CORALVILLE, IA — Top-ranked Iowa women’s wrestling maintained a steady performance through Session II of the inaugural NCAA National Championships on Friday, advancing seven wrestlers to the semifinals in their respective weight classes.
The Hawkeyes stand second in team scoring after day one, trailing McKendree by 2 ½ points, and leading third-place North Central by 18 ½.
At 103 pounds, sophomore Valarie Solorio faced off against junior Genesis Ramirez of Aurora. Leading 3-1 at the end of the first period, Solorio collected four more points in the second frame, emerging victorious by a 7-1 decision to advance as Iowa’s first semifinalist.
Redshirt junior Nyla Valencia, wrestling at 110 pounds moments later, took on Gabriele Tedesco, a sophomore from McKendree. Valencia trailed by three at the end of the first period, but stormed back in the second, setting her up for a 4-4 criteria win.
Redshirt junior Brianna Gonzalez faced fierce resistance from junior Icart Galumette of Delaware State at 117 pounds. A back-and-forth battle gave Galumette a 10-8 lead to start the second period. After tying the match at 10 apiece and giving herself criteria, however, Gonzalez raced to a 16-10 lead before finishing the match with an explosive pin, Iowa’s first of the session.
“I’ve been in that situation before,” Gonzalez said. “I remember last year, at the National Duals, I was down, 7-0. I came back from that, and I know I can continue coming back. I just have that confidence in myself.”
Wrestling in the consolation bracket at 124 pounds, junior Cali Leng took down Wartburg freshman Sophie Bowers with a 5:48 fall. In the second round, however, Leng fell to Eastern freshman Savannah Witt via a 9-1 decision.
At 131 pounds, redshirt sophomore Karlee Brooks scored six points against Abigail Mozden of Mount Union in the first 25 seconds of competition. Although armed with a 7-4 lead, Brooks was defeated by Mozden with a fall in 1:48.
Brooks was matched against junior Jazmene Molina of Western New England in the second round of the consolation bracket, where the sophomore pulled off a 14-7 win by decision.
Junior Lilly Luft and her opponent, freshman Jacinda Espinosa of Lindenwood, went scoreless in the first period of the quarterfinals at 138 pounds. Near the end of the second period, the two wrestlers were tied at 1-1, with the criteria favoring Espinosa. With the clock ticking away, Luft embarked on a three-point run to triumph with a 4-1 decision.
At 145 pounds, redshirt junior Reese Larramendy took on Presbyterian junior Madeline Kubicki, racking up an 8-2 lead in the first period. In the second half of the match, Larramendy extended her lead to capture a 12-2 technical fall and advance to the semis, taking the match in 3:31.
“I enjoy matches like that that are tougher, because then it tests my conditioning,” Larramendy said. “It just gives me more confidence.”
Senior Kennedy Blades faced junior Keeley Kehrli of Simpson in the quarterfinals at 160 pounds. Both competitors had pinned their previous opponents, Kehrli having done so in 28 seconds. It was Blades, however, who raced out to an 8-0 lead and, with 11 seconds left in the first period, extended the gap to a 10-0 advantage to win by technical fall.
At 180 pounds, redshirt junior Kylie Welker bested junior Azariah Moore of Lock Haven by technical fall, 11-0. In doing so, Welker became Iowa’s seventh wrestler of the day to earn a spot in the semifinals.
Capping off the day for the Hawkeyes, redshirt senior Katja Osteen competed against senior Rewa Chababo at 207 pounds for a trip to the semis. Osteen had previously lost to Chababo by a 4-1 score in the finals of the Regional Championships.
Chababo again pulled off the win by decision, 2-1, advancing to the semifinals. Osteen, meanwhile, entered the consolation bracket, where she secured a 9-0 fall over junior Elizabeth Stricklin of D’Youville in 51 seconds.
“You can’t move forward if you’re thinking about what just happened and beating yourself up on that,” head coach Clarissa Chun said.
Up next
Iowa will compete in Sessions III and IV tomorrow, both at Xtream Arena. Session III will start at 10:00 a.m., while Session IV will commence at 7:00 p.m. Both sessions will be streamed on FloWrestling and ESPN+.