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NEW: NCAA Women's Wrestling Championships seeds/brackets released

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Tanner Lafever

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ICYMI, the NCAA women's selection show just aired over the past 30 minutes or so - which you can check out right here.

Here's how the seeds broke down for the Hawkeyes:



Note: I don't believe Cali Leng is actually the #13 seed at 124lbs. I'm pretty certain only the top eight wrestlers were seeded, and the rest of the field randomly drawn in.

Here's the link to the full PDF version of the brackets - but I also gave some slightly more expansive thoughts on the path(s) for all 10 Hawkeyes via the Twitter thread below:

 
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sdvike

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Alot of 4 and 5 seeds meeting alot of 1s in the semis. Don't know how Valencia didn't get a higher seed or Osteen. Brianna going to need to go like she did in the finals of the regional. Going to be an uphill battle but the ladies are surely up to it.
 
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sstark46

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McKendree got the 1,4,1,4,1,3,5,2,2,1 seeds and have to be considered the favorite going into the tournament.

NCC got 5,3,3,1,6,2,2,6,4,3 seeds and are a threat as well.

Smaller format leaves much less room for error for us, but also likely leads to much more H2H matchups with the other top 2 teams where we can help control our own destiny
 
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Tanner Lafever

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sdvike said:
Alot of 4 and 5 seeds meeting alot of 1s in the semis. Don't know how Valencia didn't get a higher seed or Osteen. Brianna going to need to go like she did in the finals of the regional. Going to be an uphill battle but the ladies are surely up to it.
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Nyla's seed made sense, IMO. But the way they handled 207 is bizarre in a lot of ways.

I think you'll take most of those potential semifinals - esp. the Iowa/McKendree matchups - because of the upside for Iowa.

A win by a 4/5 seed in the semis guarantees they'll outplace their seed - and would also sink the #1 seed to no higher than 3rd.

It becomes a double gut-punch for any of those wins you can pick up.
 
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Tanner Lafever

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sstark46 said:
Agreed here. 4 and 5 seeds have 2 and 1 loss, respectively, while the 2 and 3 seeds have 4 and 6 losses.

Do you know what the seeding criteria is for this? Is there a matrix like on the men's side, or is this coaches rankings, mix of both, etc?
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I do not know - but frankly, I have my concerns.

What's interesting is that the records showing on the brackets appear to include wins/losses against both teammates and high school competition.

Maybe those results aren't factored into the actual seeding process, but I really can't say for certain.
 
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EvilMonkeyInTheCloset

EvilMonkeyInTheCloset

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Are we no longer the premiere team in women's wrestling as well?..........................


Key And Peele Reaction GIF
 
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Tanner Lafever

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EvilMonkeyInTheCloset said:
Are we no longer the premiere team in women's wrestling as well?..........................


Key And Peele Reaction GIF
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These seeds - and the competitiveness of NCAAs - aren't a surprise whatsoever to those who've been following along closely.

McKendree was the most recent dynasty prior to Iowa's arrival on the scene and continued to stockpile young talent even amidst a minor dip from 2023-24.

They've since added to that young core (incl. three national finalists and several blue-chip recruits) by bringing back a nearly 26-year-old, four-time national champ, a Japanese U23 World champion, plus multiple athletes who are by-and-large professionals at the Army WCAP but take a few online courses and compete for the Bearcats when called upon.

McKendree always would've been a significant challenger even if Iowa was at its best - and the Hawkeyes have been extremely banged up this year.
 
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EvilMonkeyInTheCloset

EvilMonkeyInTheCloset

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Tanner Lafever said:
These seeds - and the competitiveness of NCAAs - aren't a surprise whatsoever to those who've been following along closely.

McKendree was the most recent dynasty prior to Iowa's arrival on the scene and continued to stockpile young talent even amidst a minor dip from 2023-24.

They've since added to that young core (incl. three national finalists and several blue-chip recruits) by bringing back a nearly 26-year-old, four-time national champ, a Japanese U23 World champion, plus multiple athletes who are by-and-large professionals at the Army WCAP but take a few online courses and compete for the Bearcats when called upon.

McKendree always would've been a significant challenger even if Iowa was at its best - and the Hawkeyes have been extremely banged up this year.
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So they have to cheat to beat Iowa. Got it. Now I can live with us losing, so long as it doesn't become commonplace.
 
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Squatch96

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Should be fun its always nice to be a heavy favorite but its also fun to have competition. Also tanner i think its hilarious when coach chun says you should be a coach during interviews thanks for all your hard work!
 
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TNTwrestle

TNTwrestle

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TheREALSpooner said:
Where does he say they cheated? Can you point this out to me?
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He didn't. This is why the men separated the Divisions long ago, and the D2 and D3 athletes no longer go to the D1 tournament. Half of their team would be ineligible to compete in D1 with the rules in place there. There aren't enough D1 Women's teams to do a stand-alone tournament yet. They are talking about pulling D3 out in 2028, which I'm not sure how I feel about, but McKendree is a D2 school anyway. I'm surprised D2 schools can have some of those people. You used to have to go NAIA to compete under some of those circumstances.
Oh well, our Women will just have to step up and do it on the mat. They are capable, but it will be tougher than I'd like.
 
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sdvike

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Tanner Lafever said:
Nyla's seed made sense, IMO. But the way they handled 207 is bizarre in a lot of ways.

I think you'll take most of those potential semifinals - esp. the Iowa/McKendree matchups - because of the upside for Iowa.

A win by a 4/5 seed in the semis guarantees they'll outplace their seed - and would also sink the #1 seed to no higher than 3rd.

It becomes a double gut-punch for any of those wins you can pick up.
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McKendree and Iowa do have likely paths to one on one battles before finals which I think is good. Going to be a great weekend.
 
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sdvike

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Saturday will be the tough day where women conflict with Big tens. Women will be on ESPN+ I believe.
 
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Tanner Lafever

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EvilMonkeyInTheCloset said:
So they have to cheat to beat Iowa. Got it. Now I can live with us losing, so long as it doesn't become commonplace.
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Lol not cheating per say - just reeeeeeeally trying within every available framework of the rules.

For instance, I know Iowa has been approached by several high-level international athletes about joining the program - but if they can't pass the English Proficiency requirements for academic admission than Iowa won't take them.

I don't even know if I necessarily agree with that rule in principle, but it's one that Iowa has chosen to abide by - something I'm a lot less certain about when it comes to other programs (though admittedly, their own University's standards may be different).

As for the whole 'do remote school and train/compete with us every once in a while thing,' that's also something they're just not going to do with the program - even if the talents of several athletes would sure seem worthwhile of bending that rule.

Whether you're Kennedy Blades, Macey Kilty, Kylie Welker or whomever - if you're on the team then you're on the team. You don't just get to parachute in and call yourself a Hawkeye when it suits you.
 
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heldyhawk606

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Tanner Lafever said:
Lol not cheating per say - just reeeeeeeally trying within every available framework of the rules.

For instance, I know Iowa has been approached by several high-level international athletes about joining the program - but if they can't pass the English Proficiency requirements for academic admission than Iowa won't take them.

I don't even know if I necessarily agree with that rule in principle, but it's one that Iowa has chosen to abide by - something I'm a lot less certain about when it comes to other programs (though admittedly, their own University's standards may be different).

As for the whole 'do remote school and train/compete with us every once in a while thing,' that's also something they're just not going to do with the program - even if the talents of several athletes would sure seem worthwhile of bending that rule.

Whether you're Kennedy Blades, Macey Kilty, Kylie Welker or whomever - if you're on the team then you're on the team. You don't just get to parachute in and call yourself a Hawkeye when it suits you.
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be careful you're going to trigger a bunch of people who think the only reason we're not competing for national titles on the men's side is our compliance department
 
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xxhwc

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Sep 23, 2018
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What’s going on with the ticket situation? Last year you could buy Friday or Saturday’s separately but looks like this year you have to buy all sessions??
 
TheGreatDivider101

TheGreatDivider101

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xxhwc said:
What’s going on with the ticket situation? Last year you could buy Friday or Saturday’s separately but looks like this year you have to buy all sessions??
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I paid only $50 for all four sessions and mine are reserved. I'm not sure if general admission tickets are cheaper. I would strongly urge anyone who loves wrestling to attend because unlike the men's tournament, this is going to be a pins and needles tournament until the end.
 
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Tanner Lafever

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heldyhawk606 said:
@Tanner Lafever ISU dropping gymnastics and will be adding another women's sport
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I've asked around to see if women's wrestling might be a possible replacement but haven't heard back as of yet.

Pollard also said in the announcement that ISU had given "no thought" to what sport will replace gymnastics - so take that for what you will.
 
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