For the first time ever, the Iowa women's wrestling will be competing as official representatives of the University of Iowa during 2023 and 2024. Since the University of Iowa announced plans to add a women's wrestling program in September 2021, fans have wondered who Iowa would face. Now we have a full schedule for the team in their debut season:
It's a somewhat unusual schedule with some unusual opponents, primarily because women's wrestling is still a very young sport in the NCAA, with a limited number of colleges sponsoring the sport. Iowa is the only Division I Power 5 school to sponsor women's wrestling. Women's wrestling is officially considered an Emerging Sport and is currently on track to earn official NCAA championship status by 2025 (for a NCAA Championships event that would be held in 2026).
The schedule is heavy on tournaments and multi-event dates, which will allow Iowa to see a variety of opponents while also keeping travel costs manageable. Outside of a season-opening trip out east and a mid-December excursion to Las Vegas, the schedule features a lot of dates within Iowa, or in neighboring states.
Iowa's first-ever competition will be a dual meet at East Stroudsburg University, a Division II school, on November 4. Iowa's first-ever competition at Carver-Hawkeye Arena will be the Trailblazer Duals a week later, on November 12. Iowa's only other competition in Carver-Hawkeye Arena will be a Quad Duals event (with opponents to be announced later) on January 21.
There will also be several other opportunities for local fans to see the team in action, though -- the women's wrestling team will be in action at the Soldier Salute event at Xtream Arena in Coralville on December 29-30, as well as at the National Duals event in Cedar Falls a week later, on January 5-6. And the NCWWC National Championships will be just up the road from Iowa City, in Cedar Rapids on March 8-9.
One other event to circle -- the North Central College Open on December 10. North Central College, a Division 3 school, won last year's National Collegiate Women's Wrestling Championship, with 15 wrestlers earning All-America status and three winning national titles. Showdowns between North Central College wrestlers and Iowa wrestlers at that event could be previews of rematches (including national title matches) at this season's NCWWC event.
The headliners for the Iowa women's wrestling team this season include Sterling Dias at 101 lbs (a 2019 Cadet World silver medalist and national title contender), Felicity Taylor at 116 (a 2021 NCWWC champion and 2023 U23 national champion), Marlynne Deede at 155 (4x All-American and 2023 NCWWC champion), and Kylie Welker at 170 (U20 national runner-up in 2023).
As more information about the upcoming season is revealed, including start times and TV/streaming information, we'll provide updates.
