Iowa State signs NAIA national finalist Falcon
Iowa State's fast-growing women's wrestling roster added another proven scorer, with Anaya Falcon signing on to join the Cyclones as the program builds toward its inaugural season.
Falcon arrives with one of the more decorated resumes in the sport. She was the 2025 NAIA runner-up at 110 pounds, dropping a decision to Lourdes' Stefana Jelacic in the championship match after entering the finals as the tournament's top seed. That performance came as a true freshman at Life University, where Falcon helped the Running Eagles win their first-ever NAIA national championship, as Life scored a record 190.5 team points in Wichita, Kansas.
Her college breakthrough followed one of the most dominant prep careers in California history. Falcon was a four-time California state champion (one unofficial) who finished her high school career with a 119-0 record for Walnut High School, and she capped that run by winning her third official state title with an 8-0 decision in the finals before signing with Life. She was ranked among the top pound-for-pound recruits in the country during her senior season.
Falcon's success has carried over to international competition. In 2024, she earned a spot on the U.S. U20 World Team at 50 kilograms by beating Iowa's Nyla Valencia twice in a best-of-three series, and she went on to compete at the U20 World Championships that fall. She remained on the international radar into 2025, reaching a true-third match for a U.S. national team spot at 50 kilograms at Final X in Newark, New Jersey, a bracket that included several age-group world medalists.
Falcon did not compete for Life University during the 2025-26 season.
A rapidly building Cyclone roster
Falcon's addition continues one of the busiest recruiting stretches in the sport. Iowa State officially launched women's wrestling as its 18th varsity program in April, with the Cyclones set to debut competition in 2027-28 and carry a 30-athlete roster once fully built out.
That build has produced a roster mixing high-end transfers, top high school signees and internationally experienced wrestlers. Iowa State has already landed two Nigerian Olympians in Christianah Ogunsanya and Esther Kolawole, both William Penn transfers, along with U17 world champion Piper Fowler, two-time NAIA champion Jumoke Adekoye and a pair of in-state high school stars in Greta Brus of Davenport Assumption and Molly Allen of Riverside. The class also includes Makennah Craft, Daniella Nugent, Gabriella Gomez, Brooklyn Perez, Avy Perez, Kailey Benson, among others.
With Falcon in the fold, the Cyclones have now assembled one of the deepest collections of age-group world team experience and NAIA hardware in the sport as they race toward their first official season.