Iowa Women’s Wrestling Recap

What better way to end the holidays than with some wrestling before the athletes head back to school? Over the past few weeks the senior level women headed to Las Vegas for the Olympic Trials Qualifier, we saw some great matches at the high school level, and over the past weekend there were solid finishes for two of Iowa’s collegiate level wrestlers who competed at the Waldorf College Open.

Senior Women:

There were six Iowa women who wrestled in the U.S. Senior Nationals/Trials Qualifier December 18^th & 19^th in Las Vegas: Julie Carpenter Johnsen, Lauren Louive, Jasmine Bailey, Megan Black, Cassy Herkelman and Rachel Watters.

 For more information on the results from Las Vegas check out the Day 1 and Day 2 updates.

While Rachel Watters is the first to qualify for the Olympic Trails to be held April 8^th -10^th in Iowa City, there will be several additional opportunities in the coming months for the Iowa women to secure their spot:

• Dave Schultz International Open: January 28–30 (highest placed USA athlete per weight category winning a medal who has yet to qualify)
• WCWA College Nationals: February 12-13 (the top 3 USA athletes in each weight category)
• University Nationals: March 25-26 (top 2 athletes in the Olympic weight categories)
• Final U.S. Olympic Trials Qualifier: April 1-3 (top 2 place finishers will qualify and athletes who have already qualified will not be allowed to compete in this event)

For the complete U.S.A. Wrestling Athlete Selection Procedures visit: http://content.themat.com/forms/2016-critieria-WFS.pdf

College Women:

The Waldorf College Open took place January 2^nd which included athletes from six college programs and featured two Iowa wrestlers.

Justice Losee of St. Ansgar, a junior at Waldorf College (Forest City, IA) picked up a fall and a 10-6 decision to go 2-1, placing 3^rd at 143 pounds.

Anna Poyner of New Hartford, a sophomore at Missouri Valley College (Marshall, MO) went 3-1, posting two technical falls and a decision to take 3^rd place at 123 pounds.

Missouri Valley and Waldorf are both scheduled to compete January 8^th-9^th at the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) National Duals. The McKendree University women (Lebanon, IL); which include Iowa wrestlers Jasmine Bailey (136), Megan Black (123), and Cassy Herkelman (136), will also be competing at the NWCA National Duals.

High School Girls:

Highlights since our last update include the following varsity performances:

106:

Felicity Taylor of South Winneshiek picked up a 10-8 decision to go 1-1 and improve her overall varsity record to 9-7. Taylor’s JV record remains at 1-1.

145:

Rachel Watters of Ballard dropped from 152 pounds to 145 pounds and picked up three decisions (5-2, 2-1, and 9-6) to go 3-2 for the week and improve her varsity record to 8-6.

Rachel Watters wrestling at the Waverly-Shell Rock New Year Brawl

Here are the complete results since our last update:

Be sure to follow us on Twitter: @watters_ia and @FEWTeamIowa.

Do you know of missing female high school wrestling info? Email: matt@femaleelitewrestling.org.

Interested in the benefits of wrestling at any age level? Contact Charlotte Bailey of Female Elite Wrestling (FEW) at: coach@femaleelitewrestling.org to find out more.