Inside The Hawkeyes

Iowa Men's and Women's Take Home 12 Titles After the 2024 Soldier Salute

Both teams finished in first place during the third annual event held in Coralville, Iowa.

Izabelle Cool

Iowa’s Emily Frost wrestles Team Nazar Training Center’s Madilyn Peach in a 131-pound match during the Soldier Salute wrestling tournament on Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024, at Xtream Arena in Coralville, Iowa.
Iowa’s Emily Frost wrestles Team Nazar Training Center’s Madilyn Peach in a 131-pound match during the Soldier Salute wrestling tournament on Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024, at Xtream Arena in Coralville, Iowa. / Julia Hansen/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Iowa wrestling proved dominant in both the men's and women's categories at the third annual Soldier Salute in Coralville, Iowa. The men's team scored 248 points and had seven wrestlers bring home individual titles in their respective weight classes. Iowa women's wrestling also took home the team title with 215.50 points and five individual titles.

In the competition, wrestlers faced off in head-to-head matches, which were organized by weight classes rather than by schools. The finals included a matchup at 145 pounds with Macey Kilty facing her own teammate, Reese Larramendy. Kilty took home first with an 8-1 win. Another notable matchup featured both Iowa wrestlers Kylie Welker and Naomi Simon at 180 pounds, where Welker dominated the match, achieving a 10-0 victory over Simon.

Iowa junior Kennedy Blades was awarded the Soldier Salute Women's Most Outstanding Wrestler after she finished first with a technical fall in the 160 finals. Blades successfully completed five technical falls throughout the two-day tournament.

Iowa Men's Wrestling

Soldier Salute Champions

The first win of the men's championships was an Iowa head-to-head match at 133 pounds between No. 4 Drake Ayala and Kale Petersen. Ayala came out on the mat with force to hold Petersen to only five points to his 20 and secure the technical fall win.

After Session III of the 2024 Soldier Salute, Iowa men's wrestling sent nine wrestlers to the finals Sunday night. Iowa's Patrick Kennedy (174) had an upset Sunday afternoon over No. 19 North Carolina Josh Ogunsanya in the semifinals. Kennedy was able to hold Ogynsanya to three points and secure an 11-3 major decision win to advance to the finals. In the only ranked match of the afternoon for Iowa, No. 4 Kylee Parco (149) defeated No. 22 Gabe Willochell from Wyoming in a 12-6 decision.

Men's Soldier Salute Results - First Place

  • 133 pounds – #4 Drake Ayala (Iowa) tech. fall Kale Petersen (Iowa), 20-5
  • 149 pounds – #4 Kyle Parco (Iowa) decision over #6 Lachlan McNeil (UNC), 8-5
  • 165 pounds – #2 Michael Caliendo (Iowa) vs. #9 Andrew Sparks (Minnesota), 7-6
  • 174 pounds– Patrick Kennedy (Iowa) decision over #18 Danny Wask (Navy), 6-2
  • 184 pounds – Angelo Ferrari (Iowa) MFF #6 Gabe Arnold (Iowa)
  • 197 pounds– #2 Stephen Buchanan (Iowa) major decision over Aeoden Sinclair (Missouri), 15-4
  • 285 pounds – #12 Ben Kueter (Iowa) decision over Bennett Tabor (Minnesota), 1-0

Iowa Women's Wrestling

As the final session of the 2024 Soldier Salute approached, the women's wrestling team achieved seven pins and 17 technical falls in Session III alone. Ten wrestlers advanced to the finals in eight of the ten weight classes.

Championship Results

  • 103 pounds - No. 2 Sterling Dias, sixth place, loss to Olivia Atkins (William Penn) by injury default
  • 110 pounds - No. 2 Ava Bayless, second place, 16-5 loss to Anaya Falcon (Life)
  • 110 pounds - No. 5 Emilie Gonzalez, third place, in a 6-2 decision over Val Solario (Iowa)
  • 110 pounds - Val Solario, fourth place, loss to E. Gonzalez
  • 117 pounds - No. 1 Brianna Gonzalez, first place, decision over Salyna Shotwell (Life), 6-0.
  • 124 pounds - Cali Leng, sixth place, loss to Anna Krejsa (Life)10-0.
  • 124 pounds - Ava Rose, seventh place, decision over Mia Goodwin (Unattached) 12-11
  • 131 pounds - Allie Baudhuin, sixth place, injury default against Madilyn Peach (Team Nazar TC)
  • 131 pounds - Emily Frost, second place, technical fall loss to Sarah Savidge (Life), 10-0
  • 138 pounds - Cadence Diduch, first place, decision over Samantha Barragan (Texas Wesleyan), 8-6
  • 138 pounds - Danni Swihart, second place, loss to Jade Martin (Baker) by fall at 4:12
  • 145 pounds - No. 1 Resse Larramendy, second place, loss to No. 3 Macey Kilty (Iowa) by an 8-1 decision
  • 145 pounds - No. 3 Macey Kilty, first place
  • 160 pounds - No. 2 Kennedy Blades, first place
  • 180 pounds - No. 7 Naomi Simon, second place, 10-0 technical fall loss to No. 1 Kylie Welker (Iowa)
  • 180 pounds - No. 1 Kylie Welker, first place, 10-0 technical fall over Simon
  • 207 pounds - Sam Calkins, fifth place, win by forfeit to Katja Osteen (Iowa)
  • 207 pounds - No. 1 Jaycee Foeller, second place, loss by 2-1 decision to Savannah Isaac (Life)
  • 207 pounds - Katja Osteen, sixth place
  • 207 pounds - No. 5 Alivia White, fourth place, loss by fall at 5:29 to Riley Dempewolf (Indiana Tech)

Up Next

Iowa women's wrestling will have a 10-day break before heading to the NWCA National Duals on January 10-11 in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The duals will be streamed on FloWrestling.

Iowa men's wrestling will have a 12-day break before heading to Madison, Wisconsin in a conference dual against Wisconsin. The dual will begin at 2 p.m. CST and be streamed on the Big 10 Network +.

Published
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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