Iowa women’s wrestling celebrates senior class with sweep in final home dual

IOWA CITY — Senior Ella Schmit was in tears after her second match of the day. So was Katja Osteen.

The two seniors picked up wins in their final appearance in Carver-Hawkeye Arena, and immediately were emotional after hearing the whistle. It wasn’t the end of their season, but Schmit and Osteen said goodbye to the place they called home for the last three seasons.

Iowa women’s wrestling head coach Clarissa Chun grew emotional herself as the Hawkeyes began their Senior Day festivities.

Sunday’s tri-dual against No. 9 Lehigh and Otterbein signified a farewell party for five Iowa wrestlers celebrating Senior Day — honoring Schmit, Osteen, Ava Bayless, Skye Realin and Sam Calkins.

Schmit, Osteen and Bayless all competed in the tri-dual, and all three picked up wins. Iowa won both duals, defeating No. 9 Lehigh, 37-7, and Otterbein, 42-1.

“My last match was kind of hard, just in the idea of being able to control my emotions,” Schmit said. “But as soon as I heard the whistle blow at the end, that's kind of when I lost it and realized I was done.”

Bayless and Schmit were part of the original Hawkeyes that joined the newborn Iowa women’s wrestling program in its infancy. Both wrestled twice, with Bayless splitting her two bouts and Schmit earning technical falls in her two.

Iowa head coach Clarissa Chun found ways to bring top-ranked talent from around the country to Iowa, but made sure to include the Hawkeye State’s own Schmit, too. Chun watched on as the 138-pound senior released the overwhelming emotion on the mat.

And the Iowa head coach joined her in shedding a few tears, too.

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“I remember watching Ella at the Iowa Girls State tournament before it was even officially sanctioned,” Chun said. “...being from Bettendorf, Iowa, that was huge. I know the importance of keeping Iowans here. We want them to represent the Iowa Hawkeyes. And it means so much that they can look up to her, and a lot of them have followed her journey, too.”

The three Hawkeyes who competed on Senior Day earned All-American status throughout their collegiate career. They all contributed to some part of Iowa’s beginnings in women’s wrestling.

And they all understand there’s still more firsts left to conquer.

Despite Sunday being the final dual meet inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena, Iowa hosts its For Her meet in February, as well as the first-ever NCAA Nationals in March. Both events are in Coralville — so while technically not a true home event, it’s right in Iowa’s backyard.

“Tomorrow we're going to wake up and get right back to work,“ Osteen said. ”The season's not over. There's, a lot of things to do still.“

But even though wrestling has always required complete, undisrupted focus, there is time for reflection to realize what has happened. Surrounding the tigerhawk logo on the mat, arm-and-arm with their wrestling sisters with Taylor Swift’s “Long Live” playing over the speakers, Bayless, Schmit, Osteen, Realine and Calkins could all see where college wrestling brought them.

When just five years ago, the idea of that moment only lived in their wildest dreams.

“A moment to pause, reflect and appreciate them for how they represented women's wrestling for University of Iowa,” Chun said. “Along the way, they all brought something to the team. It was bittersweet celebrating them, knowing that they're going to go off doing great things, whatever's next for them.”

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