A birthday sweep, a return to the mat and a flight home sets up Iowa women’s wrestling’s dominant home-opening win

IOWA CITY — Not many birthday presents are better than earning your first win of the season. Harlee Hiller, however, made it even better.

The brand new, 19-year-old freshman Iowa women’s wrestler won both her matches in the Hawkeyes’ All-Iowa Dual Sunday afternoon, capping off a perfect weekend in her collegiate debut.

She’d already won her first collegiate individual title at the Luther Open just 24 hours earlier, and won her two matches in Carver-Hawkeye Arena via a technical fall and fall, respectively.

“It was just so cool,” Hiller said. “That was just really surreal to be on my birthday, my debut in Carver. I'm just so grateful, and that was so awesome.”

Hiller was just one of three Hawkeyes putting together performances to remember in Iowa’s first home event of the season. Her performance, along with redshirt junior Nyla Valencia’s debut after a two-year wait and No. 2 redshirt junior Reese Larramendy’s cross-country turnaround to make it to the home opener, were all part of a Sunday head coach Clarissa Chun was immensely proud of.

In the first-ever All-Iowa Dual, Iowa cruised to two victories over Central (44-0) and Cornell (43-0) at open this year’s home schedule. Every Hawkeye competing won their match in the first round and without conceding one point.

“It gives us information of where we're at and where they're at,” Chun said. “Whether it's a freshman going out there, competing in Carver for the first time, I thought they did great.”

Valencia, who’d been off the mat with two-straight seasons with season-ending injuries, won her match over Cornell’s Angelica Benitez in just 34 seconds via a tech. fall.

Valencia had been waiting for her turn to walk out of the tunnel since Iowa’s inaugural season, and had the chance to finally compete with her surgeon watching alongside her teammates, athletic trainers and Chun — who was beaming as Valencia took the mat.

“I don't think I've ever felt that much excitement and joy about competing and wrestling in a match,” Valencia said. “I've been waiting patiently for my time, and it's finally here. It just feels great.”

Larramendy won her both matches by technical superiority, also competed on just a few hours of sleep. She’d won her class in the NWCA All-Star Classic, 4-3, in New Jersey while her teammates competed in the Luther Hill Open Saturday night.

Larramendy arrived for back in Iowa for Sunday’s dual with 40 minutes before weigh-ins.

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“Regardless of the arena that we're in, who we're facing against, we have very high expectations of ourselves,” Larramendy said. “I think what that resembles is our standards and our expectations of excellence that we have.”

The Hawkeyes won’t return home for a month, but the team was confident this home opener was one many of them would never forget.

“I feel likeI have wings, I'm flying,” Valencia said. “I have this surge of power and adrenaline that's just kind of feeding that excitement, and nothing else can describe that. I feel like I'm on top of the world.”

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