Iowa Women's Wrestling - #2 Hawks out-dual #2 Life to cap 2-0 day
It was a successful Friday down in Marietta, Georgia for the Iowa women’s wrestling program.
The #2 Hawkeyes won a pair of ‘Eagle Madness’ duals – capping their day with a hard-fought 30-14 victory over NAIA host (and fellow #2 ranked team) Life University.
We’ll get into the details in a bit. However, one imagines head coach Clarissa Chun will be quite pleased with her team’s effort considering the circumstances.
Iowa will return to the mat Saturday morning for the ‘Eagle Madness Open’ portion of events. As of now, 14 Hawkeyes are expected to compete across nine different weight classes:
But let’s get back to Friday, first.
A year after posting a perfect 16-0 dual record (and National Duals title) this year’s Iowa women’s wrestling team began a journey of its own. So far so good.
Here’s how it all played out:
#2 Iowa routs (NAIA) #14 Hastings, 46-1
Friday began with about as quick of an opening dual as one can fathom – lasting roughly 16:40 in real time.
Here’s the rundown as Iowa squared off with Hastings College (NE):
- Two forfeit victories (103 and 124 pounds)
- Four falls (110, 138, 145 and 207)
- Four tech. falls (117, 131, 160 and 180)
The only team point that Hastings was able to muster came in a 15-2 loss to #10 Skye Realin at 131 pounds.
(Remember, in women’s college wrestling if an athlete scores in a match, they automatically earn one team point – so long as they aren’t pinned.)
The victory also marked the first Iowa dual wins for transfers Realin and Katja Osteen (207) – plus redshirt/true freshmen Rose Cassioppi (160) and Naomi Simon (180).
*Fellow freshmen Rianne Murphy (103) and Val Solorio (124) also ‘won’ via forfeit.
Arguably the two most impressive individual wins both came from members of Iowa’s Hawaiian contingent.
At 131, Mililani native Realin used a trio of four-point throws to tech (NAIA) #8 Larissa Kaz in the first period. Immediately after that it was Makawao’s #5 Nanea Estrella who earned her own top-10 victory.
Estrella – in her first competition back following a Lisfranc injury suffered last December – won via fall in 1:57 over (NAIA) #6 Reagen Gallaway.
That ‘appetizer’ would set the stage for the marquee matchup of the weekend.
#2 Iowa bests (NAIA) #2 Life University, 30-14
I noted in my weekend preview that reigning (NAIA) National Duals champion Life would pose a stiff challenge for the Hawkeyes.
That proved to be the case on this night, as the Eagles led 7-6 through three matches.
True freshman Rianne Murphy led things off for the Hawks with a 1:33 fall at 103 pounds. The Wyoming Seminary (PA) graduate racked up three takedowns before sticking Life’s Brianna Funakoshi on her back.
Fellow ‘frosh’ Val Solorio followed at 110 where she’d run into another excellent young lightweight in Life’s second-ranked Anaya Falcon – a 2024 U20 World team member.
A back-and-forth match in the early going turned on a confusing review sequence. Originally scored two for Iowa to knot things up at 4-4, Solorio’s points would be wiped off the board altogether.
What should’ve been (at worst) 6-4 was instead 6-2, and the first-year Hawkeye never really recovered, losing 12-2.
Iowa’s slow start would continue at 117 as top-ranked (110-pounder) Ava Bayless took her first loss of the season. Bayless bumped up to face (NAIA) #6 Salyna Shotwell and never really got things going.
A two-point deficit at the break would extend to four, then six in the second period as the reigning national champ struggled to break ties from her bigger opponent.
Things almost went from bad-to-worse as Bayless was forced to fight off her back for the final minute of the match. But she’d hold on and minimize the damage.
The score was now 7-6, Life.
Another top-ranked Hawkeye bumping up in weight would stop the bleeding at 124. Brianna Gonzalez (#1 at 117) found another gear after intermission to turn a 3-2 deficit into a 12-3 win over #4 Anna Krejsa.
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Now leading 9-8, the Hawks would really ‘take flight’ from there.
Realin gets Iowa ‘rollin
The last time Skye Realin wrestled against Sarah Savidge (April 15, 2023) the result was a 17-6 tech. fall loss in the semifinals of the U20 World Team Trials.
Now having been a part of the Iowa women’s wrestling program for the past four months, Realin would flip the script in a major way this time around.
The tenth-ranked (NCAA) 131-pounder pinned (NAIA) #2 Savidge in just 0:45 to silence a rowdy road crowd. Realin stuffed a long shot attempt from the Eagle, then pancaked Savidge to her back for the fall.
It was exactly what the Hawkeyes needed to settle an otherwise up-and-down start to the dual.
Shortly after Realin’s big win Iowa would get two more.
Nanea Estrella rolled to a 12-2 tech. fall at 138 against touted freshman Netavia Wickson. The fifth-ranked Hawkeye quickly adjusted after giving up the opening takedown and cruised from there.
#1 Reese Larramendy would require no such ‘urging’ at 145. The returning national champion got on top early and put her match to bed via four quick turns (10-0).
In the span of three matches Iowa had extended its lead from 9-8 to 22-9.
Rose Cassioppi’s 10-0 defeat to #1 Latifah McBryde at 160 would temporarily halt the momentum. But by that point the Hawkeyes were already in command.
Another fall by another freshman (Naomi Simon at 180) clinched things once and for all. The Decorah (IA) native led 8-0 against (NAIA) fifth-ranked 160-pounder Ugochi Anunobi when she ran a bar for the pin.
A 3-2 win by #1 Jaycee Foeller at 207 would put the finishing touches on Iowa’s 30-14 victory.
Short Time
I said on multiple occasions that the dual against Life would present a serious challenge for the #2 Hawkeyes.
And yet, even without its three World/Olympic medalists – plus several other heavy hitters who were unavailable – the Iowa women’s wrestling program showed once again that it knows how to get the job done regardless of the circumstances.
(It should also be noted that Life didn’t wrestle a pair of top-ranked athletes at 138 and 145 pounds.)
This Iowa lineup should only get stronger and deeper as this season progresses. And that’s got to be a scary thought for the rest of the competition.
A reminder that the Iowa women will be back in action tomorrow morning (9:00 a.m. CT).
We could see several of today’s excellent matchups (and more) during Saturday’s open tournament – streaming live on FloWrestling.
I’ll be back afterwards to recap it all, but until then I hope everyone enjoyed today’s duals – both the ‘appetizer’ and the ‘main course’ that followed.
