Skip to main content
iowa logo

Women's Nationals recap: Naomi Simon paces Iowa with U20 title

by:Tanner Lafever•04/14/25•

TannerLafever

Naomi Simon
Naomi Simon won a U20 World Team Trials title in dominant fashion for the second-consecutive year. (Photo Credit: Iowa Women's Wrestling Instagram)

My sincerest apology for the delay as it pertains to this latest Iowa women’s wrestling update.

After following along with last weekend’s Women’s Nationals event (April 4-6), the days thereafter turned increasingly chaotic for yours truly.

Not that it’s necessarily of any concern to you guys out there reading this, but I wanted to make sure you knew that it was not the intent to go this long before recapping such a significant competition for the Iowa program.

As I detailed in my preview of Women’s Nationals, 19 different Hawkeyes headed west to Spokane (WA) with aspirations of winning U20/U23 national titles – the former also cementing their spot on the upcoming U20 World Championships team.

After three long, hotly contested days of action one of those Hawkeyes – Naomi Simon – achieved that goal. Meanwhile, a dozen of her teammates reached the podium themselves.

All told, Iowa wrestlers went 70-32 against a collection of the best young women’s wrestling talent in America.

*That 70-32 mark excludes forfeits (for any reason) and injury defaults but does include one head-to-head matchup between Iowa teammates.

Of those 70 victories, 74.3 percent (52) of them came via technical fall or pin.

Even so, the Hawkeyes will probably rue several missed opportunities to bring home even more hardware.

Part of that can be chalked up to a stacked field that only grows more and more competitive by the year. Another portion can be traced back to some poor injury luck for several Hawkeyes.

Lucky for you, I’m here to detail every which angle of it all.

So, let’s not waste another second and get into it – starting with someone who’s making a habit of winning titles when she takes the mat in Spokane.

Six wins, six pins

A year ago, Naomi Simon steamrolled her way through the U20 field at 76 kilograms – earning bonus points (three tech. falls, three falls) in each of her matches.

Apparently, that wasn’t quite satisfactory for the 18-year-old, because she somehow one-upped herself this time around.

The Decorah native wrestle a half-dozen times over two days. And on each of those occasions she ended the match with her opponent’s shoulder blades planted squarely on the mat.

Six wins, six pins.

Talk about a fitting mantra for someone who was also quite proficient scoring bonus points during her first collegiate season – often doing so with authority much like this:

The sophomore-to-be actually trailed at some point in 4/6 matches last weekend. Two of those instances were in her best-of-three final against Stella Steigler. But rather than deter Simon in any sort of way, the adversity seemed to only spur her on.

Perhaps that’s the benefit of having been (and won) on this stage before.

Now, Simon will see if she can one-up herself again, this time on the world stage.

A 2024 U20 World bronze medalist, an August trip to Sofia, Bulgaria provides her the opportunity to win a different colored medal (ideally gold) in 2025.

(Pin your way to that title and then we’ll really have something to talk about.)

Runners up

While Simon was the only Hawkeye to top the podium in Spokane, three others came achingly close.

Ava Bayless (U23 – 50kg), Lilly Luft (U20 – 62kg) and Cadence Diduch (U20 – 65kg) each reached a best-of-three final in their respective brackets. Two of them (Bayless/Diduch), won bout #1 of their finals only to lose both #2 and #3.

But we’ll start with Luft, who had arguably the most impressive showing of any Hawkeye given the season she just went through.

Multiple knee injuries limited the Charles City native to just five matches in her second collegiate campaign. Even still, less than a month after not even making Iowa’s postseason lineup Luft (sporting a heavy wrap on one knee and a pad on the other) went on to have her best-ever finish at a World Team Trials event.

A come-from-behind semifinal win (5-4) over Hanna Errthum reversed an 11-5 loss from their previous meeting a year ago. And it gave Luft the chance to scrap tooth-and-nail in a narrow finals sweep (3-0 and 4-3) at the hands of Haylie Jaffe – a 2023 U17 World bronze medalist and recent NCWWC runner up.

The officiating during the second of those two matches was somewhat dubious in this writer’s opinion. But rather than harp on what wasn’t, let’s keep the focus on what was – as in what was an incredible effort by Luft to put herself in that position.

For Cadence Diduch – competing up from her usual weight class – 2025 represented a cruel twist of fate from the year prior, when won this same tournament.

In 2024, it was Diduch who overcame an opening bout defeat in the best-of-three finals to make the U20 World team. This time the script was flipped, as Daniella Nugent took bouts #2 and #3 to win the spot at 65kg:

  • Round 1 (Diduch, 5-2)
  • Round 2 (Nugent, 2-2)
  • Round 3 (Nugent, 6-4)

It was almost a miraculous comeback victory for the Hawkeye in the rubber match.

Trailing 6-0 after a trio of go-behind takedowns off her own errant shots, Diduch got rolling in the second period with a pair of takedowns to make it a two-point gap. And with 15 seconds left she was on the attack once again but couldn’t quite free her arm to convert the winning score before time expired.

As runners up, both Luft/Diduch will be members of Team USA at the U20 Pan-American Championships held in Lima, Peru this July.

And for Ava Bayless, it was a somewhat different, though no less heartbreaking loss in her U23 final.

Unscored upon across the four matches prior, the junior-to-be then won an absolute shootout (15-12) to begin her final series against Heather Crull – the 2024 champ and a former U17 World bronze medalist.

But after suffering what appeared to be a hip/midsection injury early in bout #2 Bayless never quite looked the same.

Crull outscored the Hawkeye by a combined 14-0 to conclude the series – winning both matches via first-period fall.

Fortunately, whatever the injury was, it doesn’t appear to be something long-lasting and/or significant.

This past weekend, Bayless took bronze at the U23 Pan-American Championships down in Mexico.

How much (if at all) that might ease the sting of her finals loss in Spokane is anybody’s guess.

On the podium – U23 edition

The next highest placers for the Iowa women last weekend all came from the U23 division.

Emilie Gonzalez (50kg), Brianna Gonzalez (53kg) and Reese Larramendy (65kg) each finished third – a combined 17-3 record between them.

And once again, there were ‘what-ifs’ aplenty.

For Emilie Gonzalez, a semifinal lead (8-8 on criteria) against Crull suddenly evaporated with barely 90 seconds to go as Crull converted a takedown plus a quartet of gut wrenches to seal the deal.

Meanwhile, Brianna’s run at a title ended in similarly shocking fashion.

Wrestling an opponent – I-Cart Galumette – whom she’d beaten handily in both of their previous meetings, Gonzalez led 6-0 in the early going. But everything changed when Galumette converted a seemingly inauspicious single-leg position, tripping Brianna to her back for a stunning first-period pin.

A (U20) victor in 2024, her hopes of a 2025 U23 crown were gone in the blink of an eye.

Conversely, another returning champ, Reese Larramendy, nearly turned the tables in her own incredible manner.

Forced to chase after an early shot/scramble put her in a 5-0 hole, Larramendy was in dire straits when she countered Nina Maken to her back from a seemingly disadvantageous position with 0:25 left.

But the mat official never asked for confirmation of the fall as Larramendy tried desperately to plant Makem’s shoulders on the mat. And so, time ran out in a 5-4 semifinal defeat.

In total, the trio of Emilie/Brianna Gonzalez and Larramendy won 13/17 matches via bonus points – outscoring their foes 171-17 in those 17 bouts.

But it’ll likely be the three (losses) that got away which will stick with them most from 2025 Women’s Nationals.

Iowa’s fifth and final U23 medalist was Rose Cassioppi – who went 3-3 to take sixth at 72 kilograms.

On the podium – U20 edition

Beyond its three finalists, five other Hawkeyes reached the podium in the U20 division.

Advancing furthest among them in the championship bracket was Karlee Brooks (59kg).

Her eventual sixth-place finish was matched by incoming 2025 recruit Isabella Gonzales (53kg) – both of whose circumstances I’ll further detail in a bit.

Meanwhile, Iowa had three other quarterfinalists in Val Solorio (50kg), Cali Leng (57kg) and Emily Frost (59kg).

Perhaps no member of this entire quintet had a more impressive showing than Solorio.

Not only did she finish highest among them on the podium (fourth), but she was incredibly competitive against several high-level foes.

A pair of elite high schoolers – Morgan Turner (#2 pound-for-pound) and Jaclyn Bouzakis (#5 P4P) – represented huge tests. And while Turner – a U17 World champ – proved a little too quick with some explosive leg attacks/laces, Solorio adjusted thereafter.

Trailing 6-2 in the consolation semis, the Hawkeye converted a big four-pointer on the edge to earn the match-winning points against Bouzakis (2023 U17 World bronze).

Meanwhile, her third-place bout (a 12-9 defeat) against NCWWC runner up Gabriele Tedesco (McKendree) could’ve easily gone in Solorio’s favor were it not for a pair of four-point counter scores off her own attacks.

All in all, it was a strong weekend for the young lightweight – in victory and defeat.

Solorio rolled past several other foes thanks to highlight reel moves like this.

The aforementioned Leng/Frost duo posted an overall record of 7-5 (in contested matches) en route to podium honors.

Frost secured 3/4 wins via her signature headlock. The junior-to-be fell in the quarterfinals to Iowa teammate Karlee Brooks (8-0) and in the consolation semis (12-8) to Jax Realin – younger sister of current Hawkeye Skye Realin – before taking fifth at 59kg with a medical forfeit ‘win’ over Brooks.

Speaking of which…

Bumps and bruises (and hopefully nothing more)

Unfortunately, injuries were a sizable part of the story for the Iowa program at Women’s Nationals.

Aside from those competing with them as best as they could (i.e. Ava Bayless), four other Hawkeyes did not contest/finish their final match of the tournament.

After missing much of her freshman season due to various ailments, Karlee Brooks looked sharp reaching the semifinals at 59kg.

But after a loss to the eventual champion Aubre Krazer, Brooks medically forfeited both of her matches the following day.

Returning U17 World teamer Isabella Gonzales had a somewhat similar experience.

During each of her losses in the quarters/consi semis the 17-year-old Californian led by sizable early margins. But if memory serves, on both occasions Gonzales took injury time for an apparent shoulder issue, preceding eventual come-from-behind pins by her two opponents.

Ultimately, Gonzales and/or her coaches elected not to contest her final match of the tournament.

Iowa’s other incoming recruit – Samantha Sachs – took her own early exit after appearing hobbled in her second match at 59kg.

The 2024 Junior Fargo champion later posted on Instagram that she’d been dealing with a preexisting injury entering Spokane. No further details were provided as Sachs – fourth a year ago in the U17 division – toed the line just twice.

And last but certainly not least, the scariest moment of the weekend came courtesy of Sterling Dias (U23 – 50kg).

The two-time All-American’s head hit the mat hard as she looked to score during her third match of the tournament.

Thankfully, after an extended check by the mat-side trainers Dias was able to walk off under her own power. And while the injury default marked the end of her competition, she could be seen standing in the corner for her teammates as they competed in the days thereafter.

The Final Four

The other four Iowa wrestlers to scrap at Women’s Nationals had varying degrees of success.

Both Rianne Murphy (U20 – 50kg) and Ella Schmit (U23 – 68kg) bowed out in the Round of 12 – one win shy of the podium.

The fact that Murphy could do so despite a 5-2 record (all five wins via bonus) should give folks an idea of just how massive many of these brackets were.

Meanwhile, neither Ava Rose (U20 – 55kg) nor Mia Goodwin (U20 – 57kg) came nearly as close to placing. Both, however, did win matches (Rose = 2-2, Goodwin = 1-2) during their stay in Spokane.

Closing thoughts

As we put a bow on Women’s Nationals here are some figures to summarize the weekend that was.

I previously noted that 13/19 Hawkeyes finished somewhere on the podium (top eight) in either U20 or U23 competition:

  • 1st (Naomi Simon)
  • 2nd (Ava Bayless, Cadence Diduch, Lilly Luft)
  • 3rd (Brianna Gonzalez, Emily Gonzalez, Reese Larramendy)
  • 4th (Val Solorio)
  • 5th (Emily Frost)
  • 6th (Karlee Brooks, Rose Cassioppi, Isabella Gonzales)
  • 8th (Cali Leng)

In total, Iowa had 11 quarterfinalists and seven semifinalists – four of whom reached the finals (incl. one champ).

A year ago, those numbers (out of just 15 total entries) were 12 and 10 – seven of whom reached the finals (incl. four champs).

So, what am I saying?

Well, for a variety of reasons Iowa didn’t have nearly the success in 2025 as it did in 2024.

This is just a singular – albeit important – event on the calendar. But I do think on a macro level it reflects the rapidly increasing talent pool in women’s wrestling.

Clarissa Chun and the Iowa program are well aware of this, mind you. So, it’s not like I’m breaking any revelatory news here.

The Hawkeyes know they’ll need to continue to raise their game to stay atop the sport in the years ahead. So, perhaps this lesson is one best learned by Iowa fans who weren’t yet familiar with the evolving landscape.

It’s one the Iowa women’s wrestling program is both bracing for and embracing as the sport continues to grow.

You may also like