Women’s wrestling 101
A primer for the uninitiated as Cedar Rapids gets set to host the national championships
About seven or eight years ago, I was chatting with a woman whose life work was steeped in girls’ and women’s sports. We were talking about history, trends and emerging sports and despite our collective knowledge of girls’ and women’s sports, we had in common one huge thing that had caught us both completely by surprise:
Girls’ and women’s wrestling.
Neither of us really saw coming the fast-moving wave, one that has grown such that wrestling is an officially sanctioned girls’ sport in Iowa with a state tournament of its own and the University of Iowa launched a women’s team. As a lifelong observer and writer of girls’ and women’s sports, I’m not proud that I did not see the wave coming but my excuse is I was living in Wisconsin and not wrestling-mad Iowa when most of this happened.
It didn’t surprise me that some girls would want to wrestle. Every school for decades has had its tough-as-snot girls who were brave enough to try boys’ sports. (One of my high school basketball teammates was also on the football team; she also got kicked off our basketball team for punching an opponent.) But a critical mass of popularity that has moved it to the mainstream? That’s what has surprised – and delighted – me, especially as it continues to grow.
This weekend is a big one for women’s wrestling. For the second year, the National Collegiate Women’s Wrestling Championships will be held in Cedar Rapids on Friday and Saturday (March 8-9), the tournament that will stand as the unofficial NCAA championship. In just its first official season competing in women’s wrestling, Iowa is among the favorites to with the title.
In Jamestown, North Dakota, the NAIA will hold its second sanctioned tournament for women. Grand View finished third last season.
Wrestling defies so many stereotypes for female athletes, and that’s the beauty of it. It’s clearly a feat of strength but also extremely tactical. It’s a contact sport in a world where conventional wisdom says girls and women don’t like that kind of thing (yet women are also drawn to boxing and WWE). It’s also been a boost for a sport that had seen high school and college competition dwindle for boys and men in recent decades.
The sport is only growing, so this is the perfect time to build some knowledge about girls’ and women’s wrestling if it is mostly new to you, too. After all, knowing at least a little bit about wrestling is as Iowan as eating a pork tenderloin the size of a Frisbee or apologizing when you bump into a door.
How long have girls and women been wrestling?
Longer than you might think. The first world championships were held in Norway in 1987, the U.S. sent its first team to worlds two years later. In 1992, Tricia Saunders was the first U.S. world champion. Women’s wrestling became an Olympic sport in 2004. Iowa Coach Clarissa Chun won a bronze medal at the 2012 Olympics and was a 2009 world champion.
Minnesota-Morris became the first college to have a varsity women’s wrestling team in 1993. Minus any U.S. college opponents, the Cougars competed in USA Wrestling events and against Canadian college teams.
In 1990, the National Federation of State High School Associations tracked girl wrestlers for the first time but all were on boys’ teams; there were 112 girls at 101 schools. Now there are more than 50,000 in 45 states.
How has the sport grown?
In a big way. Since Minnesota-Morris launched the whole deal, 95 more NCAA teams have started women’s wrestling programs. There are also 45 NAIA programs and 32 junior college programs.
Iowa high schools have seen immense growth. In the 2020-2021 season, 561 girls wrestled. That jumped to 3,100 girls registered for the 2023-24 season that ended in February. Of those, 448 participated in the state tournament.
How big of a deal was it when the University of Iowa added women’s wrestling?
Huge. Hu-u-u-u-ge.
As the first Power-5, major Division I school to offer the sport, Iowa’s announcement in September 2021 rocked the wrestling world. It made sense that Iowa would lead, given the sport’s popularity and tradition in the state. No other major school has announced a women’s wrestling program. Yet.
Wrestlers knew it was a big deal, too. Chun’s first Hawkeye signee was Kylie Welker, a Wisconsinite and junior world champion who was runner-up for a 2021 Olympic spot as a 17-year-old. Felicity Taylor, who went to South Winneshiek High School, won a national title for powerhouse McKendree University and transferred to Iowa for her final season.
And the fans knew it. When Iowa held its first-ever home meet at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in November, 8,207 fans showed up — a collegiate attendance record for women’s wrestling.
What other Iowa teams wrestle?
Quite a few, mostly small schools. In the NCAA, there’s Buena Vista, Central, Cornell, Dubuque, Loras, Simpson and Wartburg. In NAIA, there’s Grand View, Waldorf, William Penn and Morningside. There are also junior colleges: Ellsworth, Iowa Central, Iowa Lakes, Iowa Western and Indian Hills, which just won its second consecutive national title.
Could the Hawkeyes really win a national title in their first year of existence?
It’s possible, as the Hawkeyes have dominated from the get-go. In that first-ever match at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, Iowa beat No. 13 Presbyterian 44-1, No. 11 Lindenwood 43-0 and No. 5 Sacred Heart 40-4.
Iowa finished the regular season ranked No. 2 in the coaches poll (North Central is No. 1). Iowa had been No. 1 earlier in the season.
Who are some wrestlers to keep an eye on?
As the Summer Olympics loom, three Hawkeyes have a shot at heading to Paris. Marlynne Deede and Rose Cassioppi qualified in December for the Olympic Team Trials in State College, Pa., April 19-20. Their teammate Welker had already qualified.
At the NAIA tournament, William Penn’s Adaugo Nwachuko will be going for her third title. Her first two were won for Iowa Wesleyan, which closed last year, forcing Nwachuko to transfer. Nwachuko serves in the Iowa National Guard.
One future Hawkeye made Iowa high school history in February. Naomi Simon of Decorah was the first girl to win four state championships. Following in her footsteps is sophomore Katie Biscoglia of Raccoon River, who has two state titles and is yet to lose a high school match. Sigourney-Keota junior Reanah Utterback was an undefeated state champion in her first year wrestling in the girls’ tournament; the past two seasons she wrestled on the boys’ team because her school didn’t yet have a girls team. She had qualified for the boys’ state tournament, finishing eighth last year.
Will wrestling be an official NCAA sport?
It’s pretty likely. In February, the NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics voted to recommend adding a national championship for wrestling. The first projected tournament would be in winter 2026.
Will the NCAA recognize titles from before they sanctioned the sport or will they ignore them like they’ve done for women’s basketball?
Excellent question.
Oh crap, I didn’t know about the national tournament in Cedar Rapids this weekend and I already have plans. Will it return?
Yes, the championships will return to Cedar Rapids next March.
This is all pretty cool. Where can I learn more?
Locally, the Des Moines Register’s Cody Goodwin and the Cedar Rapids Gazette’s John Steppe have done a good job covering women’s wrestling. Nationally, there’s a website called FloWrestling.com dedicated to the sport. That’s also where the national tournament will stream but a subscription is required.
The National Collegiate Women’s Wrestling Championships are March 8-9 at Alliant Energy PowerHouse Arena in Cedar Rapids. For more information, go to www.ncwwc.com.
Jane Burns is a former sports and features writer for the Des Moines Register, as well as other publications and websites. Over the course of her career she’s covered pretty much everything, which is why her as-yet-to-be-written memoir will be called “Cheese and Basketball: Stories From a Reporter Who Has Covered Everything.”
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This is great! I can hardly believe that the number of wrestlers went from 561 girls wrestled to 3,100 girls in just a few years! Cool!
Speaking of girls in traditionally "boy-ish" sports, did you ever watch GLOW, the series of women's wrestling? I thought I'd have zero interest, but I was hooked--and very sad when it was cancelled.