Early look ahead at Iowa women's wrestling

We’re now just days removed from the first national title in Iowa women’s wrestling program history – an accomplishment that came down to as dramatic of a finish as one could possibly imagine.

So naturally, rather than bask in the success of a historic inaugural season what are we going to do?

Look ahead to what’s next.

Because for as high of expectations as there were for the Hawkeye program in Year 1, those plugged in to both this Iowa team and the state of the women’s college wrestling landscape upon its arrival would have agreed on a couple of basic premises:

1. This first title would likely not only be the toughest to win, but the Hawkeyes would be decided underdogs entering the national tournament.
2. The Hawkeye program should only get stronger and stronger as it continues to mature in the coming years.

With that first monumental achievement now in the rearview mirror, the focus immediately turns toward the ‘D’ word.

Dynasty.

In order to make that expectation a reality – for any team in any sport – the foremost objective for the brand-new season ahead is to reload, not rebuild.

Luckily for the Hawkeyes, there’s a pretty solid foundation in place, as 13/15 postseason starters will return in 2024-25, with 12 of them having been either true or redshirt freshmen in 2023-24.

That group includes four national champions, three national finalists and another three All-American finishers.

In addition, Iowa will welcome back a number of starting-caliber backups, a prominent redshirt freshman with a familiar name, plus a trio of immediate title contenders who missed all/most of last year due to injury.

Oh yeah, and that’s all before the addition of a high-powered recruiting class which, at present, contains four of the top-19 wrestlers in the Class of 2024 according to FloWrestling – a recruiting class that might not yet be complete for head coach Clarissa Chun either.

And of course, there’s always the possibility of transfer portal activity, where Iowa has hit home runs each of the past two offseasons.

Like I was saying, the expectation has been that Iowa will only get stronger year-over-year. It doesn’t appear to be an unfounded one either.

There will be shoes to fill, however. And how could there not be when a pair of two-time national champion, five-time All-Americans are walking out the door?

Key Departures

Felicity Taylor (116/123 pounds), 83-8 career record (36-2 at Iowa)

Five collegiate seasons, five appearances in the national finals, two NCWWC titles at 116 pounds – including 2024’s over teammate Brianna Gonzalez.

When you talk about consistency and excellence, Taylor epitomized both.

The Spillville native’s return to her home state following the creation of the women’s program was one of many key inflection points in the construction of the inaugural title-winning team. Even putting aside her dominance on the mat (which was obviously considerable), Taylor helped to lead the way for an incredibly young room, all the while demonstrating an infectious pride in being a Hawkeye that permeates throughout the rest of her teammates.

She was also a selfless, invaluable contributor during the dual season in which she competed up a weight class at 123 pounds – helping Iowa to an undefeated record (16-0) and an NWCA National Duals title in the process.

Marlynne Deede (155 pounds), 87-19 career record (14-0 at Iowa)

A back-to-back national champion to close her college career – first at Augsburg University in 2023, then as a Hawkeye in 2024 – Deede (also a five-time AA honoree) provided another veteran, championship presence in the lineup for Coach Chun.

She too, played a monumental role during Iowa’s dual season, swinging the momentum of the National Duals final against budding rival North Central (IL) with a first-period fall versus eventual NCWWC third-place finisher London Houston.

Ice in her veins 🥶🤷‍♀️#Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/wOP97a92TM

— Iowa Women's Wrestling (@IowaW_Wrestling) January 7, 2024

Iowa would go on to win the dual by the slimmest of margins, 21-20.

***Additionally, seniors Alexandra Baudhuin (130) and Sierra Brown Ton (136) – each All-Americans prior to arriving in Iowa City – have exhausted their collegiate eligibility.***

Now that we’ve chronicled who’s gone, let’s turn our gaze to the future – and what stands to be another loaded Iowa lineup next season.

(Please note that the NCAA has approved changes to its 10 weight classifications for next season – both old/new classes will be listed in the weight-by-weight projections to come.)

103 pounds (previously 101)

Returning

• (RS soph) Emilie Gonzalez – 2024 national champion (101)
• (RS soph) Sterling Dias – 2024 national runner up (101)

One of my favorite ongoing statistics regarding the Iowa women is that the only collegiate competition Emilie Gonzalez or Sterling Dias have ever lost to is one another (Dias leads the series 4-3).

Until such a time as that factoid changes, you’re not going to be able to convince me that the two best wrestlers in the country at the weight class don’t both reside in Iowa City.

Newcomers

• (Fr) Valarie Solorio – #3 ranked high schooler at 100 pounds

Solorio, now the first-ever PIAA girls state champion in Pennsylvania history, probably doesn’t stand to crack Iowa’s postseason lineup (top 15 across 10 weights) next season, though it’s hardly because she’s without the skills or credentials to warrant inclusion.

She also brings a different – though equally aggressive – stylistic approach to the Iowa room than Gonzalez/Dias with her willingness to engage in upper-body ties.

110 pounds (previously 109)

Returning

• (RS soph) Ava Bayless – 2024 national champion (109)
• (RS soph) Nyla Valencia – *missed all of last season with a knee injury*

I’m as guilty as anyone of not drawing more attention to Ava Bayless’ name. In part, I think it’s because she just has so many excellent teammates, but also the fact that she’s not necessarily flashy or distinctive to the more casual observer.

Of course, who really cares when you’re the national champion as a redshirt freshman, only losing once all season – to the eventual national champ from NAIA.

A ‘new’ addition to the weight class – Nyla Valencia – might also be one of the best wrestlers on the entire roster.

If not for a serious knee injury suffered last spring at the U.S. Open, Valencia would have undoubtedly made her mark in the Black & Gold this past season. Instead, the 2023 Under-20 world team trials runner-up and 2022 Under-23 world team representative (at just 18 year old) will make her Hawkeye debut next fall, quite possibly giving Iowa the top-two wrestlers in the country at 110 pounds.

117 pounds (previously 116)

Returning

• (RS soph) Brianna Gonzalez – 2024 national runner up (116)

Our first weight class at which Iowa doesn’t return a national champion, instead it’s only runner up Brianna Gonzalez, who was defeated by her teammate, Taylor, in Saturday night’s final.

One of my favorite Hawkeyes to watch compete due to her relentless pressure and point-scoring prowess, B. Gonzalez is quite possibly the top returning 117-pounder in the country – this, despite (to my eye) competing well above her natural weight class (110).

It doesn’t seem to matter though, as the California native made huge strides from Year 1 to Year 2 in Iowa City. And I can’t imagine why that improvement would stop anytime soon.

124 pounds (previously 123)

Returning

• (Soph) Ava Rose – 2024 Round of 12 finisher (123)
• (Soph) Cali Leng

An unexpected postseason contributor, Ava Rose stepped into the lineup in provided the Hawkeyes invaluable team points (5.0) at the national tournament.

Listed at 116 pounds on the official team roster, there’s a chance that Rose will make the decent down to 117 next season if that’s where she and the coaching staff believes her to be most effective. Either way, she proved herself to be a top-10 caliber wrestler at 123 last season, making notable jumps from November to March.

Iowa also returns sophomore Cali Leng, who competed at both 123 and 130 pounds last season.

Newcomers

• (Fr) Karlee Brooks – #12 pound-for-pound recruit in the country, #2 at 120 pounds

The most high-profile recruit (so far) in Iowa’s 2024 class, Brooks will arrive in Iowa City as an immediate contender to join the Hawkeye lineup.

A 2023 Under-17 world teamer for the United States (finishing fifth), Brooks is one of the best high school seniors in the country. Prep accolades aside, she has also already tested herself against some collegiate competition, running through a pair of college opens this past season (all wins by bonus) – one of which included a 10-0 tech. fall over Ava Rose in February at the Grand View Open.

A theme among pretty much every current/future Hawkeye, Brooks wrestles a fast-paced, high-scoring style that fans will very much enjoy.

131 pounds (previously 130)

Returning

• (Soph) Emily Frost – 2024 Round of 12 finisher (130)
• (Soph) Lilly Luft – 2024 5^th place at 136 pounds

Iowa could very well have a battle on its hands next season at 131 pounds between a pair of 2024 NCWWC point scorers.

In fact, we likely would’ve seen that battle take place this year if not for multiple injuries at 136 pounds necessitating a bump up from Lilly Luft.

Luft closed her freshman season in phenomenal fashion, taking fifth at the national tournament after entering as the #8 seed.

Meanwhile, though Emily Frost may have just missed out on the podium at 130, a pair of consolation pins via her signature headlock were huge for Iowa in the team race.

Given the talent returning from injury up at 136 pounds, my early guess would be that Luft moves back down (now 131 pounds) and the two sophomores give Coach Chun a pair of promising options to work with.

138 pounds (previously 136)

Returning

• (5^th-YR Jr) Nanea Estrella – *missed the final three months of last season due to injury*
• (RS soph) Esther Han – *missed most of last season due to an elbow injury*
• (5^th-YR Jr) Emmily Patneaud
• (RS Sr) Anayka Besco

The loss of Nanea Estrella this season could’ve easily derailed Iowa’s team title hopes. The subsequent loss of Esther Han only added fuel to that unfortunate, injury-created ‘fire.’

Somehow the Hawkeyes (see Lilly Luft) managed to overcome it, but I’m sure they’ll be more than happy to welcome back a pair of championship-caliber athletes at 138 pounds.

Estrella, a 2022 NAIA national finalist at Menlo before transferring to Iowa, was the favorite to win 136 pounds last season before suffering a lower-body injury while competing at Senior Nationals.

Despite less data on Han, she’d looked very much like a title contender in her own right – bonus’ing her way through the prestigious Missouri Valley Open courtesy of five falls and a tech. fall in a challenging bracket at 136.

If they’re both back to form next season, Iowa should be set here.

And if either/both miss time any time, the Hawkeyes have the luxury of a former NCWWC All-American who can step in to fill the void as needed.

Emmily Patneaud (formerly of McKendree/Central Methodist) was a legitimate option at 136 pounds last season, this despite returning in early-December from her own serious injury.

By year’s end, Patneaud was looking more and more like her former fifth-place finishing self (2022), and figures to progress even further with a full healthy summer/fall ahead of her.

Iowa will also bring back senior Anayka Besco, who competed at both 130 and 136 pounds during 2023-24.

Newcomers

• (Fr) Cadence Diduch – #4 ranked high schooler at 135 pounds

Another highly credentialed incoming freshman, Diduch, an Illinois native, could conceivably wrestle at either 131 or 138 for the Hawkeyes.

She’s already a three-time Fargo champion, including a tech. fall win in last year’s finals over future teammate Lilly Luft, and has been a fixture at other elite prep events such as FloWrestling’s ‘Who’s Number One.’

I wouldn’t rule out her ability to challenge for a starting spot if she goes 131, but the coaching staff might also like the idea of creating some separation from a massive sophomore class and elect to redshirt Diduch instead.

145 pounds (previously 143)

Returning

• (RS soph) Reese Larramendy – 2024 national champion (143)
• (RS soph) Ella Schmit – 2024 7^th place finisher (143)
• (RS Fr) Danni Swihart

The Hawkeyes are pretty much set at 145, just as they were at 143 this past season.

Reese Larramendy returns as the reigning national champion, and to my eye, continues to come into her own as one of the best pound-for-pound collegians out there.

Meanwhile, Schmit may not have had the national tournament she was hoping for (not that seventh place as a redshirt freshman is anything to sneeze at), but the number of high-profile wins she has continued to accrue over the past year-plus indicates that her ‘ceiling’ is plenty high in its own right – especially if we’re considering her Option 1B for the Hawkeyes.

Swihart, a Michigan native, redshirted in 2023-24 after arriving in Iowa City as a fairly unheralded recruit.

Newcomers

• (Fr) Kiara Djoumessi – #9 ranked high schooler at 140 pounds

Djoumessi fits the bill of what has been a staple of Clarissa Chun’s recruiting approach thus far at Iowa – lock down the very best in-state talent.

The soon-to-be Waverly-Shell Shock grad is a two-time, undefeated Iowa state champion, and one whom I believe has a lot of upside as she transitions full-time into freestyle wrestling.

Djoumessi has previously stated that she expects to redshirt next season and given the veteran talent already on the roster conceivably may not break through until another year or two beyond that. But I would file the name away as someone who could very well do some big things in an Iowa singlet by the time her career is over.

160 pounds (previously 155)

Returning

• (RS soph) Bella Mir – 2024 5^th place finisher (155)
• (Soph) Haley Ward – 2024 NCWWC’s #4 seed at 170 pounds
• (RS Fr) Rose Cassioppi

Bella Mir got a late start to her 2023-24 season due to injury, but once she got going looked very much like the 2023 Under-20 world championships fifth-place finisher from late summer.

The Las Vegas native finished the year with a 22-3 record, her only losses coming to multi-time NCWWC national finalists, including at regionals to her teammate Marlynne Deede (the back-to-back champ at 155).

Haley Ward was the lone Hawkeye not to win a match at nationals last weekend, suffering a pair of surprising defeats (both by first-period fall) after what had otherwise been an incredible true freshman season.

I believe the alternation in weight classes will actually help Ward, who was listed at 155 on the Iowa roster despite wrestling all season up at 170 pounds.

The same goes for Rose Cassioppi – younger sister to stud Iowa men’s heavyweight Tony – who has done her best wrestling at 72 kilograms (approx. 158.7 pounds).

Cassioppi redshirted her first year in Iowa City, although that didn’t stop her from competing elsewhere. With 72 kilos not being an Olympic weight, she bumped up to 76kg (~167.6 pounds) at December’s Senior Nationals event, bringing home a fifth-place finish that would automatically qualify the 19-year-old for Team USA’s Olympic Trials set for this April.

180 pounds (previously 170)

Returning

• (RS Soph) Kylie Welker – 2024 national champion (170)

Unless we get a Space Jam situation with Kylie Welker in which aliens come down to earth and take away her preternatural wrestling abilities I wouldn’t expect much to change from year-to-year for the top collegiate wrestler in the country – regardless of the 10-pound bump in weight class.

Newcomers

• (Fr) Naomi Simon – #23 pound-for-pound recruit in the country, #3 at 170 pounds

A 2023 champion at both Fargo and Who’s Number One, Simon (Decorah High School) is arguably the most credentialed women’s wrestler to come out of Iowa in recent memory.

It’s quite possible that a redshirt season is in store for the four-time state champion with others like Ward/Cassioppi bumping up to spell Welker as necessary at 180 pounds.

207 pounds (previously 191)

Returning

• (Sr) Jaycee Foeller – 2024 national runner up (191)
• (Soph) Alivia White –
• (RS Soph) Sam Calkins

Foeller, now a three-time national runner up, will be in ferocious pursuit of her first title in her senior season.

Even though she once again fell just short of the very top of the podium, her first-period semifinal pin over #1 seed Traeh Haynes (North Central) was one the single biggest outcomes in Iowa’s national championship win this past weekend.

Meanwhile, Alivia White may have an opportunity to reenter the fold after a 21-5 true freshman season during which she was a fixture in the top 10 of the national rankings.

White may have very well been Iowa’s postseason representative at 191 pounds had it not been for NCAA legal challenges opening up the possibility for Foeller (a two-time transfer) to compete in her first year at Iowa without having to sit out.

Of course, this may also present an opportunity to redshirt White in 2024-25, leaving her with three full years of eligibility to utilize after Foeller has graduated.

Another possible entry for Iowa at the newly formed 207-pound weight class is Sam Calkins.

Calkins (Brentwood, California) was considered a top 25 pound-for-pound prospect in the Class of 2022, and the #1 wrestler at 200 pounds.

She has seen minimal action thus far in two years as a Hawkeye.

Other additions?

Make no mistake, given their expected lineup the 2024-25 Hawkeyes are your national title favorites entering next season – a stark contrast to 2023-24 in which they were unquestionably the ‘challengers’ to North Central.

And yet, for as strong as the team looks already, I would not expect Coach Chun & Company to stand pat either.

There are still some high-profile undecided recruits left in the Class of 2024 that could further strengthen the Iowa roster if they were to enter the fold.

Also, as previously mentioned Iowa has crushed it in the transfer portal since the inception of the program, landing immediate champions (Taylor/Deede), finalists (Foeller) and another who easily could have joined them if not for injury (Estrella).

I’d keep an eye on the 117/124-pound range, which might be the only spots in the Iowa lineup lacking depth to go along with the top-tier talent in place.

2025 championship venue

The last thing I’d add regarding next season’s championship aspirations is that Hawkeye fans may be able to witness them up close in an even more home-friendly environment than Iowa experienced last weekend in Cedar Rapids.

Though not official yet, both Tom Kakert and I have heard that Xtream Arena in Coralville may well be the site of next year’s NCCWC’s.

Already the host of countless wrestling events, including the Soldier Salute and both the Iowa Girls State Tournament and Boys Dual Tournament, it could be an incredible stage to continue to showcase the growth of the sport at the women’s collegiate level.

I’ll keep an eye out for any future developments on the matter, and for those who weren’t able to attend the national tournament last weekend I would highly recommend making the trip in future years.

The wrestling is high-level, the freestyle action is fast-faced, and the environment is tremendous (and can get even better) for a collection of athletes who are well-worth your watching/supporting.

What more need be said?