two technical fall victories over Argelis Hernandez Perez of Dubuque and Ellie Poulette of Wartburg.

Welker and Simon faced off in the title bout at 180 pounds, and Welker grabbed an early 4-0 lead with a takedown and roll-through. Welker added on as she defeated her teammate, 10-0, by tech fall to claim the championship crown.

At 207 pounds, Jaycee Foeller dominated Angie Guy of Augustana and Simpson’s Morgan Miller, defeating each, 11-0, by technical fall to secure a spot in the title bout. Alivia White also took the mat for Iowa at 207, pinning her way to the semifinal. White came away with a narrow victory in a hard-fought battle, 2-1, over Wartburg’s Rewa Chababo to advance to the final.

So Foeller and White saw one another in the last Hawkeye-on-Hawkeye match of the day in the final at 207. Foeller snatched a lead early with a pair of takedowns and carried an 8-0 lead into period two as White didn’t have an answer for her teammate. Foeller fended off White in period two to grab the first-place finish. 

“Just wrestle what’s in front of them, and not look ahead,” coach Chun responded when asked about her message to the team coming into the tournament. “Sometimes we have to remind them to take care of business — the match that’s in front of them. When you have three or four weeks since they’ve competed, there can be all this built-up energy to go punch your ticket to nationals, so we just make sure that they’re not overdoing it.”

Up next

The Iowa women’s wrestling team will send the same lineup to the NCWWC National Championships on March 7 and 8. The event will take place at Xtream Arena in Coralville, Iowa, and is set to begin at 10 a.m. on both days.