Hawkeyes Repeat at National Collegiate Women's Wrestling Championships

The NCWWCs concluded on Saturday after a nail-biter team race with Iowa ahead by 13.5 points heading into the finals. However, unlike last year when Iowa found themselves with 9 wrestlers in the finals, this time the team got the job done on the backside in consolations. All 15 Iowa wrestlers earned All-American status, which made all the difference with the team only sending four to the finals this year.  North Central also sent four wrestlers to the finals, while 3rd place McKendree sent five. The other finalists come from Grand Valley State who sent 3, King who sent 2, and one each from Otterbein and Aurora. With the stage set, fans watched a crazy final round that ultimately landed Iowa in the top spot with 201.5 points. North Central secured second with 181 points, with McKendree and Grand Valley State following with 158.5 and 129.5 points respectively. Notably, 6 different schools had national champions in this tournament, showing the dominance across teams for this sport this year.

Here is a recap of the finals matches that capped off an incredible tournament:

103 lbs: #4 Olivia Shore (Otterbein) over #2 Gabriele Tedesco (McKendree) 2-1

This was a bit of a low-scoring match with minimal offense between the two, however, Shore had just a bit of the competitive advantage scoring two shot clock points to Tedesco’s one. Otterbein is in its first year and Shore represents its first champion. Shore transferred to Otterbein from McKendree where she competed last year after starting her career at Tiffin.

110 lbs: #1 Sage Mortimer (GVSU) over #3 Samara Chavez (King) 11-7

Mortimer continued the pattern of getting a first-year team a national champion with her 11-7 win over Samara Chavez. This match had a bit of an opposite feeling than the one before it with non-stop action from both wrestlers. Chavez struck first with a big takedown that created a short live scramble that had Mortimer on top to tie things up 2-2. In that exchange, Chavez appeared to get hurt momentarily and had to take some time with her coaches on the mat. Once action returned, Mortimer was after it immediately, landing another takedown and looking for an armbar before the action was stopped. Not to be outdone, Chavez gets to an ankle after the reset and it is tied 4-4 going into the second period. Period two was more of the same with a Mortimer push-out point and Chavez takedown quickly followed by a Chavez push-out and Mortimer takedown. However, Mortimer strings together two quick 2-point moves to put it away. These two were absolute fireworks and a great stylistic matchup that made this really fun to watch.

117 lbs: #3 Sydney Petzinger (North Central) over #4 Clare Booe (King) 10-6

This was another great and competitive match between one wrestler who had made it deep in this tournament before and a freshman. Booe got on the board first with a really slick takedown. After the reset, Petzinger gets a takedown of her shot and rolls her through for two more. Petzinger gets in again on another good shot, but Booe can defend and score making it 4-4 headed into the second. Petzinger hits a huge double that puts Booe on her back for a 4-point move. Booe continues to try to generate offense after the reset, but Petzinger is able to capitalize on the attempt and step over for a takedown and two exposure. It’s 10-6 with :47 seconds left after a flurry of offense and while a lot more shots are taken from both wrestlers, that ends up being the final score as time expires. Petzinger finished second her first time to NCWWCs followed by two 4th place finishes. She finally gets her championship finish here and gets big points added to the North Central score.

124: #1 Amani Jones (North Central) over #3 Shelby Moore (McKendree) 5-0

These two were both working hard in the hand fight, but Jones was awarded the first shot clock point. Almost immediately after it is awarded, Jones shoots and gets the takedown to go up 3-0 headed into period two. Moore is working hard in the second period but can’t get close to Jones’ legs. Jones goes for a good shot of her own, but Moore gets a good whizzer to hold her off. Moore then gets in deep, but Jones displays some impressive defense of her own and the two get reset. Jones caps things off with another clean takedown and wins it 5-0 to claim her second national title and get those placement points for the Cardinals.

131: #1 Alexis Janiak (Aurora) over #2 Sara Sterner (North Central) 6-4

North Central’s luck ran out here with Alexis Janiak putting together an impressive win over Sara Sterner. The two had a history with this being the third-place match at NCWWCs last year and the two meeting at regionals just a few weeks ago. They were 1-1 with Janiak having the more recent victory. Janiak gets an early point and then hits a huge takedown immediately to a roll through and is up 5-0 quickly. The action is limited the rest of the period. Off the whistle in period two, Janiak goes for a big shot, but Sterner is ready with a counter and ends up on top for the two instead. Sterner continues fighting and goes for a big final move and gets 2 just as time expires. Her coaches throw a brick, possibly to look for potential exposure or additional points, but the officials call for no change. Because North Central lost the challenge, Janiak gets an additional point tacked on to the total, making it a 6-4 decision for Janiak.

138: #1 Katie Lange (GVSU) tech #2 Haylie Jaffe (McKendree) 10-0

Grand Valley sent in their second wrestler in the finals here against a crazy-tough Haylie Jaffe of McKendree. Unfortunately for Jaffe, Lange breaks things open early with a takedown on the edge. She then defends a deep single-leg shot from Jaffe to circle around and get two more. Another takedown at the : 45-second mark put Lange up 6-0 headed into the second. Off the whistle, Lange began hunting for another takedown and found it quickly. She drops down to the legs and gets the lace to roll through and get the 10-0 technical fall, the first bonus point win of the finals. Lange becomes a 2x National Champ with this win after also taking first place in 2022.

145: #1 Macey Kilty (Iowa) over #3 Bella Mir (North Central) 7-2

Things felt different from last year when Iowa competed in nearly every finals match, as 145 lbs was the first time a Hawkeye competed for 1st. 

Apparently “Bad Blood” played in the arena during walkouts with #1 Macey Kilty taking on #3 Bella Mir, a former Hawkeye now at North Central. You could tell there was a bit of chippiness in this match, but there was a lot of action and gritty hand-fighting to go with it. There were no points until just before the one-minute mark when Kilty was awarded a shot clock point. From there, she opened things up with a takedown and two for exposure. Headed into the second up 5-0, it seemed like Kilty may easily put this away. However, Mir is able to roll through a Kilty attempt and get two exposures to make it 5-2. Kilty attempts again and gets it this time going up 7-2. Mir gets in deep on a shot but Kilty defends and almost turns, holding the score at 7-2 as time expires. There appeared to be a few words exchanged between the two after the match, but eventually, they shake hands and Kilty gets hers raised. This win clinched the team score for Iowa.

160: #1 Kennedy Blades (Iowa) tech #2 Kaylynn Albrecht (McKendree) 10-0

The Hawkeye gauntlet continued here with Blades doing what she does best with early, clean offense. She gets takedown after takedown on the edge. There is a pushout point as well followed by a few more takedowns to nab the technical fall 10-0 with :05 seconds left in the first period. Blades went completely undefeated this season with a 100% bonus rate.

180: #1 Kylie Welker (Iowa) tech #2 Sabrina Nauss (GVSU) 10-0

It was a very similar story at 180 lbs, with Welker putting on a master class against her opponent Sabrina Nauss. Nauss fought hard with some attempts and good defense, however Welker was up off her first shot with a takedown and lace 4-0 almost immediately. From the reset, she hit another perfect shot and got to her tight waist for 2 more rolls and that was it. A 10-0 technical fall for Kylie Welker in just :57 seconds. Welker has had “blink and you’ll miss it” style matches all season and joins Blades in having a perfect season: 100% wins, 100% bonus point wins.

207: #2 Tristan Kelly (McKendree) over #1 Jaycee Foeller (Iowa) 6-0

Tristan Kelly set out to turn the tides of how her McKendree teammates had fared so far in the finals and she was successful in doing so. After going back and forth with tough handfighting and some strong ties, Kelly hits a slick throw-by for a takedown with exposure up 4-0. That was the extent of the offense in the first period. Period two is low scoring, with each wrestler defending their opponent's shots and fakes very well. However, with less than 10 seconds in the match, Kelly hits another slick takedown to make it a 6-0 win and solidify a 3rd-place finish for McKendree.

I know a lot of headlines highlight the Iowa Hawkeyes, but it is incredibly notable how they were able to succeed this year with five fewer finalists than last season. Placement points are big for team score, and this could have easily gotten out of hand when 2024 National champs for the Hawkeyes dropped matches on the front side of the tournament. However, the resiliency and culture that must have been instilled in these athletes made all the difference with all 15 wrestlers becoming All-Americans. Every wrestler who dropped to the backside of the bracket won at least one more match after that loss. That created a scenario in which the “lowest scoring” wrestler for the Hawkeyes still earned 11 team points. Every wrestler that makes it to this level fights hard, battles for their team, and works to get the best outcome possible for themselves, and that is evident in the six different schools represented among the 10 national champions, including new schools like Otterbein and Grand Valley State. 

This sport is always growing and evolving and at the conclusion of the final NCWWC tournament in its current form, wrestling fans should be feeling excited about what the first NCAA Women’s Wrestling tournament has in store, regardless of what team they cheer for.