The Trojan girls wrestling team headed to Xtreme Arena in Coralville Thursday afternoon to wrestle on the same stage as the United States national team.
On Nov. 18, Think Iowa City announced that Team USA would be hosting the Ukrainian national team for a dual meet and, later, a two-week training program. Before the national teams would wrestle, two high school dual meets would take place.
Kicking off the night was City High, who wrestled Cedar Rapids Washington. CR Washington only had about half of a lineup, and fell to City 53-6.
Next up was the Trojans, who took on cross-town rivals from Iowa City High School. Both teams have lineups only missing one or two weights, making it a competitive dual.
The Trojans came out on top with a 42-39 victory, despite missing Team Captain Sylvia Broffitt ‘26 due to illness. Pins from Brianna Lucero ‘27, Ayla Bleil ‘28 and Noah Overholt ‘28 were key to the Trojans’ victory.
For the Trojans, this was a rare opportunity to see high-level women’s wrestling up close.
“I think anytime we can put out some of our heroes in front of our youth, that’s what it’s about. It’s about giving back to the next generation, giving back to the sport of wrestling, and it’s getting out into communities that don’t usually see high-level women’s wrestling, so it was a great opportunity for us to do that,” Terry Steiner, the U.S. women’s national coach, said.
After a 20-minute recess, Coralville welcomed the Ukrainian and American national teams for a dual meet, which the event called a “friendly,” hosted by the Iowa Women’s Wrestling Club. The teams have been practicing together for the past two weeks, and the friendly is a conclusion of the training camp.
“We train with foreign teams quite a bit, because I find the best way we can bring our young girls up to par is put them with foreign athletes and let them actually feel what they’re going against,” Steiner said.
Last month, the team hosted the Mongolian national wrestling team. There are currently plans to host Japanese and Panamanian wrestlers in the coming months. Hosting the Ukrainians also gives the women a safe place to train away from the ongoing war in their home country.
Team USA was not at full power, and 66kg Macey Kilty was the only wrestler who is the No. 1 representative for the team. Many of the representatives were No. 2 or No. 3 at their weight classes, giving them their own chance to wrestle for the team. Some younger wrestlers rose to the challenge, including Hawkeyes Karlee Brooks and Reece Laramendy.
The Ukrainian women won a majority of the matches, but there were no hard feelings between the teams. After the competition, they posed together for a photo and exchanged flowers. After the event was over, the high schoolers joined the team members on the mat for photos and to get the chance to talk to some of the best wrestlers in the world.
“I think what is really important, at least for this kind of event, is to just showcase women’s wrestling first, the growth of it — it’s the fastest growing sport right now in the world — And just showcasing how high-level it is and how much talent we have in the United States and internationally. And just bringing awareness to, you know, what we’re trying to grow here in Iowa City and why we want to be WrestleTown USA,” Jan Rosenberg, a regional training coach for the Iowa Women’s Wrestling Club, said.
The Trojans wrestle Saturday at the Prairie Girls Wrestling Invite at Prairie High School. Their next home meet is Jan. 8 against Xavier High School.
