After becoming Iowa women’s wrestling’s inaugural head coach in 2023, Clarissa Chun soon set off on a mission to gather as many talented athletes to her new squad as possible.
One of her stops on the recruiting trail led her to Macey Kilty, an unattached wrestler at the time. During the initial stages of recruitment, Chun talked to Kilty about the possibility of joining the Hawkeyes in its debut season.
“I have always had a liking and a connection with her, working with her in the development system,” Chun said. “When I first got the job here in ‘22, I did call her. I called her dad and really just kinda wanted to put it in her head an opportunity that would be in front of her and see if it would be for her.”
Despite Chun’s efforts, Kilty turned down the offer to focus on making a name for herself at the international level of the sport, opting to continue her training for the 2024 World and Pan-American Championships. Kilty placed third and first, respectively.
“At the time, my goals were the Olympics and stuff like that,” Kilty said. “I was like ‘That’s not really an option for me.’ I kinda put that in the back of my head and ended up going to UNC [Northern Colorado] and training out there.”
Chun and Kilty crossed paths again in the summer of 2024 after Chun stumbled upon Kilty at a summer training camp in Colorado. Kilty jokingly asked Chun if she had any eligibility and took her up on the initial offer to wrestle for Iowa.
Sure enough, Kilty had one more year remaining to compete at the collegiate level, and after learning that, she took a leap of faith and became a Hawkeye.
“I kinda just rolled with it,” Kilty said. “I ended up coming out here after I was done helping Amit[Elor] get ready for the Olympics. Literally got an apartment online, didn’t even see it, and just pulled up here, threw my stuff in an apartment, and started school the next week.”
While Kilty’s wrestling experience was more than most collegiate athletes, this year has been full of firsts. The first time on one unified team, the first time balancing the student-athlete lifestyle, and the first time competing in an NCWWC National Championship.
And on her first day of her hunt for a national title, Kilty didn’t disappoint.
The graduate senior dismantled Grand Valley State’s Skylar Little Soldier and Sacred Heart’s Khadijah Sanushi via technical fall, earning her way to the quarterfinals to face her toughest test of the night.
Awaiting Kilty was Sydney Perry – the No. 8 wrestler at the 145 weight class from North Central College.
Even in a top-10 matchup on paper, Kilty held her ground to keep her undefeated season intact. Her wrestling style of constant controlled aggression set the pace for the match, and she jumped out to a steady 8-0 lead in just over a minute of mat time.
With the waning seconds of the first period approaching, Kilty put the nail in the coffin on Perry, securing one last two-point takedown to place herself in the semifinals.