Iowa women’s wrestling sends all 15 to national championships after regional perfection

INDIANOLA — Iowa women’s wrestling will have the maximum number of wrestlers at next month’s national championships — and achieved the feat on Saturday in impressive fashion.

All 15 of Iowa’s wrestlers finished either first or second at NCWWC Regionals at Simpson College’s Cowles Fieldhouse in Indianola. They needed to be in the top four to qualify for the national championships.

Even more impressively, Iowa claimed all 10 individual titles in the region. (The Hawkeyes’ five second-place finishers all lost to a teammate in the finals.) That is a notable increase from six individual titles at last year’s regional tournament.

“I think it’s a statement to how hard we work and the amount of talent and depth that we have on our team,” Iowa wrestler Kylie Welker said.

Iowa also took the team regional title after posting a 192 team score that was well ahead of Wartburg’s 128 and host Simpson’s 110.

The Hawkeyes won every bout in the first round, quarterfinals and semifinals. The only five losses were when two Hawkeyes were wrestling against each other in the championship matches.

Iowa’s wins in the first round and quarterfinals were all either pins or tech falls. The Hawkeyes did not even surrender a point until midway through the semifinals.

“Our women competed and wrestled hard,” Iowa Coach Clarissa Chun said. “Even in the matchups against each other, they brought it. You could tell that they were fighting for that — to bring out their best.”

Iowa’s success is not surprising considering the Hawkeyes had at least one nationally ranked wrestler in nine of the 10 weight classes. Iowa also had the top-ranked wrestler in the region in nine of 10 weight classes.

In the one weight class without a ranked wrestler, Emmily Patneaud shined. The fifth-year 131-pound wrestler pinned Central College’s Piper Eighmy, won via tech fall against Simpson’s Dionni Garcia-Vasquez and won via decision against Wartburg’s Kylie Rule.

“I felt like a lot of our women did a great job staying in the match, no matter how the match got,” Chun said. “It was a great outcome for Emmily Patneaud, and she stayed the course throughout that match.”

Saturday’s dominance marks the second consecutive year in which Iowa has sent its full lineup of wrestlers to NCWWC Nationals.

While only one athlete per weight class will ultimately contribute to the team score at the national championship, having all 15 wrestlers will give the Hawkeyes more of a margin for error at the NCWWC national championships.

Iowa — last year’s NCWWC national champion and this year’s NWCA National Duals champion — will likely be a clear favorite as it goes for a repeat at Coralville’s Xtream Arena on March 7-8.

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com

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