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Iowa crowns three champs, packs podium at Missouri Valley Open

by: Tanner Lafever10 hours agoTannerLafever
Karlee Brooks
Iowa sophomore Karlee Brooks (131) was among three Hawkeye champs at the loaded Missouri Valley Open. (Photo Credit: Dennis Scheidt - @webcentrick on social media)

In my Missouri Valley Open preview, I described the annual November tournament to Iowa wrestling fans as “not for the faint of heart.”

And boy, did that ever prove to be true this weekend.

Because although the top-ranked Iowa women led all teams in individual champions and podium placers, every single one of the Hawkeyes had to fight for every single inch against a field chock full of ranked collegians, elite high schoolers and even credentialed internationals.

That’s why Iowa goes to this tournament each year. And it’ll take the lessons (good and bad) from the weekend that was as it proceeds through the remainder of its challenging regular season schedule – and into the postseason beyond.

Over 1.5 days of competition – featuring 102 total matches – countless Iowa wrestlers charged deep into their respective brackets.

Including Naomi Simon (wrestling ‘unattached’ at 180 pounds to preserve her redshirt), 15/16 Hawkeye entries reached the Round of 16.

14 of those 15 reached the quarterfinals.

10/14 moved on to the semis – limited by one head-to-head matchup between Nyla Valencia and #1 Ava Bayless.

And after another Hawk-versus-Hawk bout between Sterling Dias and #4 Val Solorio, a total of seven Iowa wrestlers reached the finals.

By tournament’s end, Clarissa Chun’s team had racked up the following results – including individual champions Karlee Brooks (131), Skye Realin (138) and Reese Larramendy (145):

As for the standout storylines, buckle up, folks – because there were a whole bunch of them.

Champs Brooks/Realin overcome adversity, Larramendy cruises

The journey(s) of Karlee Brooks and Skye Realin both could’ve easily veered off course long before reaching the top of the podium in Marshall, MO.

For the third-ranked Brooks (131), a second-round headlock by #10 Hania Halverson (Colorado Mesa) had the sophomore fighting off her back for the better part of 30 seconds – finally using one last bridge to escape the danger.

Upon reset, Brooks rattled off the next 11 points to earn a ‘comfortable’ ranked win.

But that wasn’t the only drama during her title run.

Two matches later, Brooks found herself in a 6-0 hole against Simon Fraser’s Ella Finding – a fifth-place finisher at U20 Worlds for Team Canada. But with 38 seconds left, the Hawkeye utilized a well-timed (lefty) headlock to take the lead on criteria – then held on for the final 10 seconds to avoid giving up a go-ahead reversal at the buzzer.

Another headlock (for a first-period fall) punched her ticket to the finals, where Brooks won a cagey, 2-1 match over teammate Emily Frost to take the title.

As for Skye Realin, her adversity came more in the form of injury scares than it did close scorelines.

A clash of heads midway through her Round of 16 bout against NAIA #6 Natalia Posada (Oklahoma City) left the senior down for nearly two minutes while being tended to by training staff.

After passing a battery of tests, Realin was permitted to resume action – and looked as though nothing had happened, rattling off 10 points in less than a minute to secure the tech. fall.

However, in each of her next to matches – also against highly ranked NAIA foes – Realin would take injury time again:

  • Quarterfinal – #9 Maci Avila (Midland), won by 12-2 TF
  • Semifinal – #2 Samantha Barragan (Texas Wesleyan), won by 12-5 dec.

In the semis, Realin scored a go-ahead takedown with 53 seconds left, then used a pair of four-point arm spins to extend her lead as Barragan was forced to chase.

Comparatively speaking, the senior’s final against Julia Chambers (Quincy) – a 10-0 TF – was far more straightforward.

Moving on to Iowa’s third and final champion – #2 Reese Larramendy will have to forgive me for my brevity regarding her dominant run at 145 pounds.

The Iowa junior outscored her first five opponents by a combined margin of 49-2, then won by default in the final as fans missed out on a fun matchup between her and Valerie Hamilton (Iowa Central CC) – a former U17 World silver medalist.

The battle at 103 rages on

Iowa’s three-way competition at 103 pounds remains going, as each of its contestants made deep runs this weekend.

#4 Val Solorio (2nd), Sterling Dias (3rd) and Rianne Murphy (6th) all placed in arguably the toughest weight class of the tournament. They also wrestled a pair of matches amongst the trio.

The current leader, Solorio, ran through the quarterfinals via four-consecutive (first-period) 10-0 tech. falls – then bested Dias (2-1) thanks to a passivity point and a step out.

But in the finals, Solorio ran into the buzzsaw that is prep superstar Jaclyn Bouzakis – who bonused her way through the bracket.

Despite losing 14-3, the Hawkeye posed the stiffest test of the tournament for the high school junior, who, up until that point, had won each of her five prior matches via shutout, first-period technical falls.

These two had previously met at U20 World Team Trials last April. There, wrestling at 50 kilograms (~110.2 pounds), it was Solorio who prevailed, 7-6.

I’ll cover Dias’ impressive third-place finish in a later section, which leaves Rianne Murphy to wrap things up.

Last year’s starter (and highest NCWWC finisher) at 103 fell to Dias in the consolation semis (5-2). She also won four bouts via fall and lost two more in the same fashion – to talented McKendree freshmen.

The latter was an absolute heartbreaker for fifth place, with Murphy leading 16-7 before being thrown to her back and pinned with maybe tenths of a second left on the clock.

Look, the margins were thin throughout this year’s MoVal Open. But at 103 pounds, we probably won’t see a tougher bracket than this at the NCAA Championships in March.

Runners up

In addition to Solorio at 103, three more Hawkeyes fell just short of individual titles.

None was closer to top honors than Nyla Valencia (110) who didn’t concede her first points of the tournament until the last five seconds of her championship match.

Leading 3-0 in a bout that she controlled, but whose slower pace was dictated by #2 Gabriele Tedesco (McKendree), the Hawkeye found herself fighting off Tedesco’s first real shot attempt with 0:23 remaining.

Then, amidst a scramble that she may have been better off conceding, Valencia gave up both a takedown and two-point exposure just before time expired.

A lengthy review of the sequence was upheld, and the junior tasted the first defeat of her much-delayed college career.

The loss will also cost Valencia a #1 national ranking, which she was in line to earn after besting Iowa teammate (and current #1) Ava Bayless in the quarterfinals:

*Bayless responded with a quartet of subsequent victories to finish third – including a dramatic last-second takedown to defeat #10 Adriana Gomez (Colorado Mesa) in the consi semis.

At 131 pounds, Emily Frost’s only defeat of the tournament was the aforementioned 2-1 final against Karlee Brooks.

Even with that loss, this was arguably the best overall performance of the junior’s college career.

Frost went pin-crazy to reach the final, using her signature headlock to rack up four-consecutive falls. The last of those – against NAIA #6 Kendall Bostelman – avenged a quarterfinal loss the night before by Iowa teammate Bella Williams.

And at 207, #2 Jaycee Foeller lost a 2-1 final of her own thanks to an early takedown by 2023 MoVal champ Julia Richey (Simon Fraser) that held up as the winner.

Up until that match, Foeller had been dominant, winning 4/5 bouts via bonus points.

Marathon Hawks

With some brackets featuring as many as 60-plus athletes, an early trip to the consolations meant a long road back if a wrestler wanted to secure a spot on the podium.

Two Hawkeyes now familiar with that marathon journey are Isabella Gonzales (124) and Cadence Diduch (145) – who wrestled a combined 19(!) matches over 28 hours in Marshall, MO.

After starting with a pin of eventual third-place finisher Gabriella Gomez (McKendree), Gonzales – wrestling her second-ever collegiate tournament – lost to NAIA #7 Kamilah Brooks (Lindsey Wilson), 5-1 in the second round.

They’d meet again – a day later – in the consi semis, with Brooks a victor once again by a similar scoreline (4-1).

Between those bouts, Gonzalez took the mat six more times with her tournament on the line.

And all six times she got her hand raised, including a last-second win over NAIA #3 Jasmina Immaeva (Missouri Valley) to secure a place on the podium.

The California native ultimately finished sixth, losing an all-Hawkeye bout against #4 Cali Leng (4-2) to conclude her tournament.

As for Cadence Diduch, her extended consolation run began after dropping a 3-2 nailbiter to #3 Gretchen Donally (Colorado Mesa).

Five consecutive wins put the Iowa sophomore in the third-place match, none more impressive than a come-from-behind, 7-6 victory against Liv Wieber (Simon Fraser) – a three-time NAIA All-American.

It took three-time Canadian Senior World team member Aleah Nickel (University of Alberta) to finally halt the Hawkeye’s run, 4-0.

Other notable results

Of the four Hawkeyes whom I’ve yet to detail, three of them placed and the fourth pinned the #2 wrestler in the country.

(Yeah, it was that kind of weekend.)

Starting with Cali Leng, the fourth-ranked 124-pounder reached the semifinals thanks to a methodical, 8-2 defeat of NAIA #3 Jasmina Immaeva (Missouri Valley).

There, Leng ran into eventual champ Victoria Bael Dilone (William Penn) – a 2024 NCWWC finalist and Spanish Senior World teamer.

After an 11-0 defeat, the Iowa junior lost a far closer consi semi (2-1) before rebounding to defeat teammate Isabella Gonzales for fifth.

At 180 pounds, Naomi Simon stormed to the semis with three pins and a 7-0 decision. But there, another Bearcat – #3 Destiny Rodriguez – turned the tables by countering an early Simon shot attempt to her back for the quick fall.

The (redshirting) Iowa sophomore ultimately wrestled back for third, including a 10-0 win over Vianne Rouleau (University of Alberta) – a 2024 U23 World silver medalist.

As for two freshmen, both Harlee Hiller (117) and Bella Williams (131) impressed once again.

Hiller’s only defeats this weekend came against eventual champion, Marlee Solomon – another elite high school prospect – and fourth-place finisher Yusneiry Agrazal (Central Methodist).

The Evanston (IL) native put up bonus points in all five of her wins – including a wildly entertaining seventh-place match against highly-touted 2024 recruit Zao Estrada.

Meanwhile, Bella Williams – Iowa’s lone non-placer of the tournament – didn’t exactly leave Missouri empty handed.

Williams reached the quarterfinal thanks to a quick pin of #2 Alex Szkotnicki in a match I’d highlighted moments before:

After falling to NAIA #6 Kendall Bostelman (William Penn), 6-1, in a match that turned on an edge counter throw, the first-year Hawkeye was eliminated on a late takedown by Canadian U20 World teamer Agnia Krakosova (Simon Fraser).

Weekend awards

Someone may’ve forgotten this category a week ago…but we’re back in a big way with our latest Weekend Awards.

The honor for ‘Grittiest Win’ will not only be shared by Karlee Brooks and Skye Realin – but will encapsulate their entire tournament(s).

Fighting off your back = gritty.

Fighting through injuries = gritty.

Winning any weight class at this stacked tournament = gritty.

Both Brooks and Realin did all those things this weekend, and it was damn impressive to watch.

As for my ‘Best Win’ recipient, this one goes to Sterling Dias.

Not only did the junior finish third at the weight of the tournament (103 pounds), but she picked up three excellent wins in the process.

It began in the quarterfinals with a dominant 10-0 tech. fall over McKendree freshman Katey Valdez (who finished fifth).

Following a tight 2-1 semifinal loss to her highly ranked teammate (#4 Val Solorio), Dias responded with a 5-2 win over another talented teammate, Rianne Murphy.

And to cap it all off, she turned the tables on another McKendree star, #3 Heather Crull.

The last time these two met, Crull rolled to victories of 10-3 and 10-0 in a best-of-three series at 2024 U23 Nationals.

But on this occasion, Dias was her equal (and then some) in a 3-2 decision.

After giving up a first-period takedown, the Hawkeye stepped over a gut wrench attempt to retake the lead on criteria. A minute later, Dias scored a step-out that proved to be the final points of the match.

Despite not winning her bracket, the entire tournament was an impressive display of composure and execution by the two-time All-American.

And it’s why she’ll continue to be heard from prominently as the competition rages on for Iowa’s postseason spot at 103 pounds.

Short time

Well, there you have it, folks.

And if you somehow haven’t had enough of ‘it’ by now, I think you might be an even bigger wrestling nut than yours truly.

(For which I would shake your hand, albeit with some slight concern as to your overall wellbeing.)

With Thanksgiving almost upon us, the Iowa women will be off this week – from competition anyway – for the first time this season.

Next up, the Hawkeyes will return home for a pair of duals on Sunday, December 7 at 2:00 p.m. CT.

And they’ll face a pair of fascinating opponents that afternoon, too – as #5 Colorado Mesa and Oklahoma State’s burgeoning club program trek to Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, as always for reading and following along throughout a hectic weekend.

Every year this is a big one. And I’d like to think we all performed admirably given the circumstances.

One thing is for sure, the Hawkeyes most certainly did.

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