NCAA No. 1 Iowa women lead NAIA No. 1 Life in Soldier Salute women’s division

CORALVILLE, Iowa – The top two teams in the women’s division at the Soldier Salute are only a few points apart, with NCAA No. 1 Iowa with 45 points and NAIA No. 1 Life with 43 points.

Eight of the 10 women’s weight classes started with Group competition, with the results determining the pairings of Monday’s quarterfinals. The other two weight classes (124, 138) was a direct bracket, which completed its semifinals and has determined its semifinalists.

In the two weight classes that have reached the semifinals, both Iowa and Life have two semifinalists. Iowa wrestlers in the semifinals include Cali Leng (124) and Cadence Diduch (138), while Life semifinalists are Ariana Martinez (124) and Zaynah McBryde (138).

In the eight other weight classes, after the Group competition set the quarterfinals and eliminated a number of athletes, Iowa has 16 more quarterfinalists while Life has 15 more quarterfinalists.

Included among the Iowa athletes in the quatterfinals are three athletes who have won medals for Team USA at the Senior level, Macey Kilty (145), Kennedy Blades (160) and Kylie Welker (180). Blades was a 2024 Olympic silver medalist. Kilty has won two Senior World medals, a 2023 silver and a 2024 bronze, and Welker won a 2024 bronze.

The other two McBryde sisters for Life are in the quarterfinals, Jamilah McBryde (145) and Latifah McBryde (160). Two top seeds for Life are also in the quarterfinals, Anaya Falcon (110) and Sarah Savidge (131),

Iowa and Life only meet once in the quarterfinals, when Hawkeye Emily Frost battles Eagle Jordyn Chrisco at 131 pounds.

The tournament includes athletes from nine different nationally ranked programs, featuring teams from the NCAA, NAIA, NJCAA and USports (Canada).

NAIA No. 7 Indiana Tech has six quarterfinalists, while NAIA No. 13 Baker has five in the quarterfinals.

Team Nazar Training Center, a Wisconsin club, has five nationally ranked high school girls in the quarterfinals, Taylor Whiting (110), Madilyn Peach (131), Carley Ceshker (131), Harlow Skenandore (145) and Brooke Huffman (180). Two other nationally ranked high school athletes in the quarterfinals are Jaclyn Bouzakis of Pennsylvania (103) and Janiya Johnson of Tennessee (160).

Monday's competition starts at 11 a.m. and the action will be streamed live on B1G+.

The brackets for the event are posted on Smoothcomp.

https://iasportsco.smoothcomp.com/en/event/21427/schedule/brackets

SOLDIER SALUTE

At Coralville, Iowa, December 29

Women’s Large bracket Semifinal pairings

124

Mateah Roehl (Askren WA) vs. Ariana Martinez (Life)

Cali Leng (Iowa) vs. Rose Kaplan (Indiana Tech)

138

Zaynah McBryde (Life) vs. Samantha Barragan (Texas Wesleyan)

Kendall Bostelman (William Penn) vs. Cadence Diduch (Iowa)

Women’s Large Bracket Quarterfinal results

124

Mateah Roehl (Askren WA) pin Devlynn Albrecht (unattached), 0:28

Ariana Martinez (Life) pin Kylie Robledo (Baker), 5:03

Cali Leng (Iowa) dec. Anna Kresja (Life), 14-11

Rose Kaplan (Indiana Tech) pin Francesca Logreco (Brock), 4:13

138

Zaynah McBryde (Life) pin Skyley Hanna (Indiana Tech), 1:51

Samantha Barragan (Texas Wesleyan) dec. Lilly Luft (Iowa), 6-2

Kendall Bostelman (William Penn) tech fall Isabelle Hawley (William Penn), 10-0

Cadence Diduch (Iowa) tech fall Esperanza Almazan (William Penn), 10-0

Semifinalist by team in large brackets

2 – Iowa, Life

1 – Askren WA, Indiana Tech, Texas Wesleyan, William Penn

Women’s Small Bracket Quarterfinal pairings (with Group placements)

103

Jaclyn Bouzakis (unattached) vs. Veronica Greene (Baker)

Sterling Dias (Iowa) vs. Olivia Atkins (William Penn)

Brianna Funakoski (Life) vs. Macie Anderson (Life)

Katherine Hernandez (Life), bye

Group A placements – 1. Bouzakis, 2. Funakoshi, 3. Atkins

Group B placements – 1. Hernandez, 2. Dias, 3. Anderson, 4. Greene

110

Anaya Falcon (Life) vs. Diana Gonzalez (Life)

Kaci Bice (Life) vs. Valerie Solorio (Iowa)

Emilie Gonzalez (Iowa) vs. Taylor Whiting (Team Nazar TC)

Ava Bayless (Iowa) vs. Tehani Soares (Indiana Tech)

Group A placements – 1. Falcon, 2. Whiting, 3. Samantha Romero (Brock)

Group B placements –1. Bayless, 2. Bice, 3. Allison Hancher (Indiana Tech)

Group C placements –1. E Gonzalez, 2. D. Gonzalez, 3. Sophia Castillo (Baker)

Group D placements – 1. Solorio, 2. Soares, 3. Kylee Slyter (Baker)

117

Brianna Gonzales (Iowa) vs. Vaea Lameoureaux (Umpqua CC)

Elizabeth Dollar (Indiana Tech) vs. Katherine Heath (Baker)

Shea Reisel (Dubuque) vs. Arisna Stott (Indiana Tech)

Riley Horvath (Indiana Tech) vs. Salyna Shotwell (Life)

Group A placements – 1. Gonzalez, 2. Reisel, 3. Dollar, 4. Horvath

Group B placements – 1. Shotwell, 2. Heath, 3. Stott, 4. Lamoureaux

131

Sarah Savidge (Life) vs. Bronwyn Brenneman (William Penn)

Madilyn Peach (Team Nazar TC) vs. Alexandra Baudhuin (Iowa)

Olivia Mottley (Life) vs. Carley Ceshker (Team Nazar TC)

Jordyn Chrisco (Life) vs. Emily Frost (Iowa)

Group A placements – 1. Savidge, 2. Ceshker, 3. Tyler Swanigan (William Penn)

Group B placements – 1. Frost, 2. Peach, 3. Hannah Seitzinger (Indiana Tech)

Group C placements – 1. Motley, 2. Brenneman, 3. Marisa Moffitt (Indiana Tech)

Group D placements – 1. Baudhuin, 2. Chrisco, 3. Grecia Martinez (William Penn), 4. Aileya Sath (Baker)

145

Macey Kilty (Iowa) vs. Tatum Levendahl (Dubuque)

Christina Jaen (Life) vs. Valerie Hamilton (unattached)

Jamilah McBryde (Life) vs. Harlow Skenandore (Team Nazar TC)

McKenna Haltom (Baker) vs. Reese Larramendy (Iowa)

Group A placements – 1. Kilty, 2. Skenandore, 3. Pella Lefever (Texas Wesleyan), 4. Maia Crumb (Indiana Tech)

Group B placements – 1. Larramendy, 2. Jaen, 3. Nora Prather (Baker)

Group C placements – 1. McBryde, 2. Levendahl, 3. Naida Abdijanovic (William Penn)

Group D placements – 1. Hamilton, 2. Haltom, 3. Madalaine Menchaca (Indiana Tech)

160

Kennedy Blades (Iowa) vs. Destiny Ware (Umpqua)

Alexa Wolf (William Penn) vs. Alexandria Hofrichter (Dubuque)

Bo Geibe (unattached) vs. Janiya Johnson (Cobra WC)

Vanessa Keefe (Brock) vs. Latifah McBryde (Life)

Group A placements – 1. Blades, 2. Johnson, 3. Cydney Bassett (Indiana Tech)

Group B placements – 1. McBryde, 2. Wolf, 3. Haley Diaz (Indiana Tech)

Group C placements – 1. Geibe, 2. Ware, 3. Morgan Tadlock (Baker)

Group D placements – 1. Hofrichter, 2. Keefe, 3. Anunobi (Life)

180

Kylie Welker (Iowa) vs. Grace Gray (William Penn)

Catherine McNulty (Indiana Tech) vs. Margaret Graham (Life)

Janelle Avila (Baker) vs. Brooke Huffman (Team Nazar TC)

Nevaeh Wardlow (Baker) vs. Naomi Simon (Iowa)

Group A placements – 1. Welker, 2. Huffman, 3. Isabella Sosa (Umpqua), 4. Johanna Carrasco (Baker)

Group B placements – 1. Simon, 2. McNulty, 3. Arianna Mauch (Umpqua)

Group C placements – 1. Avila, 2. Gray, 3. Clara Massa (Life)

Group D placements – 1. Graham, 2. Wardlow, 3. Brianna Seixas (Dubuque)

207

Jaycee Foeller (Iowa) vs. Daisy Cabriales (William Penn)

Riley Dempewolf (Indiana Tech) vs. Alivia White (Iowa)

Katja Osteen (Iowa) vs. Samantha Calkins (Iowa)

Abigail Fonseca (Texas Wesleyan) vs. Savannah Isaac (Life)

Group A placements – 1. Foeller, 2. Osteen, 3. Dempewolf, 4. Fonseca, 5. Kara Pope (Baker)

Group B placements – 1. Isaac, 2. White, 3. Calkins, 4. Cabrieles

Quarterfinalists by team in small brackets

16 – Iowa

15 – Life

6 – Indiana Tech

5 – Baker, Team Nazar TC

3 – Unattached, Dubuque

2 – Umpqua

1 – Cobra WC, Brock, Texas Wesleyan

Women’s Team standings after day one

1. NCAA No. 1 Iowa, 45

2. NAIA No. 1 Life, 43

3. NAIA No. 7 Indiana Tech, 24

4. NAIA No. 5 William Penn, 17.5

5. NAIA No. 13 Baker, 13

Other participating college teams

USports No. 2 Brock

NCAA No. 14 Dubuque

NJCAA No. 3 Umpqua

NAIA No. 14 Texas Wesleyan