The Open Mat

bladesfeature
Photo: Joseph Cress/Think Iowa City

Blades ends Iowa career to focus on RAF, Olympic gold pursuit

Olympic silver medalist Kennedy Blades announced Friday that she is ending her college wrestling career at Iowa and will join Real American Freestyle (RAF) full-time, shifting her focus toward pursuing Olympic gold.

More

Recent Articles

Featured Content

costello

Bushnell names Costello first head wrestling coach

Bushnell University has named Dylan Costello as its first Director of Wrestling and head men's wrestling coach, athletic director Corey Anderson announced. Men's and women's wrestling will become the 18th and 19th intercollegiate sports at the Oregon school.
phillipsfeature

Lindsey Wilson adds NAIA All-American Phillips

Lindsey Wilson women's wrestling has added 2025 NAIA All-American Allie Phillips to its roster. Phillips spent the past three seasons at Lourdes University, an Ohio-based Catholic institution that recently announced it will permanently close following the 2026 summer session. Phillips redshirted this past season before committing to the Blue Raiders.
nugentfeature

U20 world fifth-place finisher Nugent transferring to Iowa State

Iowa State women's wrestling has landed one of the most accomplished young wrestlers in the country. Daniella Nugent, a 2025 U20 world team member, announced that she is transferring to Iowa State from Oklahoma State. Nugent placed fifth at the U20 World Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Recent Content

bladesfeature

Blades ends Iowa career to focus on RAF, Olympic gold pursuit

Olympic silver medalist Kennedy Blades announced Friday that she is ending her college wrestling career at Iowa and will join Real American Freestyle (RAF) full-time, shifting her focus toward pursuing Olympic gold.
phillipsfeature

Lindsey Wilson adds NAIA All-American Phillips

Lindsey Wilson women's wrestling has added 2025 NAIA All-American Allie Phillips to its roster. Phillips spent the past three seasons at Lourdes University, an Ohio-based Catholic institution that recently announced it will permanently close following the 2026 summer session. Phillips redshirted this past season before committing to the Blue Raiders.
costello

Bushnell names Costello first head wrestling coach

Bushnell University has named Dylan Costello as its first Director of Wrestling and head men's wrestling coach, athletic director Corey Anderson announced. Men's and women's wrestling will become the 18th and 19th intercollegiate sports at the Oregon school.
nugentfeature

U20 world fifth-place finisher Nugent transferring to Iowa State

Iowa State women's wrestling has landed one of the most accomplished young wrestlers in the country. Daniella Nugent, a 2025 U20 world team member, announced that she is transferring to Iowa State from Oklahoma State. Nugent placed fifth at the U20 World Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria.
hinnehfeature

Hinneh commits to Grand View after back-to-back NJCAA titles

Martha Hinneh, a two-time NJCAA national champion at 207 pounds, has committed to Grand View. Hinneh compiled a 78-6 record during her two seasons at Southeast Community College.
nelsonbrands

Cal Poly adds Nelson Brands as assistant coach

Cal Poly has hired Nelson Brands as an assistant wrestling coach, head coach Jon Sioredas announced Wednesday.
mateo

Benedictine names Mateo head wrestling coach

Benedictine College has named Eric Mateo as head wrestling coach, athletic director Charlie Gartenmayer announced Tuesday.
breese

Slippery Rock names Breese head wrestling coach

Slippery Rock University has named Jeff Breese as head coach of its wrestling program, director of athletics Roberta Page announced. Breese comes to The Rock after four seasons as director of wrestling development at Army West Point.
walz

Walz returns to Virginia Tech as assistant coach

Virginia Tech wrestling head coach Tony Robie has announced the return of one of the most accomplished wrestlers in program history, as Ty Walz joins the ...
wainwrightfeature

Newberry names Wainwright permanent head women's coach

Newberry College has removed the interim tag from Cy Wainwright, naming him the permanent head coach of the women's wrestling program. The school also announced the addition of Jacob Brasseur as associate head coach.
chunfeature

Iowa coach Chun signs contract extension through 2031

The University of Iowa announced Friday that women's wrestling head coach Clarissa Chun has signed a contract extension through 2031. Chun, who was hired as the first head coach in program history in November 2021, has quickly built Iowa into a national powerhouse.
brus1200

Brus flips commitment from McKendree to Iowa State

Greta Brus, one of Iowa's top high school wrestlers, has flipped her commitment from McKendree to Iowa State, giving the Cyclones a major recruiting win.
perez

Iowa State signs Arizona standout Perez

Iowa State women's wrestling continues to add high-level talent to its roster, most recently signing Arizona standout Brooklyn Perez, head coach Alli St. John announced Thursday.
pittwrestling

Pitt receives largest gift in program history

The University of Pittsburgh Athletics Department and the Panther Club announced Tuesday a $3 million philanthropic gift to Pitt wrestling, marking the largest single donation in program history.
hinganofeature

Two-time NAIA All-American Hingano commits to King

Two-time NAIA All-American Kat Hingano is transferring from Southern Oregon to King University. She placed fourth at the 2026 NAIA Women's Wrestling Championships at 180 pounds.
skylarfeature

Doane adds U17 world silver medalist Hattendorf

Skylar Hattendorf, a past age group world medalist, has committed to Doane University. Hattendorf won a gold medal at 62 kilograms for the United States at the 2022 U20 Pan-American Championships and followed with a silver medal in 2024.

Hayden named head women's wrestling coach at Albion

Albion College has named Payne Hayden as its new head women's wrestling coach, with his tenure set to begin June 1.
dennishall

Hall steps down as Dubuque women's coach

The University of Dubuque will move forward with a leadership change in its women's wrestling program following the resignation of head coach Dennis Hall, who recently stepped away from his position.
wilcke

Wilcke added to ISU women's wrestling staff

Iowa State has added Cash Wilcke to its women's wrestling staff as director of operations and assistant coach, head coach Alli St. John announced Tuesday. Wilcke arrives in Ames after three seasons as an assistant coach for both the men's and women's programs at William Penn.
luskfeature

Lusk named first head women's wrestling coach at Fairmont State

Fairmont State University has announced the hiring of Sami Lusk as the first head coach in the history of its newly established women's wrestling program.
wilberforce1200

Wilberforce adds men’s women's wrestling, only NAIA HBCU

Wilberforce University will add men's and women's wrestling to its athletic offerings beginning in the 2026-27 academic year. With the addition of wrestling, Wilberforce will become the only NAIA HBCU to sponsor the sport.
ayanafletcherfeature

Two-time NJCAA national champ Fletcher commits to Lindsey Wilson

Two-time NJCAA national champion Ayana Fletcher is headed to the NAIA, committing to Lindsey Wilson University after a standout career at Iowa Western Community College. Fletcher finished the season as The Open Mat's No. 3 pound-for-pound wrestler in NJCAA women's wrestling.
mesenbrinkfeature

Mesenbrink named NCAA Division I Wrestler of the Year

Mitchell Mesenbrink of Penn State has been named the 2026 NCAA Division I Wrestler of the Year by The Open Mat after completing a dominant season. Mesenbrink capped his undefeated junior campaign by winning his second straight NCAA title at 165 pounds and helping Penn State secure its fifth consecutive NCAA team championship.