2025-26 Iowa women's wrestling roster breakdown

A brand-new school year means the release of brand-new Iowa wrestling rosters.

And with that comes brand-new roster breakdowns for the Hawkeyes.

First up, the Iowa women, who’s official 2025-26 roster was published on the team website on Saturday.

This article will highlight various elements to give folks a general sense of all 30 Hawkeyes entering the coming season.

(This is NOT a depth chart preview – though if you’re curious for my way-too-early musings on that subject you can check out this Google spreadsheet, where I do entertain the subject.)

Keep in mind that listed weights may not be indicative of how things ultimately shake out during the season.

Also, there are a few minor errors on the current roster – as is typical for an initial release like this. As such, I’ve corrected them for the purposes of this article – the most notable being Kennedy Blades’ eligibility.

Blades is currently listed as a senior on the Iowa roster, but she was in the same high school class (2022) as nine of her teammates – all listed as redshirt juniors – and would presumably have two years of eligibility remaining just as they do.

With those caveats out of the way, here are some notes on the 2025-26 Hawkeyes.

Absences and Additions

There were three notable developments in terms of athletes listed on/off this year’s official roster – each of which were confirmed to Hawkeye Report in the hours afterward by the athletes in question.

Most significantly, four-time national runner up Jaycee Foeller (207) is back for a fifth and final year.

Foeller – a career 58-10 at Iowa (including 29 bonus point wins) – initially believed she was finished with college wrestling after last season.

But a conversation with the Iowa coaches about her having an extra year from a season she’d spent in the NAIA ranks prompted the Missouri native to reconsider her options.

Already set to enroll for her master’s degree, Foeller decided in May that the added bonus of one last wrestling season was just too good to pass up.

We’ll see if she can put the ultimate icing on the cake by securing that elusive individual title in 2026.

Meanwhile, fellow 207-pounder Alivia White is departing from the program.

The junior-to-be was coming off a fourth-place All-American finish in 2025. There, under old NCWWC postseason rules, she was Iowa’s second entry at 207 behind Foeller.

White, who also got engaged earlier this summer, is returning to her home state of Washington to pursue nursing school.

She concludes her Iowa career with an overall record of 49-17, including 28 falls – a tally that led all Hawkeyes over the past two seasons.

Lastly, one other athlete absent from this roster release has since confirmed her status with Hawkeye Report.

Sophomore Kiara Djoumessi remains enrolled at Iowa. However, she will not be competing as a part of the official roster this season.

Instead, the Waverly Shell-Rock alum (0-2 in 2024-25) will train with the Iowa Women’s Wrestling Club (IWWC).

The IWWC is the program-associated club frequented by almost all the current Hawkeyes – plus several elite post-graduates. So, while Djoumessi won’t be on the official roster in 2025-26, she’ll still be training alongside her same coaches/teammates on a regular basis – just in a slightly different setting.

By Weight Class

103 pounds

• Rianne Murphy (Soph)
• Sterling Dias (RS JR)

110 pounds

• *Nyla Valencia (RS JR)  *medical redshirt year available?
• Ava Bayless (RS JR)
• Emilie Gonzalez (RS JR)
• Val Solorio (Soph)

117 pounds

• Brianna Gonzalez (RS JR)
• Ava Rose (JR)
• Harlee Hiller (FR)

124 pounds

• Cali Leng (JR)
• Mia Goodwin (RS FR)
• Isabella Marie Gonzales (FR)

131 pounds

• *Skye Realin (5^th YR SR) *medical redshirt and/or extra NAIA year available?
• *Karlee Brooks (Soph)  *medical redshirt year available?
• Emily Frost (JR)
• Sam Sachs (FR)

138 pounds

• Lilly Luft (JR)
• Danni Swihart (RS Soph)
• Bella Williams (FR)

145 pounds

• Reese Larramendy (RS JR)
• Cadence Diduch (Soph)

160 pounds

• Kennedy Blades (RS JR)
• Ella Schmit (RS JR)
• Adriana Palumbo (FR)

180 pounds

• Kylie Welker (RS JR)
• Naomi Simon (Soph)

207 pounds

• Jaycee Foeller (5^th YR SR)
• Katja Osteen (RS SR)
• Sam Calkins (RS JR)
• Libby Dix (FR)

Notes:

Of the listed weights for Iowa wrestlers entering 2025-26 there are three notable changes from last year’s roster:

• Karlee Brooks (124 to 131)
• Cadence Diduch (138 to 145)
• Ella Schmit (145 to 160)

If they hold, none of these would be entirely surprising.

Brooks (59 kilograms/130 pounds), Diduch (65kg/143.3lbs) and Schmit (68kg/150lbs) all wrestled up from their previous international weights at Women’s Nationals back in April.

It’ll also be interesting to see if several of the true freshmen – namely Isabella Gonzales (124), Sam Sachs (131) and Bella Williams (138) – might challenge for starting spots across a trio of middleweights.

But we’ll save a full-blown depth chart deep dive for closer to the season.

By Home State

California (x7) – N. Valencia, E. Gonzalez, B. Gonzalez, I. Gonzales, S. Sachs, K. Osteen, S. Calkins

Iowa (x4) – L. Luft, E. Schmit, N. Simon, L. Dix

Illinois (x3) – H. Hiller, C. Diduch, K. Blades

Hawaii (x2) – K. Brooks, S. Realin

Nevada (x2) – S. Dias, R. Larramendy

New York (x2) – E. Frost, A. Palumbo

Florida (x1) – V. Solorio

Indiana (x1) – R. Murphy

Michigan (x1) – D. Swihart

Missouri (x1) – J. Foeller

New Jersey (x1) – A. Rose

Ohio (x1) – C. Leng

Oklahoma (x1) – B. Williams

Pennsylvania (x1) – A. Bayless

Virginia (x1) – M. Goodwin

Wisconsin (x1) – K. Welker

*30 total athletes*

Notes:

Yet again, California tops Iowa as the #1 feeder state for the women’s program.

In 2025-26, a record seven Hawkeyes hail from the Golden State thanks to the additions of Isabella Gonzales and Sam Sachs.

All told, 16 different states are represented this season – showcasing the coast-to-coast reach of the back-to-back national team/dual champions.

By Eligibility

Freshman = 7 (six true, one RS)

Sophomore = 6

Junior = 14

Senior = 3

Notes:

Just as the 2025 graduating class was quite small – with only four wrestlers moving on from the program – so too will be this year’s group of seniors.

In fact, I wouldn’t rule out its final tally being even smaller than the three I’ve currently allotted – depending on a potential extra year available for Skye Realin.

Regardless, Iowa will need to be extremely selective in its recruiting efforts with the high school class of 2026, which includes several ‘big fish’ – as I’ve written about previously.

And if you peek a little further ahead to a year from now, the massive (in size and importance) 2027 recruiting class looms nearer with every passing day.

So yes, seismic roster turnover is coming for the Hawkeyes. But in the immediate future that figures to (once again) be quite minimal.

Transfers

Arizona State/Sunkist Kids – Kennedy Blades

McKendree/Central Methodist University (NAIA) – Jaycee Foeller, Skye Realin

Simon Fraser University/United States Olympic Training Center – Katja Osteen

*four total*

Notes:

Barring any transfer additions next offseason, Iowa figures to have an almost entirely homegrown roster a year from now.

That’s because each of Foeller, Osteen and Realin could exhaust their eligibility this season.

During its inception/infancy the program relied upon several transfers to add veteran experience/talent to a pair of title-winning lineups.

However, of these four, only Kennedy Blades and Jaycee Foeller (twice) have appeared for Iowa in the postseason.

Realin – the favorite to start at 131 – was injured early and missed most of 2024-25. Meanwhile, Osteen wound up a preposterously capable ‘third stringer’ at 207 in her first year with the program.

(And while Blades is technically a transfer, she never competed collegiately for another program prior to arriving at Iowa.)

Class of 2026 commits

N/A

Notes:

I referenced Iowa’s recruiting outlook a few paragraphs above, and now that we’ve reached the fall semester things should really start to pick up soon.

To my knowledge, September 29^th is the earliest date a high school senior has ever officially announced their commitment to the Hawkeyes – Lilly Luft back in 2022.

So, any potential 2026 commits could still be a ways out yet. In the meantime, I’ll be monitoring official visits that could hint at whom the Hawkeyes are in strongest pursuit of.