Iowa prep standout Felicity Taylor will finish college wrestling career with Hawkeyes

IOWA CITY — Felicity Taylor will finish her college wrestling career as a Hawkeye.

A four-time national finalist and 2021 national champion from Spillville, Taylor will transfer to the University of Iowa women’s wrestling program, Hawkeye Coach Clarissa Chun announced Tuesday.

“Once I knew that we had an opportunity to bring Felicity back home I knew we had to try,” Chun said in a news release. “She is a great leader in the sport of women’s wrestling and in Iowa. I think it creates a lot of hope and opportunities for aspiring athletes from Iowa.”

A former South Winneshiek prep, Taylor spent the past four years at McKendree University in Illinois, where she helped the Bearcats win three national team titles. She was the NCWWC national champion in 2021 and finished as the 116-pound national runner-up in 2019, 2020 and 2022.

“For me it was valuable to get her coming from a program that has won national team titles,” Chun said. “She brings a lot of leadership to the team as far as the culture and getting the team to come together, building each other up, and pushing each other to move the program forward.”

Taylor also won U.S. Open and U23 national tournaments and qualified for Final X. It is the final leg of USA Wrestling’s Senior World Team Trials process.

Taylor has earned a spot on the U23 World Team, where she will represent the United States at the World Championships in Pontevedra, Spain, in October. She has also represented USA at the UWW Junior Pan American Championships in Brazil in 2019 and Senior U23 National Championships in Hungary in 2020.

Before joining the Bearcats, Taylor won 109 matches at South Winneshiek and is the first Iowa girl to reach the 100-win milestone.

She will compete unattached in 2022-23.