CORALVILLE — The third edition of the Soldier Salute, which wrapped up Monday, provided some great insight into the state’s college wrestling programs.
All four programs sent wrestlers to Xtream Arena, with the Iowa men’s and women’s programs sending the bulk of their starters and picking up first-place team finishes and several champions along the way. Aside from team success, we also learned a ton about individual growth, starting-lineup battles and more.
Here are eight of the biggest takeaways for Iowa, Iowa State and Northern Iowa wrestling.
Tom Brands not in any rush to make decisions at 174 and 184 pounds
The match fans anticipated between Iowa’s Angelo Ferrari and Gabe Arnold never came to fruition, as Arnold dropped out by medical forfeit. When asked for the reasoning behind the decision, coach Tom Brands chose to keep that private.
He did, however, explain a little bit about the future decision-making process at 184 pounds as the team weighs whether to use Ferrari’s redshirt or wrestle him this season.
“We don’t have to make a decision on Ferrari’s redshirt or who the guy is going to be there right now because we have some really good guys there,” Brands said.
Brands linked the decisions at 174 and 184 pounds together, saying he likes the production he’s getting from Nelson Brands (3-1), Patrick Kennedy (6-0), Arnold (8-1) and Ferrari (10-0). In his view, there isn’t one “head and shoulders” better than another as they sort out the weight.
Reading between the lines a bit here, one match wasn’t likely to be the sole factor in who gets the starting job at these weights. Three months out from NCAAs, there’s still a lot of wrestling to be done and opportunities to be had from these four as Big Ten dual season approaches. Health could play a factor as well, as Tom Brands has alluded to an injury for Nelson Brands at the moment.
While the exact calculus is not clear as to why Ferrari and Arnold did not wrestle in the 184 final, it’s clear that they’re going to use dual season to see which guys set themselves apart come March.
Iowa women flex their muscles ahead of National Duals, but get a firm test from Life University
Iowa’s stars shined bright at the Soldier Salute, with Kennedy Blades, Kylie Welker, Macey Kilty, Brianna Gonzalez and Cadence Diduch winning titles. Five champions was in spite of a really tough Life University team, which pushed Iowa to the brink in the team race before the Hawkeyes narrowly finished ahead for the team title.
“They (Life) makes us better,” Iowa coach Clarissa Chun said. “I’m grateful that they’re here at the Soldier Salute to have that competitive competition.”
This was fairly close to a full Iowa lineup, with the exception of Skye Realin and a couple others out of the lineup. All of them, even Olympic silver medalist Blades in her 13-3 thriller with Life’s Latifah McBryde in the finals, got challenged.
That’s a good thing for this Hawkeye team ahead of National Duals in about a week and a half, as North Central, Grand Valley State and King University all look to battle with Iowa.
A consistent Kysen Terukina could make noise at NCAAs
It’s a broken record from the Iowa State coaching staff that if they can get a consistent Kysen Terukina on and off the mat, they have a guy who can do damage. Since returning from injury, Terukina is undefeated and earned a Soldier Salute title with a victory at the buzzer in the 125 final against Missouri’s talented freshman Mack Mauger.
Terukina in six matches this season has looked engaged and consistent with his approach on the mat, which is a great sign for the Cyclones as he looks to make the most of his senior season.
UNI wrestling has an All-American in Colin Realbuto
Realbuto didn’t get the ultimate prize, but he did flash his potential.
The senior Panther took third at the Soldier Salute, losing only to North Carolina’s Lachlan McNeil and finishing 4-1. He had big victories over Wyoming’s Gabe Willochell (No. 22 at 149) and a major decision over Iowa’s Caleb Rathjen, who was a national qualifier a year ago.
Coming off a severe knee injury, Realbuto has been ahead of schedule with an 8-3 record despite wrestling in some tough tournaments at the Soldier Salute and Cliff Keen Invite. As a guy who has beaten talents like Ohio State’s Sammy Sasso, Realbuto and his newfound dad strength could reach the podium for the first time in his career if he can continue to shake off the rust and improve.
Iowa’s Kyle Parco can break through at 149 pounds
The Arizona State transfer is now 10-0 with a Soldier Salute title under his belt. His finals performance was a showcase of just how good he has been and could be.
Facing North Carolina’s Lachlan McNeil, an NCAA All-American who defeated former Hawkeye and NCAA finalist Real Woods last year, Parco had a big single-leg takedown of McNeil onto his back for six points following near-fall swipes from the official. In major-decision territory, Parco tried to go big but conceded a takedown in the process. However, he still hung on to beat his third top-10 opponent of the season.
Parco’s has been on the doorstep for a while, but his wrestling, particularly in getting back points from the top or even neutral position, has been eye-opening this year. Parco says in addition to that, his single-leg attacks, better hand fights and harder mat returns have all been keys from the staff that he has picked up since arriving at Iowa.
Parco is a four-time All-American. While guys like Virginia Tech’s Caleb Henson loom large, Parco is showcasing he is very much at the top of the discussion at 149 pounds.
“In the previous years, I’ve thought about it (titles) too much,” Parco said. “I just need to go out there and let it fly. The best wrestling I’ve done is when I go out there and have fun.”
Ava Bayless takes top spot at 110 pounds for Hawkeyes
Iowa didn’t hold anything back by rolling out NCWWC champions Ava Bayless and Emilie Gonzalez at 110 pounds, along with talented true freshman Val Solorio. All three are in competition to earn a starting job at the weight.
Ultimately, it was Bayless with a win over Gonzalez (8-4 decision). Gonzalez also beat Solorio in the third-place bout in a 6-2 decision. Chun wanted to get real-match experience for them to see how they would react, and Bayless came out with a high grade.
There’s a good amount of wrestling to be done, so this isn’t the end-all be-all, but Bayless and Gonzalez look like the two who should be starting come March at NCWWCs if things continue to hold.
Iowa’s Ben Kueter ends Soldier Salute looking for more
You wouldn’t find anyone more critical of his own performance than Kueter despite being a Soldier Salute champion, according to Tom Brands.
“Kueter was not happy with himself and you want to represent yourself better than that, but he won a tough match,” Brands said. “That’s where you build from.”
Kueter wasn’t satisfied with his 1-0 finals match win in which he rode out Minnesota’s Bennett Tabor in the second period for the riding-time advantage point. The redshirt freshman struggled to get to his offense vs. a national qualifier in Tabor, but still survived and advanced.
What will be key for Kueter as he looks toward reaching the podium at NCAAs is finding that offense as the season goes on. Kueter is an outstanding counter-wrestler as we have already seen in his career, working out of holds and magically working into pins. He’s as strong as they come and has incredible athleticism that only a handful of heavyweights can match.
The more sequences Kueter gets in and finishes on, the more he is likely to win and do so in the showstopper fashion he desires.
Cadence Diduch has bright future
Diduch isn’t likely to crack the Iowa women’s lineup with Nanea Estrella and Lilly Luft at 138, as well as potentially seeing movement from Reese Larramendy or Macey Kilty from 145 should they spread the wealth of talent elsewhere. Still, her future continuously looks stellar for Iowa.
Diduch rolled to a Soldier Salute title, going 3-0 with a win by fall and technical fall. Up 6-0 in the finals, her opponent clawed back into the match, but her in-match adjustments helped her hold on for an 8-6 decision.
Chun praised Diduch for having such attention to detail to help her adjust and win that match as a freshman. If that’s a sign of what’s to come, she’ll be a fun one to watch.
“She’s almost like a silent, hard-worker assassin,” Chun said. “She’s just going to keep plugging, keep working and there’s never giving up for her.”
