Inside The Hawkeyes

All You Need to Know: Iowa Women's Wrestling 2024-25 Season

Here's a season preview for the Iowa Hawkeyes' women's wrestling program, including season duals and how to watch them.

Izabelle Cool

Kennedy Blades, left, and Macey Kilty stand for a portrait during Iowa women’s wrestling media day Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024, in Iowa City, Iowa.
Kennedy Blades, left, and Macey Kilty stand for a portrait during Iowa women’s wrestling media day Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024, in Iowa City, Iowa. / Julia Hansen/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Iowa women's wrestling continues to break down walls this season, as it is the only major D1 university with a women's wrestling team.

Women's collegiate wrestling is currently in a phase where all participants compete in a national competition at the end of the season. A coalition of wrestling organizations organizes this event. Women's wrestling is anticipated to become an NCAA Championship sport by winter 2026 after a vote is held during the NCAA Convention from January 15-18, 2025.

In its inaugural 2023-24 season, the Hawkeyes went 16-0 in duals and won the National Collegiate Women's Wrestling Championship (NCWWC). The team had six champions and 12 All-Americans.

The now No. 2 Hawkeyes will begin their season on Saturday, Nov. 2, in Indianola, Iowa, to compete in the 2024 Luther Hill Open hosted by Simpson College. Other notable teams will include No. 21 William Jewell College and No. 24 Northern Michigan University.

Iowa Women's Notable Match Ups and Season Overview

*Rankings from NCAA Women's Preseason Coaches Poll

The Hawkeyes will begin their season on Friday, November 2, 2024 and end on Saturday, February 1, 2025 at the Grand View Open in Des Moines, Iowa.

No. 17 Lock Haven
Iowa will kick off the 2025 College Duals against Lock Haven in Albany, New York, on Saturday, January 25, 2025. The Bald Eagles finished seventh at the 2024 NCWWC National Championships.

Last season, the two teams met at the NCWWC National Championship, where Ava Bayless defeated Kaelani Shufeldt from Lock Haven by a score of 2-1 in the 109-pound weight class.

According to past schedules, this is the first time the two teams are set to meet.

No. 5 Presbyterian College
Iowa will compete against Presbyterian College on Saturday, January 25, 2025, in Albany, New York.

In the previous matchup in January 2024, Iowa achieved a decisive victory, defeating Presbyterian with a score of 39-4 in Des Moines. The Hawkeyes lead the series 2-0 since their first meeting in November 2023, where they defeated the Blue Hose 44-1. The Blue Hose and Hawkeyes met at the NWCA National Duals in January, where Iowa defeated No. 9 New Jersey City 37-8 and No. 8 Lock Haven 24-21.

Presbyterian has shown they can be a formidable competitor, as they wrapped up last season's championship and ranked eighth at the NCWWC Wrestling Championships. According to the preseason poll, six of the Blue Hose are ranked in the top 10 in their respective weight classes going into this season.

No. 8 Sacred Heart
After the Presbyterian dual, the Hawkeyes face the Pioneers on Saturday, January 25, 2024, in Albany, New York.

Last season, Sacred Heart was Iowa's first women's home dual in the Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Sacred Heart was ranked No. 5 at the time, while Iowa was at No. 8. Since the Hawkeyes were new to the women's league, they were ranked lower than projected.

However, they defeated the Pioneers 40-4 in a dominating experience for fans and athletes. The only match they lost was at 191 pounds when Madeline Hodges (SH) defeated Alivia White 7-0.

No. 21 William Jewell College
The Hawkeyes will host the Cardinals at the Iowa Duals on Saturday, November 16, 2026, at 1:30 p.m.

In another first for the Hawkeyes they look to defeat the Cardinals after they went 1-3 last season and mainly competed in invitationals and opens.

William Jewell placed tenth at the North Central Open, sixth at the Soldier Salute and fifth at the NCWWC Regionals.

TV and Streaming Options for Iowa Women's Wrestling

Fans at home can watch the Hawkeyes on FloWresting and B1G+ Network this season, both streaming services.

The team score updates will be updated on Track Wrestling powered by FloWrestling.

Postseason and Championship Events for Iowa Women's Wrestling

Last season, Iowa took how the National Collegiate Women's Wrestling trophy last season after Welker defeated No. 2 Yelena Makoyed of North Central, 11-0 in a technical fall, clinching a national time for her and the team. Welker earned the most team points in the tournament with 28.5 points.

After the championship, Coach Clarissa Chun was named the 2024 NWCA Coach of the Year.

The Hawkeyes are looking to repeat their win at the 2025 NCWWC Region VII Championships on Saturday, February 22, 2025, in Indianola, Iowa and the 2025 NCWWC National Championships on March 7-8 in Coralville, Iowa.

Postseason Accolades

No. 1 junior Kennedy Blades (160) became an Olympic silver medalist in the 76-kilogram freestyle this past summer in Paris, France. Blades will begin her debut season with the Hawkeyes tomorrow.

In an interview with On 3, Blades said of her choosing Iowa,

Yeah, I was just really happy. The process was pretty easy. Just the fact that I didn’t even step foot on campus, and they were already supporting me with the Olympics and stuff – because I committed a little before I wrestled.”

- Kennedy Blades in interview with On3


Another addition to the team is multiple-time World team athlete and five-time age-level medalist No. 1 senior Macey Kilty (145), who is now on the Iowa roster.

On October 30, 2024, Kilty and Welker won the Senior World Bronze in Albania in their respective weight classes. Kilty defeated Valeriia Dondupova Suvorova 8-5 after trailing 5-0 in the first period. She scored eight points to secure the victory by superiority 16-5.

Welker defeated Alexandra Anghel of Romania after leading 3-0 and held her to 5-2 to secure the win.

Iowa also has No. 1 junior Emilie Gonzalez (103), No. 2 junior Sterling Dias (103), No. 2 junior Ava Bayless (110), No. 1 junior Brianna Gonzalez (117), No. 4 senior Nanea Estrella (138), No. 2 junior Reese Larramendy (145), No. 1 junior Kylie Welker (180), and No. 1 senior Jaycee Foeller (207) returning to the mat along with other top-10 athletes.

“... I really try to have our women not think about the outcome. Yes, we want to win. That's definitely the goal. That's what we talk about, is winning those matches, national duals, national championships. But at the end of the day, let's just get better at wrestling.”

- Coach Clarissa Chun
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Izabelle Cool
IZABELLE COOL

Izabelle is a senior at the University of Missouri studying Sports Broadcast Journalism and Sociology. She's from Kansas City, Mo., and has covered wrestling since 2023. Previously, she covered wrestling, soccer, and tennis for the student newspaper The Maneater.

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