Another high-profile wrestling event – headlined by the Iowa Hawkeyes – is coming to Wrestletown, USA.
The news arrived Wednesday afternoon courtesy of the Iowa City Area Sports Commission – which announced the inaugural “For Her Duals” to be held on February 8th at Xtream Arena:
Leading the charge will be the back-to-back national team/dual champion Hawkeyes – now competing in their first season with an officially sanctioned NCAA Championships at its conclusion.
As per the press release, “The (eight team) ‘For Her Duals’ will include both an NCAA and NAIA bracket with pool winners facing off against each other for final championship standings.”
Joining Iowa on the NCAA side will be McKendree (IL), William Jewell (MO) and Ursinus (PA).
Meanwhile, the NAIA pool includes Life University (GA), William Penn (IA), Indiana Tech and Ottawa University (KS).
More on the field
On the NCAA side of things, historical power McKendree looms large.
The Bearcats finished third at both the National Collegiate Women’s Wrestling Championships (NCWWCs) and National Duals in 2025 – including a 33-11 loss to Iowa in the semifinals of the latter.
They have a loaded roster for the coming season that may prove to be Iowa’s biggest challenge all year.
William Jewell (17th at NCWWCs) dualled Iowa three times in 2024-25 – losing all three matchups. Meanwhile, Ursinus has never faced the Hawkeyes in a dual setting – where Iowa remains undefeated (35-0) since the program’s inception.
Flipping over to the NAIA pool, defending national team/dual champions Life returns just about everyone from 2024-25. The Eagles are also quite familiar with Iowa, having wrestled hotly contested home-and-home duals with the Hawkeyes the past two seasons. Not only that, but they’ve been Iowa’s chief competition at the annual Soldier Salute for three years running (more on that in a bit).
Not far behind Life (if at all) is a William Penn squad that has piled up some elite transfers and recruits over the past few cycles – including a pair of Nigerian Olympians midway through last season.
Between those two, plus Iowa and McKendree, there’s a chance that the four best teams in the country (regardless of NCAA/NAIA status) will be on the mats in Coralville this February.
Rounding out the NAIA crop are a pair of teams – Indiana Tech (10th) and Ottawa (11th) – which had strong showings at last year’s national tournament.
A sweet substitute
The inception of the “For Her Duals” came out of necessity.
The last three years, Xtream Arena has hosted the Hawkeyes as part of the Soldier Salute – during which men’s and women’s team tournaments were held simultaneously and encompassed both Iowa programs.
That setup no longer proved tenable for the 2025-26 season.
“When we had to move the dates of our annual Soldier Salute tournament it presented a scheduling challenge for our women’s programs. The new dates of that event are only a week before national duals.” said Luke Eustice, director of the Iowa City Area Sports Commission. “After consulting with the various coaches, we got to work on this new dual team conference tournament.”
Wanting to continue its annual tradition of hosting a major in-season women’s event, the end result was Wednesday’s announcement.
“We are very excited to welcome back all 7 of these schools to WrestleTown, USA.” said Laney Fitzpatrick, sports development manager for the Iowa City Area Sports Commission. “And just as excited to begin this new cross conference dual wrestling championship tradition. We aim to grow each year and not just stop at NAIA and NCAA. We hope to expand this tournament to someday include community college and club team brackets. To showcase not only the best of what’s already here, but great women’s wrestling programs on the horizon.”
The “For Her Duals” will be held the day after the annual IHSAA Boys State Dual Championships, and less than a week after the annual IGHSAU State Wrestling Tournament.
And as if that weren’t enough, a month later (March 6-7) Xtream Arena will also play host to the first-ever officially sanctioned NCAA Women’s Wrestling Championships.
All these events/efforts showcase what has already been well established – that Iowa City/Coralville is the place to be for women’s wrestling.
