Iowa women’s wrestling experiences ‘best feeling in the world’ as it dominates in front of historic crowd

IOWA CITY — Clarissa Chun and Iowa women’s wrestling had a big moment on Sunday — a moment that had been several years in the making.

But when Iowa’s first women’s wrestling coach woke up on Sunday, she was not nervous. It was instead a “this is real” moment.

“This dream has now become a reality,” Chun remembered thinking. “This is reality. ... It’s official because we’re competing in Carver.”

A few hours later, the long-awaited moment did not disappoint for Chun or her team as the Hawkeyes routed their three opponents in front of a historic crowd in the Trailblazer Duals at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

“It’s more than anything I could have dreamed of,” said Felicity Taylor, a Spillville native who wrestled up at 123 pounds. “I truly mean that. ... It’s the best feeling in the world.”

Sunday’s attendance of 8,207 is believed to be a world record for women’s wrestling, although it is hard to know for sure because of a lack of detailed records.

Marlynne Deede, a reigning collegiate national champion who transferred to Iowa, said the most fans she had previously wrestled in front of was “nothing near this.”

The history-making crowd was treated to a dominant showing by the Hawkeyes despite it being only their second weekend of competition as an intercollegiate team.

Iowa won all three duals in the four-team event, and none of the duals were particularly close.

The Hawkeyes opened with a 44-1 win against Presbyterian before winning 43-0 against Lindenwood and then 40-4 against Sacred Heart.

Iowa wrestlers won every match of the first two duals and all but one match in the third dual.

Presbyterian did not score a match point until the 130-pound weight class. That point did not translate to the team score, though, because Iowa’s Emily Frost pinned Presbyterian’s Olivia Waller.

“I think I’m going to name her the head hunter because she just hunts for heads and pins everyone,” Chun said of Frost.

Lindenwood was less fortunate, going the entire dual without a match point.

Sacred Heart was the only team to win any match as 191-pound Madeline Hodges bested Iowa’s Alivia White by decision.

“We’ve had a great day, but we’re always looking to do better,” Chun said.

As sweet as the big wins were, the many young girls wanting autographs was “so freaking cool” for Deede to see.

“They don’t know that, but they mean so much to us to see them there and excited to watch us compete,” Deede said.

It also was a reminder that, as Deede and Chun pointed out, “representation matters” for the young girls who see role models in their sport at the college level.

“We’re doing it for her -- the people that paved the way for us and the people that are to come,” Taylor said. “I didn’t start until I was in high school, so I can’t even imagine starting earlier and seeing those opportunities.”

Presbyterian, Lindenwood and Sacred Heart are the only other Division I athletics departments to have intercollegiate women’s wrestling teams.

The Hawkeyes hope Sunday’s Trailblazer Duals eventually lead to more teams to “take a chance” on women’s wrestling.

"The people here at Iowa, they decided to take a chance,“ Deede said. ”I would hope that any expectations are exceeded, and I think they will continue to be exceeded like this.“

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