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Iowa women's wrestling has weekend to remember

by: Tanner Lafever7 hours agoTannerLafever
Iowa Team Photo (Throwdown on the Yorktown)
The Iowa women's wrestling team was all smiles following its dominant dual win atop the USS Yorktown. (Photo Credit: Me)

Representing a program that contests its home duals inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena – it’s no easy task to come up with a competitive setting that will wow the Iowa women’s wrestling team.

And yet, on Saturday afternoon, the Hawkeyes (and everyone else in attendance at the second edition of the Throwdown on the Yorktown) couldn’t help but look around in amazement.

Why? Because a venue like this tends to have that effect on people:

And in a one-of-a-kind environment, head coach Clarissa Chun’s team showed once again why it’s ranked number one in America.

It didn’t matter that the dual took place atop a World War II aircraft carrier – the USS Yorktown. And it didn’t matter that Iowa’s opponent – #6 Presbyterian – had a deep, talented lineup featuring six top-10-ranked wrestlers.

The Hawkeyes did what they typically do – win, and in dominant fashion.

Iowa won 8/10 bouts against the sixth-ranked Blue Hose, with seven of those coming via bonus points.

And that was just the opening salvo of the weekend.

Less than 24 hours later – and a three-hour drive from Charleston to Clinton (South Carolina) – 11 Hawkeye entries took on a strong field at the Blue Hose Challenge.

Needless to say, they fared pretty well there, too:

  • Five champions
  • Four runners up
  • Two third-place finishers

That was Iowa’s final tally – including a pair of head-to-head finals losses.

Subtract those, and Iowa’s overall record was a sterling 37-4 with 27 bonus point victories.

Look, part of the impetus behind this east coast trip was undoubtedly the unique experience of Saturday’s dual. But the Hawkeyes didn’t travel all that way not to challenge themselves, too. And with the way they wrestled all weekend, they can return home knowing the trip was a success in both regards.

Anchors aweigh!

If Saturday’s breathtaking environment had any effect on the Hawkeyes, you wouldn’t have known it.

Not from watching the livestream at home, and certainly not from watching mat-side – as I had the immense fortune of doing.

With vibes as high as the towering flight deck, Iowa quickly jumped #6 Presbyterian with a trio of bonus-point victories.

Both #4 Val Solorio (103) and #4 Brianna Gonzalez (117) rolled up unranked foes in the first period – the latter via fall in her first match of the 2025-26 season. But in between, it was Nyla Valencia who really stood out.

Facing third-ranked Chloe Dearwester, the Hawkeye took yet another step in her remarkable comeback from multiple ACL tears. Valencia methodically picked Dearwester apart, completing the 10-0 technical fall midway through the second period.

A few bouts later, it was a similar story for another ‘unranked’ Hawkeye – Skye Realin – who dominated in her own impressive victory over a third-ranked foe – Carina Giangeruso.

Realin – herself returning from a serious injury – controlled things from start to finish against the 2025 All-American. And after building a 7-0 lead, she countered a trip attempt by taking Giangeruso to her back for the fall with 0:41 remaining.

I caught up with both Hawkeyes after the dual to discuss their dominant performance(s) and continued progress:

Elsewhere in the dual, Karlee Brooks (131), Kennedy Blades (180) and Jaycee Foeller (207) each produced first-period bonus-point victories.

And while Foeller’s may’ve been the most impressive based upon her opponent – returning All-American Maria Aiono – it was Kennedy Blades (bumping up to 180) who stole the show with a 0:19 pin.

Here’s how it looked from just a few feet away:

At 145 pounds, #2 Reese Larramendy earned Iowa’s eighth win of the dual with a 3-1 decision over a familiar foe – and fellow U20 World team alum – Maddi Kubicki.

Iowa’s two defeats came at 124 and 160 pounds respectively.

In the latter, a clear horsepower discrepancy was at play.

A natural 145-pounder, Cadence Diduch bumped up to 160 to take on returning All-American May Cuyler. But despite several solid leg attacks, the sophomore often found herself crunched under her heavier opponent in a 10-0 loss.

And at 124, Cali Leng couldn’t quite dig out of a pair of six-point deficits, as Presbyterian’s Alyssa Mahan prevailed in a top-five matchup, 9-6.

Those losses aside, the overall experience (and performance) was one that Coach Chun had only praise for afterwards:

And it set the table for a Sunday that was equally impressive – at least strictly from a wrestling standpoint.

Statement Sunday

For several Hawkeyes, Sunday’s Blue Hose Open wasn’t just about wins/losses, but about the greater reverberations their performance(s) could have on the rest of this season.

Starting with 103 pounds, Val Solorio continues to establish herself as a favorite to hold down Iowa’s incredibly competitive, lightest weight class.

Solorio bonus’d her way to a title without allowing a single point. That, despite a finals matchup against fellow Iowa sophomore Rianne Murphy.

Already leading 4-0, Solorio ripped a huge headlock to get the fall over her teammate and now has decisive wins over both Murphy and Sterling Dias this season.

(The latter two have split a pair of razor-thin matches between each other.)

Further up the weight class ladder, two more heated intrasquad competitions saw another wrinkle this weekend.

At 138, the aforementioned Skye Realin continued to excel following Saturday’s big win. This time, picking up another pair of them to top her bracket.

Realin’s semifinal result may’ve been her most impressive, as she knocked off returning NAIA national champion Zaynah McBryde.

The Hawkeye utilized numerous arm throws to counteract McBryde’s patented underhook – a common trait among all three sisters who’ve starred for Life University. In fact, Realin never trailed in the 11-8 victory, responding with scores of her own each time McBryde narrowed the gap.

In the final, Realin teched Iowa teammate Ella Schmit (14-3) – hitting three four-point moves after intermission to get the win.

If this weekend showcased Realin’s current form – and at a new weight class, no less – who’s to say where she’ll be come March? Two-time national champion Katie Lange (Grand Valley State) is still the standard, but I don’t think any other 138-pounder in America is wrestling better than the Hawkeye right now.

And finally, Iowa’s other busiest weight class (131) had its own notable development on Sunday thanks to a true freshman.

Bella Williams was that freshman in question – outscoring four opponents 37-1 en route to her first open title at a Hawkeye.

Of note, her 12-1 semifinal win over NAIA’s third-ranked Olivia Mottley (Life) and 4-0 final victory over Emmanuel’s Janida Garcia were common opponents of teammate Karlee Brooks.

The third-ranked Brooks lost to Garcia – a well-traveled but talented foe – in the semis on a controversial late call. Shortly thereafter, she wrestled back to face Mottley in the third-place match – winning a 6-5 decision (albeit one with some dubious officiating of its own).

Now remember, Brooks already has a head-to-head win (4-0) over Williams from two weeks ago at the Luther Hill Open. That said, Williams and recent Waldorf Open champ, Emily Frost, are going to chase after this 131 spot all season long.

And Sunday was a great (latest) impression made by the freshman.

Hammers only

Among the Hawkeyes I’ve yet to mention, it took either someone incredibly formidable (or nobody at all) to stand in their way.

The answer was a resounding “nobody” for both Nyla Valencia (110) and Reese Larramendy, as both went unscored upon during their title run(s).

Valencia racked up three-consecutive 10-0 technical falls – her last being her fastest.

In fact, 0:35 was all it took for her to tear through NAIA’s seventh-ranked Diana Gonzalez (Life) in the final.

As for Larramendy, 41-0 was her combined scoring margin for the day – capped by a finals victory over Paige Wehrmeister (unattached), a two-time All-American for Presbyterian.

Wehrmeister represented Cadence Diduch’s only loss of the tournament in a 4-3 semifinal bout. She also scored the only points of the day against Diduch – who wrestled back for third place.

Two more Iowa entries reached a final, ultimately leaving the Ross E. Templeton Physical Education Center as runners up.

Freshman Harlee Hiller bombed her way to the 117-pound title match with her usual high-flying flair. Upon arrival, she faced #3 Karissa Turnwall, a returning All-American for Emmanuel University (GA).

The veteran Turnwall used her skill (and savvy) to get a 12-2 win – though Hiller did present a few moments of danger.

And at 124, Cali Leng responded from a tough Saturday loss to reach the finals herself.

Leng (top right) and Hiller (bottom right) were among nine Hawkeye finalists.

No match during her run was more impressive than her semifinal, when Leng doggedly chased down a third-period takedown to get the win over Delaware State’s Juliana Diaz – a 2024 NAIA national champion.

The junior’s title run would come up just short, however, with a 3-0 loss to NAIA #4 Rose Kaplan (Indiana Tech) – an improvement on last year’s 7-0 Solider Salute result.

Short time

As I wrap things up on the weekend that was for Iowa women’s wrestling, I just want to express what a thrill it was be in attendance (in any capacity, much less doing this job) for Saturday’s dual.

I’ve heard that organizers are planning to hold a third edition of the Throwdown on the Yorktown next year. However, there’s no guarantee that I, nor the Hawkeyes will ever attend this one-of-a-kind wrestling event again in our lifetimes.

So, to be there for this one is something that I’ll cherish forever.

Almost ten years ago to the day, I attended my first-ever dual at another impossibly cool venue.

That one involved the Hawkeyes too:

And here I was, a decade later, getting to experience something like this.

Gratitude is a theme you’ll often hear expressed among members of the Iowa women’s wrestling program – for the opportunities that being a Hawkeye provides them, for the chance to compete in a sport they love, for one another.

And it’s that very same word which comes to mind as I wrap this story amidst my return flight home.

I’m incredibly grateful for the experience that was Saturday atop the USS Yorktown – or the “Fighting Lady” as she was known during WWII.

And should we ever cross paths again, I would consider myself so lucky.

Cheers to you, the “Fighting Lady.”

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