Iowa women’s wrestling secured a commanding victory in Sunday’s All-Iowa Dual against Central and Cornell College, and in her Carver-Hawkeye Arena debut and her 19th birthday, first-year Harlee Hiller made herself known amid the Hawkeyes’ dominance.
After claiming a title at 117 pounds at the Luther Open on Saturday, Hiller maintained her undefeated streak with a technical superiority over Central’s Aniya Coleman and a pin over Cornell College’s Cheyenne Mulford.
“It was just so cool,” Hiller said. “I’m just so grateful for the opportunity. When I walked into Carver, I was just blown away by how amazing the fans were, how amazing everything was. I’ve never experienced anything that cool.”
A graduate of Loyola Academy, a college preparatory school in Wilmette, Illinois, Hiller’s high school accolades included two state championships, the first two-time state title-holder for girls wrestling in Illinois. Her background in judo saw her a 2025 USA Judo Junior Olympic Champion, as well as a Junior Judo World Team Member that same year.
Iowa head coach Clarissa Chun attributed some of Hiller’s success to her prior experience on the big stage.
“I think people forget she’s competed [at the] Pan Am games, World Championships in judo,” Chun said. “She goes about business and gets things done, knows where she wants to be. As a freshman, that’s awesome right?”
Chun also praised the first-year’s adjustment to the program.
“Harlee brings a different style,” Chun said. “There’s been some cases in practices where I’ll use her as an example of how to wrestle her style. It also is good for her to work through when people avoid or try to stop whatever she wants to execute. It allows the room to just evolve and get better and work in areas that might feel unfamiliar.”
Fourth-year Reese Larramendy attributed the team’s overall success to resilience and discipline.
“Regardless of the arena that we’re in, who we’re facing, we have very high expectations of ourselves, high standards of the team, of our coaching staff, of everyone,” Larramendy said. “I think what that resembles is our standards and our expectations of excellence that we have for each other and for ourselves.”
Despite her past accomplishments and accolades, Hiller doesn’t believe that she’s ever competed on her birthday, especially at such a high level.
“That was just really surreal to be on my birthday, my debut in Carver,” Hiller said. “I’m just so grateful. That was so awesome.”