Why Iowa women's wrestling is ranked #2 in the preseason poll
Hawkeye fans can all be forgiven for the puzzled looks on their faces upon seeing the Iowa women’s wrestling program ranked second in the recently released NWCA Preseason Coaches Poll.
The returning national champs will be stronger than ever in 2024-25 thanks to a stacked group of returners, a dynamite freshmen class and arguably the two best ‘transfers’ in the history of the sport.
So, what gives with being ranked number two?
It’s a two-part answer – and I’ll respond in kind.
That feels like the prudent path to take as one attempts to illustrate how the reigning NCWWC team champions and their 12/15 returning postseason starters can manage to fall three (projected) team points behind King University (TN) entering 2024-25.
For additional context, among those 12 postseason starters are four first-place, three second-place, a fifth and a seventh-place finisher from the 2024 national tournament.
(Again, I’ll explain momentarily how this was all possible.)
The first part of the answer lies with the aforementioned King University Tornado – which must be emphasized has a damn good team this year.
Tornado on top
A total of 12 King wrestlers make an appearance in the top 10 of the individual preseason weight class rankings.
*Only the top-ranked athlete in any given weight class is counted toward their team’s projected points.
Seven of those wrestlers finished third place or better at NCWWCs this past March and four others earned All-American honors – finishing fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh respectively.
That returning firepower is why Tornado athletes claim three #1 individual rankings – exactly half of Iowa’s (absurd) six.
Other than 207 pounds, where King does not have a wrestler currently ranked, it also has a quartet of (projected) point scorers ranked third or higher, plus a fourth (at 180) and a sixth (at 103) to boot.
Make no mistake, they’re really good. They’re really deep. And they’re absolutely a threat to knock off the Hawkeyes at multiple weight classes.
Even still, none of that would’ve been enough to hold off Iowa for the #1 ranking were it not for a seeming ‘policy’ that, while it may be a matter of consistency for the ranking committee, actually obscures the (obvious) reality of the NCAA women’s wrestling landscape entering each and every season.
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When World/Olympic medals don’t actually ‘count’
Kennedy Blades is a 2024 Olympic silver medalist.
Macey Kilty is a 2023 Senior World Championships runner up who just collected her seventh career World medal (all age levels) at the Under-23 Championships in Albania.
You’ll find neither of their names in the NWCA Preseason Coaches Poll.
No, these coaches aren’t dumb. And no, they aren’t blatantly spiteful toward the Iowa women’s wrestling program.
They’re well aware of how good the likes of Blades/Kilty are – overwhelming favorites to win individual national titles this season.
The ‘problem’ is that they haven’t showcased those skills in official collegiate competition…yet.
Because of this, it’s my understanding that they cannot even be submitted to the ranking committee for a possible placement in this latest poll. For the same reasoning you will not find any true freshman (from any school) with a number next to her name when the 2024-25 season gets underway next week.
*The NAIA Preseason Coaches Poll abides by neither such philosophy, BTW.
Iowa also happens to have at least five such freshmen whose talents/credentials are easily ‘ranking-worthy’ at the outset of their college career(s).
But hey, rules are rules. At this time a year ago, the Hawkeyes were ranked eighth in the preseason coaches poll. It took them fewer than three weeks to ascend to the #1 spot by the time the next edition of the poll was released.
Head coach Clarissa Chun would eventually lead that team to an undefeated (16-0) dual record, National Duals and NCWWC team titles, and a half-dozen individual national champions.
I’ve got a feeling this year’s team is going to be just fine, too.
And with the season a mere seven days away we won’t have to wait long to find out.
