Iowa women’s wrestling remains undefeated in duals while Marlynne Deede, Rose Cassioppi qualify for Olympic trials

IOWA CITY — Iowa women’s wrestling will have a few more athletes competing in next year’s U.S. Olympic Trials.

Marlynne Deede and Rose Cassioppi each qualified for the trials after finishing second and fifth, respectively, at the U.S. Senior Nationals last weekend. They join Kylie Welker, who already qualified for the trials.

For those who have not yet qualified, which includes Felicity Taylor, they could qualify with a collegiate national title in March.

Elsewhere, the Hawkeyes who were not competing at the Senior Nationals went 3-0 in the Las Vegas Desert Duals.

The three wins — 34-11 over Adams State, 25-20 over Colorado Mesa and 24-23 over Simon Fraser — were closer than usual. That is partly because the Hawkeyes took forfeits in three of the 10 weight classes.

Alivia White, the only Iowa wrestler to lose last month in the Hawkeyes’ dominant showing at the Trailblazer Duals, redeemed herself with a pin in the final weight class to secure Iowa’s narrow win over Simon Fraser.

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com