What to know ahead of Iowa women’s wrestling’s first weekend of competition

IOWA CITY — Iowa women’s wrestling is approaching another milestone this weekend.

Saturday and Sunday will mark the first team competitions in program history for the Hawkeyes’ newest intercollegiate sport. (Some wrestlers already have been at Iowa and competed unattached last year.)

The Hawkeyes will compete in a dual against East Stroudsburg University on Saturday and in the Princeton Open on Sunday.

Here is what to know ahead of the first two days of competition:

Which wrestlers to watch

Felicity Taylor, a fifth-year senior wrestling at 116 pounds, helped McKendree University win three national team titles in her four years there before transferring to Iowa last year. Individually, she was a collegiate national champion in 2021 and runner-up in 2019, 2020 and 2022.

The National Wrestling Coaches Association ranked Taylor as the No. 2 to start the season.

Nanea Estrella, NWCA’s No. 3 wrestler at 136 pounds to start the season, was last year’s U20 Pan-American champion. She outscored her four opponents, 47-4, on her way to the podium.

Estrella has overcome some personal adversity this year. The Hawaii wildfires in August devastated Lahaina — a community she considers to be her “second home” after she attended high school there.

Bettendorf native Ella Schmit became the first in-state wrestler to Clarissa Chun’s program. Schmit, now competing at 143 pounds, was a U20 Pan-American champion this summer.

Marlynne Deede, wrestling at 155 pounds, is a reigning collegiate national champion and was four-time collegiate All-American at Augsburg University.

Kylie Welker will not be with the team for this weekend’s competition because she is with the U.S. women’s freestyle national team at the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile.

Where are the Hawkeyes ranked

Iowa is tied for No. 8 with Lock Haven University in the first NWCA Coaches Poll. That could quickly change, though, as the season gets underway.

Iowa’s first opponent, East Stroudsburg, is ranked No. 7. The only top-10 team at the Princeton Open aside from Iowa will be Lock Haven.

How to watch

East Stroudsburg will provide a livestream of Saturday’s dual against Iowa on its athletics website. The Princeton Open will air on the ESPN+ streaming service.

The East Stroudsburg dual is at 3:30 p.m. (Iowa time) on Saturday, and the Princeton Open begins at 8 a.m. on Sunday.

How soon until they play in Iowa City

Iowa will host the Trailblazer Duals on Nov. 12 against Sacred Heart, Lindenwood and Presbyterian — the three other Division I intercollegiate women’s wrestling teams. Tickets for the duals are available to the general public. As of Wednesday, 3,500 tickets have been sold.

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com