The finalists have been named for the 2025 USA Wrestling Women’s College Wrestler of the Year Award.
The award will be selected by a vote from three major constituent groups: wrestling journalists, women’s college head coaches and the fans. Each of these groups will account for one-third of the vote.
The eight finalists were all college national champions in 2025: NCWWC (NCAA institutions) champions Kennedy Blades of Iowa, Amani Jones of North Central, Macey Kilty of Iowa, Sage Mortimer of Grand Valley State and Kylie Welker of Iowa, plus NAIA champions Esther Kolawole of William Penn, Christianah Ogunsanyah of William Penn and Cristelle Rodriguez of Doane.
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Fan vote for 2025 Women’s College Wrestler of the Year
Women’s college varsity wrestlers from all of the recognized college organizations were eligible, including NCAA, NAIA and NJCAA/junior college programs. The finalists were selected by a committee overseeing the award program, featuring representatives of the media, college coaches and wrestling fans. These eight wrestlers were selected from a pool of 31 college national champions from the NCAA, NAIA and NJCAA.
Fan voting opens today (Tuesday, April 1) and runs through Sunday, April 6. The announcement of the winner of 2025 USA Wrestling’s Women’s College Wrestler of the Year will again be announced on FloWrestling on Tuesday, April 8.
How to vote for USA Wrestling Women’s College Wrestler of the Year
- Review the candidate bios
- Click “cast vote now” button
- Enter your email
- Click on the one athlete you are voting for
- On bottom of page, click “save vote now” button
Fan vote for 2025 Women’s College Wrestler of the Year
The award was created in 2023. Past winners were Yelena Makoyed of North Central College in 2023 and Adaugo Nwachukwu of William Penn University in 2024.
USA Wrestling’s goal is to elevate the new award to have the significance and impact as other college athletic awards, such as the Dan Hodge Trophy for men’s college wrestling, the Heisman Trophy for college football, the Hobey Baker Award for men’s college hockey, the Patty Kazmeier Award for women’s college hockey, the Naismith College Player of the Year in men’s and women’s basketball, the Dick Howser Trophy in college baseball, the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year and similar college awards.
The Finalists (Alphabetically)
Kennedy Blades, junior, University of Iowa
- 2025 NCWWC champion at 160 pounds
- 25-0 record
- 2 pins and 23 technical falls
- 2025 NCWWC Region 7 champion
- Outstanding Wrestler at 2025 NCWWC tournament
- 2024 Olympic silver medalist for Team USA
Amani Jones, senior, North Central College
- 2025 NCWWC champion at 124 pounds, now 2x NCWWC champion
- 27-0 record
- 6 pins and 13 technical falls
- 2025 NCWWC Region 5 champion
- 2x age-group World medalist for Team USA
Macey Kilty, graduate student, University of Iowa
- 2025 NCWWC champion at 145 pounds
- 28-0 record
- 3 pins and 21 technical falls
- 2025 NCWWC Region 7 champion
- 2x Senior World medalist for Team USA
Esther Kolawole, freshman, William Penn University
- 2025 NAIA champion at 145 pounds
- 23-0 record
- 2 pins and 19 technical falls
- 2025 Heart of America Conference champion
- 2024 Olympian for Nigeria
Sage Mortimer, junior, Grand Valley State University
- 2025 NCWWC champion at 110 pounds
- 24-0 record
- 9 pins and 11 technical falls
- 2025 NCWWC Region 5 champion
- 2024 U23 World champion for Team USA
Christianah Ogunsanyah, freshman, William Penn University
- 2025 NAIA champion at 117 pounds
- 23-0 record
- 1 pins and 20 technical falls
- 2025 Heart of America Conference champion
- 2024 Olympian for Nigeria
Cristelle Rodriguez, junior, Doane University
- 2025 NAIA champion at 124 pounds, now 2x NAIA champion
- 14-0 record
- 5 pins and 8 technical falls
- 2025 Great Plains Athletic Conference champion
- 2025 NAIA Women’s Wrestler of the Year
- 2024 U20 World champion for Team USA
Kylie Welker, sophomore, Univ. of Iowa
- 2025 NCWWC champion at 180 pounds, now 2x NCWWC champion
- 27-0 record
- 6 pins and 21 technical falls
- 2025 NCWWC Region 7 champion
- 2021 U20 World champion for Team USA
PAST USA WRESTLING WOMEN’S COLLEGE WRESTLERS OF THE YEAR
2024 – Adaugo Nwachukwu, William Penn University
2023 – Yelena Makoyed, North Central College
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