Seeds, Brackets Announced for NCAA Women’s Wrestling Championship

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- The University of Iowa women’s wrestling team secured nine top-five bids for the NCAA Women’s Wrestling Championships, the NCAA announced Friday. The Hawkeyes will send a wrestler at all 10 weight classes to the national tournament.

Reese Larramendy (145), Kennedy Blades (160), and Kylie Welker (180) all secured No. 1 seeds. The trio is a combined 65-0 on the year. Welker is a two-time national champion, while Blades looks to defend her 2025 national title. Larramendy is a 2024 national champion. The redshirt junior finished third in 2025.

Redshirt junior Brianna Gonzalez earned the No. 5 seed at 117 pounds. Gonzalez was the 2024 national runner-up before placing fifth in 2025. Cali Leng returns to the national stage after placing seventh in 2025. The junior is the No. 13 seed at 124 pounds. Junior Lilly Luft returns to nationals for the first time since placing fifth in 2024. Luft is the No. 4 seed at 138 pounds. At 207 pounds, Katja Osteen returns to the national tournament for the first time since 2023. Osteen placed sixth at the NCWWC Tournament in 2023 (191) and was the fifth-place finisher (191) in 2022 while competing at Simon Fraser.

Three Hawkeyes will make their national tournament debut. Sophomore Valarie Solorio earned the No. 2 seed at 103 pounds, redshirt junior Nyla Valencia is the No. 5 seed at 110 pounds, and redshirt sophomore Karlee Brooks is the No. 4 seed at 131 pounds.

NCAA Women’s Wrestling Championships Seeds:

103 #2 Valarie Solorio

110 #5 Nyla Valencia

117 #5 Brianna Gonzalez

124 #13 Cali Leng

131 #4 Karlee Brooks

138 #4 Lilly Luft

145 #1 Reese Larramendy

160 #1 Kennedy Blades

180 #1 Kylie Welker

207 #5 Katja Osteen

The NCAA Women’s Wrestling Championships are set for March 6-7 at Xtream Arena in Coralville, Iowa.