The Iowa Hawkeyes had one of their most dominant performances yet in the semifinal round of the NCAA Regional Tournament at Simpson College in Indianola, with every wrestler making it to the first place match.  

Iowa’s women didn’t just win the semifinal round, they dominated, only giving up 6 total points combined in the semifinal round. The two pins of the round came from 124 pounder Cali Leng and 207 pounder Katja Osteen. Both wrestlers pinned their previous opponents, with Osteen doing this to three people in a row this tournament. 

The Hawkeyes were not as dominant in the final round, but won the tournament taking home first in all weight classes except for two. The story of this round was battling through injury, as four different wrestlers had to stop their match for injury. The Hawkeyes won three of those four injury pauses, showing the determination from these women. Iowa 117 pounder Brianna Gonzalez almost had to forfeit after a leg injury, and had already given up five points to her opponent, Dubuque 117 pounder Shea Reisel. After Gonzalez was cleared to go she came back from the 5-0 gap to 5-8 and won by a pin to bring home first. 

The most dominant performance of the tournament has to go to Iowa 180 pounder Kylie Welker. Welker not only had a flawless run to win her weight class, not dropping a single point, but was also never on the mat for more than a minute. Her first two matches ended with pins, with 49 seconds being the longest of the two. Her semifinal match and 1st place match were the shortest, with both ending in alligator rolls that lead to a technical fall. Including her 1st place match, which was only 15 seconds, she spent only 1:26 minutes on the mat this tournament.

The next stop for the Hawkeyes will be at home in Coralville, Iowa, for the NCAA National Championship in Xtreme Arena on Friday, March 6 and Saturday, March 7.