Skip to main content
iowa logo

Iowa wrestling recap: Hawks win both team titles at Soldier Salute

by:Tanner Lafever•12/30/24•

TannerLafever

Angelo Ferrari
The standout match for the final day at the 2024 Soldier Salute may have been the one that didn't happen, between freshmen Angelo Ferrari (pictured above) and Gabe Arnold. (Photo Credit: Iowa Wrestling official Twitter)

It was a day of many titles for the two University of Iowa wrestling programs at the 2024 Soldier Salute.

With Session’s III and IV finally completed on Monday evening, over half of the first-place winners were Hawkeyes.

Seven men and five women were crowned individual champions for the Black & Gold. And both Iowa wrestling squads also topped the team score in their respective divisions.

Tom Brands’ Hawkeyes won in runaway fashion ahead of second/third place Northern Iowa and Minnesota.

Among the individual champs:

  • #4 Drake Ayala (133)
  • #4 Kyle Parco (149)
  • #2 Michael Caliendo (165)
  • Patrick Kennedy (174)
  • Angelo Ferrari (184)
  • #2 Stephen Buchanan (197)
  • #12 Ben Kueter (285)

The women’s half of the ledger was a different story. NAIA’s #1 ranked Life University battled the (NCAA) #1 Hawkeyes tooth and nail – as has become customary over the past few years.

But in the end, Clarissa Chun’s squad prevailed, despite an original scoring system ‘snafu’ that had folks (me included) believing otherwise for a minute.

Half of the spots atop the (individual) podium were claimed by Hawks, including:

  • #1 Brianna Gonzalez (117)
  • Cadence Diduch (138)
  • #3 Macey Kilty (145)
  • #2 Kennedy Blades (160)
  • #1 Kylie Welker (180)

Now, here’s some more on the day (and tournament) that was at Xtream Arena.

Disappointingly (if somewhat expectedly), fans miss out on Arnold/Ferrari final

Even with the gobs of winning done by Iowa wrestling over the past two days, it sure feels like the biggest storyline exiting this weekend will be the match we didn’t see.

Redshirt freshman Gabe Arnold and true frosh Angelo Ferrari both cruised into the 184-pound final with little issue in semifinal victories this afternoon.

In doing so, the collective attention of Iowa wrestling fans (and media for that matter) turned toward the possibility of a showdown between the two.

Those thoughts/hopes turned out to be for naught, as Ferrari was awarded the title via medical forfeit. Arnold never took the mat, and Ferrari had his hand raised to tepid applause from the disappointed Iowa faithful.

Asked post-tournament about #6 Arnold medically forfeiting, Tom Brands went on to say the following:

That may not be of much solace to Iowa fans – who crave great, entertaining wrestling like the air they breathe. Even so, this was hardly an out-of-left-field outcome.

I said as much in my weekend preview article.

The bottom line is this: Iowa has a good ‘problem’ on its hands with two talented options at 184 (and 174) pounds. And Brands is correct in that the Hawkeyes don’t need to make a final decision right now on December 30.

Do I understand the fan reaction to what transpired tonight? Absolutely.

But as someone who kind of saw this coming ahead of time, I guess I personally didn’t get too worked up about it.

The last thing I’ll say is that somehow the intrigue has only grown as to what might happen next…

Blades delivers in showcase opportunity – thanks in part to a game opponent

The ‘best’ part about the absence of Arnold versus Ferrari on Monday night was that it gave the entire stage to Kennedy Blades.

Set to contest her 160-pound finals match against top-ranked NAIA opponent Latifah McBryde (Life) side-by-side with the men’s 184-pound bout, the reigning Olympic silver medalist was afforded solo billing instead.

And boy, did she (and McBryde) deliver.

A lengthy review of an early sequence gave Iowa fans and the entire Life women’s team sitting mat-side the chance to trade loud chants back-and-forth. And when action finally resumed with Blades up 7-2, she and McBryde continued to duke it out.

Forget about NCAA or NAIA, I don’t believe there’s a better women’s collegiate wrestler at 160 pounds than Blades/McBryde.

That showed on Monday evening, as McBryde was able to cause Blades trouble in a variety of positions. Even so, Blades would show her (Olympic caliber) mettle as the match wore on, securing the 13-3 tech. fall victory.

Said Iowa head coach Clarissa Chun of Blades, “She’s a professional…and there’s no bigger stage than the Olympics, so she’s prepared mentally for things like this to happen.”

The sizable pro-Iowa crowd in attendance sure enjoyed the heck out of the performance, too.

It was another fitting experience for the first-year Hawkeye, who has previously said that entirety of being an ‘Iowa wrestler’ – including big-time environments like tonight – was a huge part of what drew her to hop into college wrestling for the first time this season.

I sure hope Iowa wrestling fans are as grateful to have Blades in their lives as she is to be a Hawkeye. Because tonight sure was awesome.

Other (men’s) results of note

Whatever slowed Drake Ayala to ‘only’ a 6-2 decision in Sunday’s quarterfinals was long-gone by the time Monday rolled around.

The Iowa junior blitzed his way to consecutive tech. fall wins to earn his second Soldier Salute title in as many years. Ayala’s finals match against teammate Kale Petersen was an absolute mismatch, ending early via 20-5 margin.

At 149, Kyle Parco picked up his highest-ranked win of the (young) season, defeating #6 Lachlan McNeil (North Carolina) 8-5 in the finals.

Parco essentially put the match to bed with an early six-point sequence. The Arizona State transfer tripped McNeil to the mat after nabbing a single leg. He’d then quickly transition into a set of three near fall points.

That, plus a ride out, left Parco with what turned out to be an insurmountable 6-0 advantage at the end of the first period.

At 165, #2 Michael Caliendo prevailed in a scrambly 7-6 affair over #9 Andrew Sparks (Minnesota) thanks to a riding time point. He was followed by another Hawkeye champ at 174, as Patrick Kennedy bested Navy’s 18th-ranked Danny Wask in a never-in-doubt 6-2 decision.

#2 Stephen Buchanan had an enticing Monday from a viewer’s perspective, facing a pair of elite true freshmen en route to his title at 197.

In the semis, the Hawkeye used a mean third-period ride out to earn the 2-0 win over Oklahoma State’s Cody Merrill.

“He’s cool and composed,” said Tom Brands of his 197-pounder.

And in the final, fans got to see the whole arsenal that Buchanan has to offer, as he opened up the throttle in a 15-4 major decision over Missouri’s Aeoden Sinclair.

Iowa’s final champ of the night was #12 heavyweight Ben Kueter, earning a hard-fought 1-0 win over Bennett Tabor (Minnesota).

Other (women’s) results of note

At 117 pounds, #1 Brianna Gonzalez capped an undefeated, unscored upon weekend with a 6-0 win over NAIA #5 Salyna Shotwell (Life).

After a bit of downtime, she’d be joined atop the podium by a quartet of her teammates.

True freshman Cadence Diduch (138) was first, closing out an 8-6 victory against NAIA #3 Samantha Barragan (Texas Wesleyan).

Things got dicey late, as a 6-0 lead turned to a 6-6 advantage on criteria with Barragan in on a leg for the potential match-winning takedown. But the youngster from Freeport, Illinois stayed composed, scoring a two-point exposure to salt things away for good.

Sandwiched around Blades’ title at 160 were a pair of all-Iowa finals at 145 and 180. In both instances, the winner was a 2024 Senior World bronze medalist.

#3 Macey Kilty (145) prevailed over returning national champion, #1 Reese Larramendy, 8-1, and #1 Kylie Welker (180) did likewise with a 10-0 tech. fall over #7 Naomi Simon.

Iowa did have three other finalists – all of whom lost to elite opponents from Life University.

At 110, #2 Ava Bayless saw things get away in the second period of a 16-5 loss to star freshman Anaya Falcon. Meanwhile, sophomore Emily Frost fell to 0-4 in her college career against NAIA #2 Sarah Savidge.

And in the final match of the tournament, #1 Jaycee Foeller couldn’t generate the winning score in a 2-1 loss to #3 Savannah Isaac – whose late-first-period takedown stood up as the winner at 207.

I’d also be remiss not to mention Reese Larramendy’s semifinal at 145, where the redshirt sophomore was as good as I’ve ever seen her in a 13-0 shellacking of NAIA #1 Jamilah McBryde – a stark contrast to last year’s 42-point shootout loss in the finals.

Final tally

In addition to the Iowa wrestling finalists I’ve spent far too many words summarizing, a few other notes on the overall team performance of both programs:

  • The only finals defeats for the Iowa men came against their own teammates (at 133 and 184).
  • Jace Rhodes (fourth at 141), Cullan Schriever (sixth at 141) and #28 Joey Cruz (sixth at 125) were the remaining men’s placewinners.
  • #5 Emilie Gonzalez bested teammate Val Solorio for third place at 110 pounds, Ava Rose did similarly over Mia Goodwin (competing unattached) for seventh at 124.
  • Alivia White (fourth at 207) and Sam Calkins (5th at 207) were Iowa’s other top-five placers.
  • Sterling Dias (103), Cali Leng (124), Alexandra Baudhuin (131) and Katja Osteen (207) all took sixth at their respective weight classes (Dias medically forfeited three-consecutive matches after reaching the semifinal).

And while the Iowa men ran away and hid with their team title this weekend, I’d like to make one last mention of the competitive race on the women’s side.

Life University – located in Marietta, Georgia – is home to one hell of a team, coaching staff and overall program.

While outsiders may think that a school like Iowa has a monopoly on all the best talent in women’s college wrestling, that very much isn’t the case.

Asked how Life continues to force Iowa to up its own level as a program, Clarissa Chun spoke effusively in her praise:

“You feel it. They’re gritty. They fight. They don’t go down for anything.”

“No different than (Iowa’s own talent) in the room, it raises women’s wrestling in the US at the collegiate level. They make us better, so I’m grateful that they’re here.”

Short time

Well, that’ll just about do it for me this weekend.

I thought I was in for a great few days of wrestling before I made the trip down for the 2024 Soldier Salute, and that absolutely proved to be the case.

It’s not only a great event to showcase Iowa wrestling, but the sport as a whole. And the fact that fans (and media) get the opportunity to watch some of the best collegiate men and women from around the country descend upon Coralville to slug it out over two days is tantamount to a gift from the ‘wrestling gods.’

I hope all of you who attended, watched from home or perhaps even just followed along with my helter-skelter coverage were able to get that same sense from the event.

For as good a weekend as this was for the Hawkeyes and their 14 combined team/individual titles, I’d argue that it was even better for me personally.

And that’s why as I sit here in a barren Xtream Arena with the clock approaching 10:30 p.m., I do so with the slightest of smiles on my face.

This was a whole lot of fun to cover for Hawkeye Report. And I can’t wait to (hopefully) make it back again next year.

‘Till next time.

You may also like