Hawkeyes Win NCWWC Title in Inaugural Season

The NCWWCs concluded on Saturday after a nail-biter team race that had returning champs North Central up by 17 points going into the finals. However, after an impressive final round that concluded by a tech fall from Kylie Welker in the final match of the night, the Hawkeyes finished with 204 team points over North Central’s 198. Here are some takeaways from one of the most exciting national tournaments as far as team race goes.

1. Iowa in pivotal matches

The race between Iowa and North Central was close throughout the tournament. The Hawkeyes really put themselves in a winnable position during the semis, however, winning all five matches where Iowa wrestlers faced off against North Central. This included Sterling Dias over Madison Avila at 101 lbs, Ava Bayless over Jaslynn Gallegos at 109 lbs, Brianna Gonzalez over Sydney Petzinger at 116 lbs, Marlynne Deede over London Houston at 155 lbs, and Jaycee Foeller over Traeh Haynes at 191 lbs.

Then in the finals, Iowa sent in eight wrestlers, including two matches where teammates faced off at 101 lbs and 116 lbs, and in the end, they crowned six individual champs, only dropping one championship match at 191 lbs where Sandra Guerrero of New Jersey City got the fall over Jaycee Foeller. In addition to Kylie Welker, Hawkeye champs were Emilie Gonzalez, Ava Bayless, Felicity Taylor, Reese Larramendy, and returning champ Marlynne Deede.

2. Cam Guerin adds to her legacy

Another notable result from the finals was McKendree’s Cam Guerin winning her fourth national title, as she took out her opponent Maria Baez Dilone of King in a 2-1 decision. This comes after she teched her other three opponents, including Alexis Janiak of Aurora. Guerin still has another year of eligibility which she hinted at using during post-match interviews. It will be interesting for fans to wait and see if she will attempt the historic accomplishment of becoming a 5xer.

3. Championship finishes for North Central and King wrestlers

While Iowa took up most of the top spots on the podium, North Central and King, who finished the team race in second and third respectively, were also crowned champions. For North Central, Amani Jones at 123 lbs took out Virginia Foard of King by a 3-1 decision. Jones notched falls in her first two matches before a dominant 13-4 decision in the semis over King’s other 123 lb wrestler Montana Delawder to end up in the finals and become a 3x All-American.

King returned the favor however with Claire DiCugno’s tech fall over Yele Aycock of North Central at 136 lbs. DiCugno had an incredible tournament as well, getting two tech falls and a 10-2 decision over Viktorya Torres of McKendree to put herself in the finals.

4. King University generated some serious upsets

King University came in third place behind Iowa and North Central, however, their wrestlers created some upsets that really shook up the brackets. #4 Virginia Foard found her way to the finals with a tech fall over #1 Shelby Moore of McKendree in the semis. This was a flipped result from their matchup earlier this year where Moore got the tech over Foard. #6 Aine Drury also took out a top-ranked contender with her semifinal decision win over Alara Boyd of North Central. #3 for the Tornado Montana DeLawder also had a win over McKendree’s #1 Shelby Moore in the third-place match. Yasmine Kallily Oliveira, who entered the tournament unranked, won her first match over Iowa’s #5 Ella Schmit. Finally, #7 Alexa Garcia got a big 9-0 win over #4 Sara Lake of Lindenwood in the consolation semis. While King was not able to rack up the points needed to move ahead of the other top teams, they showed a lot of grit and tenacity to continue to battle on the backside and have 12 of 15 wrestlers earn All-American honors.

5. Olympic Implications

The NCWWC tournament is one of the qualifiers for the U.S. Olympic Team trials happening later this spring. If a wrestler who has not already qualified another way finishes as the champion in her weight class, she can advance to the trials. Those wrestlers from this tournament were Emilie Gonzalez of Iowa, Ava Bayless of Iowa, Felicity Taylor of Iowa, Claire DiCungo of King, and Reese Larramendy of Iowa. Amani Jones of North Central, Cam Guerin of McKendree, Marlynne Deede of Iowa, Kylie Welker of Iowa had already qualified from other competitions. Sandra Guerrero of New Jersey City plans to compete for Puerto Rico.