Blades/Kilty bring more than hardware to Iowa women's wrestling

In at least one way the Iowa women’s wrestling program is no different than any of the other recent, current or aspiring ‘dynasties’ in the realm of college athletics.

What did Alabama football do for nearly two decades under Nick Saban – or South Carolina women’s basketball of late under Dawn Staley – and Connecticut under Geno Auriemma before that?

These perennial champions were/are all relentless in their pursuit of the best talent available.

Iowa head coach Clarissa Chun and her staff have proven to be equally intentional (and successful) in their own efforts thus far.           

There may be no established ‘ranking system’ currently in place when it comes to women’s college wrestling recruiting, but if there were it’d be all but a certainty that the University of Iowa has brought in the top-rated class in the country in each of its (almost) three years of existence.

Don’t just take my word for it though. Look at the resumes of the two most recent additions to the Hawkeye program:

Kennedy Blades (age 21)

• 2024 Olympic silver medalist (76kg)
• 2023 U23 World silver medalist (76kg)
• 2023 U20 World bronze medalist (76kg)
• 2021 U20 World champion (72kg)
• 2021 US Olympic Trials runner up at age 17

Macey Kilty (age 23)

• 2024 Senior World team member (65kg)
• 2024 U23 World team member (62kg)
• 2024 US Olympic Trials runner up (62kg)
• 2023 World Silver medalist (65kg)
• 2021 US Olympic Trials runner up (62kg)
• 2019 U23 World silver medalist (68kg)
• 2019 U20 World silver medalist (65kg)
• 2018 U20 World silver medalist (68kg)
• 2018 U17 World champion (69kg)
• 2016 U17 World bronze medalist (49kg)

A year ago, only one female wrestler on the planet at 65 kilograms was better than Macey Kilty when it came to the toughest tournament in the world – the 2023 Senior World Championships.

Fast forward to this August and the same held true for Kennedy Blades – who brought home a silver medal of her own (at 76kg), hers of the ‘Olympic’ variety from Paris.

Now they’re both first-year Hawkeyes.

What they bring

It almost goes without saying that both Blades and Kilty will be prohibitive favorites to win individual national titles this season at whichever weight class they elect to wrestle.

Kilty could overlap with 2024 NCWWC champ (and Iowa teammate) Reese Larramendy at 145 pounds. Meanwhile, Blades will likely split 160/180 between herself and fellow world-class Hawkeye upper weight Kylie Welker.

Unless the pair of silver medalists had elected to attend school together elsewhere Iowa was already set to be significant favorites to repeat as national champions with the team it had in place as of mid-July (when Blades and Kilty announced their respective commitments).

Their addition(s) to the Black & Gold have since made Iowa’s stranglehold on ‘favorite’ status even tighter.

And while due to their size difference you won’t see the two of them cross paths competitively – either as Hawkeyes or in domestic/international competition – Blades and Kilty do bring with them to Iowa City some (ancient) history on the mat against one another.

Here’s the pair facing off six years ago at Flo’s 2018 ‘Who’s Number One’ event:

If you’d have told then-15-year-old Blades and 17-year-old Kilty that more than a half decade later the two would be teammates for the Iowa women’s wrestling program I doubt they’d have believed it.

But you can bet that both they and Hawkeye fans are ecstatic that things ultimately played out this way.

Blades gave this response at Media Day when asked specifically about the prospect of wrestling at Carver-Hawkeye Arena:

“Just having that environment around you – it gets you excited and wanting to perform…A lot of people come not just to watch wrestling but to have fun with it, so I’m just really excited to wear that singlet and be in my home stadium and put on a show.”

How they’ve (already) helped

If you can believe it, after all the past accolades and incoming expectations I’ve detailed for both Blades and Kilty the most significant aspect of their addition might actually be what they bring to the other members of the Iowa women’s wrestling program.

For example, during Media Day Coach Chun specifically referenced a pair of returning Hawkeyes who have already benefited from their presence in the room.

On sophomore All-American (5^th place) Lilly Luft:

“She’s now in a room getting training with Macey Kilty on a consistent basis,” said Chun. “When you get an opportunity to wrestle with a silver medalist you have no choice but to learn and grow.”

And a little over a month ago it was the reigning national champion Larramendy who got to draw upon her (newfound) highly-credentialled teammate in the lead up to a major international tournament of her own:

“When Reese (Larramendy) was training for the U20 Worlds, Macey and Ella (Schmit) were there in individual practices to help Reese get better or get ready for the U20 World Championships,” said Chun. “They’ve been great. They’ve been working well together and I’m excited for the growth of (all) of them.”

A similar sentiment was echoed by Iowa’s biggest recruit in program history prior to the arrival(s) of Blades/Kilty – and it reflects an individual maturity as well as a team-wide togetherness that will be critical as Iowa strives to become the destination for the best of the best to pursue both individual and collective excellence while representing the Black & Gold.

Hawkeyes sharpen Hawkeyes

If any Hawkeye had reason to gripe about some of the latest roster moves it might have been 2024 Senior World team member and returning national champion Kylie Welker.

The redshirt sophomore has competed in the same brackets as Blades over the past few years and gone head-to-head against the recently minted Olympic silver medalist on multiple occasions at major age- and senior-level tournaments (both domestic and international).

Welker was the original ‘shining star’ in program history after becoming its first ever commitment back in February of 2022.

B̷a̷c̷k̷ 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓 in Black ⚫🟡

Welcome to the #Hawkeyes @kylie_welker

🔗 https://t.co/Se9pR0lz8V pic.twitter.com/tferLffX6x

— Iowa Women's Wrestling (@IowaW_Wrestling) February 3, 2022

Now, she and Blades share the same practice room every day as teammates.

And that suits both aspiring 2028 Olympians just fine.

“This team is insane,” remarked Welker at Tuesday morning’s Media Day. “Some of the freshmen have surprised me in so many different ways. And then we add Kennedy and Macey – it’s just, you know, how much better can we get?”

“Now I have those girls…we’re all pushing toward the same things. We’re all on the same level. It’s a very competitive room and we’re all competitors. In the end we’re just going to continue to sharpen each other.”

As for Blades, when she’s not helping her new teammates by taking pictures and making Tik Tok videos (skills she seems quite proud of) she’s relishing the competitive, yet supportive environment of the Iowa room.

“I just love that it’s such an easy ‘switch.’ No one has any tension here. No one hates one another. We’re all just going to get better and then honestly whoever’s the best comes out on top,” says the Chicago native.

“But we just learn from each other because at the end of the day we’re not competing against one another, we’re competing against the whole nation – so yeah, I love it here.”