Iowa

2024 Paris Olympics wrestling: Day 6 live updates, Iowa’s Kennedy Blades’ shines

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2 years ago

August 10, 2024

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2024 Paris Olympics wrestling: Day 6 live updates, Iowa’s Kennedy Blades’ shines

The Iowa Hawkeyes have one more chance at wrestling gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics, in a way almost nobody expected.

Kennedy Blades committed to the Hawkeyes in July following a stint with the Sunkist Kids Wrestling Club out of high school and attending Arizona State University. She qualified for the Olympics in April by defeating Adeline Gray, a six-time World champion and a 2020 Olympic silver medalist. While Blades lost to Gray at the 2020 Olympic Trials, then at the age of 17, she got her redemption by beating one of the United States’ all-time wrestlers.

Blades, 20, is one of the premier talents of the sport as a Junior World champion in 2021, but had never made a senior-level team until making the Olympic team.

“This was honestly my goal since I was seven. 2024 was definitely my goal,” Blades said. “I’ve never even made a Senior World team, so it’s just amazing to think I made an Olympic team.”

Before she becomes a Hawkeye, she has a dream to realize, so follow along for updates here on her journey throughout the day Saturday.

Quarterfinal matches getting set for Day 6 of wrestling at Olympics

WFS 76 kilograms

Kyrgyzstan’s Aiperi Medet Kyzy vs. India’s Reetika Reetika
Team USA’s Kennedy Blades vs. Cuba’s Milaimy De La Caridad Marin Potrille
Columbia’s Tatiana Renteria vs. Mongolia’s Davaanasan Enkh Amar
Turkey’s Yasemin Adar Yigit vs. TBD

MFS 65 kilograms

Armenia’s Vazgen Tevanyan vs. Mongolia’s Tulga Tumur Ochir
Japan’s Kotaro Kiyooka vs. Puerto Rico’s Sebastian Rivera
Hungary’s Ismail Musukaev vs. Azerbaijan’s Haji Aliyev
Albania’s Islam Dudaev vs. Iran’s Rahman Mousa Amouzadkhalili

MFS 97 kilograms

Azerbaijan’s Magomedkhan Magomedov vs. Poland’s Zbigniew Baranowski
Georgia’s Givi Matcharashvili vs. Ukraine’s Murazi Mchedlidze
Team USA’s Kyle Snyder vs. Cuba’s Arturo Silot Torres
Kazakhstan’s Alisher Yergali vs. Bahrain’s Akhmed Tazhudinov

Future Hawkeye Kennedy Blades puts on show in first round

About all you could do while watching this was gasp at Blades dominance of Catalina Axente.

Blades from the first whistle flashed some of the most entertaining throws and moves we’ve seen from any wrestler all tournament. First going for a slick blast double and nearly into a cradle lock for a pin. When she didn’t get that, she came right back with a four point, feet-to-back throw to lead 6-0 going into the second period.

While Axente largely slowed up the match with front headlocks, Blades still found a way in the second period to line up the move of the Olympics thus far in wrestling, going for a five-point grand amplitude throw to lock up an 11-0 win over Axente. Axente fell onto her neck and had to be stretchered off the mat.

Blades will face Cuba’s Milaimy De La Caridad Marin Potrille next, who dominated Bulgaria’s Yuliana Vasileva Yaneva with seven first period points and held on for a 7-1 victory.

Team USA’s Zain Retherford drops first match to World champion

Retherford couldn’t of asked for a tougher first opponent, drawing Iran’s Rahman Mousa Amouzadkhalili. Amouzadkhalili. He’s a 2023 world champion and a three-time age-group world champion at 22 years old competing in his first Olympics.

Amouzadkhalili’s talent flashed here, getting a 8-0 lead and not conceding from there to defeat Retherford. Now, the American will need his opponent to reach the final to have a chance at bronze.

Team USA’s Kyle Snyder rallies to advance to quarterfinals

Down 4-0 to China’s Awusayiman Habila following a review that flipped points from Snyder to Habila, Snyder went on to outscore Habila 9-1 the rest of the way to advance.

It was a scare for the American, who is a three-time world champion looking for his third Olympic medal, but he eased Team USA’s nerves with a solid finish.

Bronze medal matches getting set for for second session of Day 6

MFS 74 kilograms

AIN’s Mahamed Khabib Kadzimahamedau OR Albania’s Chermen Valiev vs. Tajikstan’s Viktor Raddadin
Team USA’s Kyle Dake vs. Serbia’s Hetik Cabolov

MFS 125 kilograms

Kyrgyzstan’s Aiaal Lazarev vs. Turkey’s Taha Akgul
Poland’s Robert Baran vs. Azerbaijan’s Giorgi Meshvildishvil

WFS 62 kilograms

Mongolia’s Orkhon Purevdorj vs. Kyrgyzstan’s Aisuluu Tynybekova
Canada’s Ana Gonzalez vs. Norway’s Grace Bullen

Kennedy Blades’ path

Blades will face Romania’s Catalina Axente, who took fifth at the World Championships in 2023 and is the No. 4 seed while Blades is unseeded. Following a win there, Blades would have the winner of Cuba’s Milaimy De La Caridad Marin Potrille or Bulgaria’s Yuliana Vasileva Yaneva. Potrille was a 2019 U23 World champion and a fifth-place winner at the 2023 Senior World Championships, while Yaneva won a 2023 gold medal at the European championships.

The top-seeded wrestler on her side of the bracket is Aiperi Medt Kyzy of Kyrgyzstan. She’s a 25-year-old World silver medalist in 2023 and a World bronze medalist in 2021. She thrashed Gray at the Zagreb Open in Croatia in a 10-0 technical fall. She’s wrestled in six World Championships prior to making this year’s Olympic team.

The 2023 World champion at 76 kilograms, and perhaps the favorite in Paris, is Yuka Kagami of Japan. At age 23, she is a World champion and a World bronze medalist, but remains on the other side of the bracket and could be a finals opponent should Blades get there.

Blades is young, but there is growing confidence as she was the betting favorite (+150) on DraftKings to win gold as of Friday night.

Who is Kyle Dake?

Dake is one of the best wrestlers in the United States at the moment as a four-time world champion and a 2020 Olympic bronze medalist. The former Cornell wrestler, where he won four NCAA titles, is Team USA’s representative at 74 kilograms.

After losing in the semifinal in an offensive showcase with Japan, Dake will face the winner of Cuba’s Geandry Garzo Caballero and Serbia’s Hetik Cabalov.

Who is Zain Retherford?

The former Penn State star, who won three NCAA championships, is hoping to remain on top of the world.

He is the reigning World champion at 70 kilograms, but he’ll be the Team USA representative at 65 kilograms in Paris. He won a World silver in 2022 as well.

Retherford has it tough from round one, facing Iran’s Rahman Mousa Amouzadkhalili. The Iranian beat Cornell superstar Yianni Diakomihalis for 2022 World gold at the age of 20 and is competing in his first Olympics. If Retherford gets through that, we’ll know he means business.

Who is Kyle Snyder?

We’ve had Michigan Wolverines compete, now it’s time for a Buckeye.

The former Ohio State star, who won three NCAA titles, is Team USA’s representative at 97 kilograms. He has won three World Championships, an Olympic gold in 2016 and an Olympic silver in 2020.

He has China’s Awusayiman Habila first. Habila has not finished higher than 26th at the Senior World championships. Snyder is the second-odds on favorite (+110) to win gold, trailing only Iran’s Akhmed Tazhudinov, who was a World champion in 2023.

Eli McKown covers high school sports and wrestling for the Des Moines Register. Contact him atEmckown@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @EMcKown23.

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Iowa

Houston icon George Foreman laid to rest in Iowa, drawn by a peaceful 1988 visit

Published

12 hours ago

April 18, 2026

Press Room

Houston icon George Foreman laid to rest in Iowa, drawn by a peaceful 1988 visit

The late boxing great George Foreman lies buried in a cemetery in the northwestern corner of Iowa – a place he has no connection to outside of a lone visit to the region nearly 40 years ago.

Foreman died March 21, 2025, at the age of 76 in Houston and was buried in Logan Park Cemetery at Sioux City, Iowa, a month later, city officials confirmed. Foreman’s family returned Thursday to his burial site, holding a news conference with Sioux City Mayor Bob Scott to reveal Foreman’s burial place, marked by a large monument that bears an image of him as a teen following his Olympic gold medal boxing win.

The family explained in a statement released by Sioux City officials that he had visited the Iowa city in 1988, and often recalled the sense of peace he experienced there.

After traveling to the city on April 17 last year to bury Foreman, his family said they immediately understood the region’s appeal.

“Our father lived a life of purpose, faith and gratitude,” the family said in a statement released by Sioux City officials. “To see him laid to rest in a place that brought him peace means everything to us.”

Scott joined the family at Foreman’s monument that lies just a few miles north of the Missouri River in an upper Midwest city of nearly 87,000 people. The cemetery overlooks the scenic Loess Hills, created by windblown silt deposits that reach up to 200 feet high (about 61 meters) and line the river along the Iowa border for 200 miles (322 kilometers).

“Their story is a reminder of how one place can stay with someone for a lifetime,” Scott said.

A native Texan, Foreman rose to fame when he made the 1968 U.S. Olympic boxing team, winning gold in Mexico City. He became the heavyweight champion of the world in 1973 by defeating the great Joe Frazier, only to lose the title a year later to Muhammad Ali in the famous “Rumble in the Jungle.”

A full 20 years later in 1994, Foreman became the oldest man to win the heavyweight championship at 45, defeating Michael Moorer in an epic upset.

Foreman retired in 1997 with a 76-5 career record.

He then moved on to the next chapter in his life as a businessman, pitchman and occasional actor, becoming known to a new generation as the face of the George Foreman Grill. The simple cooking machine sold more than 100 million units and brought him more wealth than boxing.

A biographical movie based on Foreman’s life was released in 2023.

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GOP governor candidate Zach Lahn pitches Iowa-first platform at Dubuque town hall

Published

24 hours ago

April 18, 2026

Press Room

GOP governor candidate Zach Lahn pitches Iowa-first platform at Dubuque town hall

DUBUQUE, Iowa (KCRG) — About 50 Iowans braved the threat of severe storms to hear from Republican candidate for governor Zach Lahn at his town hall in Dubuque Friday night.

Lahn, a farmer and businessman, said his campaign is about solving the long-term systemic issues facing Iowans.

One priority is addressing what Lahn calls a cancer crisis in Iowa, as the state has the second-highest cancer rate in the country. Solving the crisis means ensuring Iowans have access to clean, nitrate-free drinking water, working with farmers to reduce agricultural runoff.

“Iowans are just ready for something that they should be able to count on, like clean drinking water,” Lahn said. “We have ways to clean up the drinking water in Iowa that isn’t on the backs of farmers, but is working alongside with them because they’re drinking the water too, and they want to do what’s right.”

Lahn also wants to stop Iowa’s “brain drain,” as more of Iowa’s college graduates left the state for opportunities elsewhere.

“Don’t leave! Give me some time! I’m going to fight to keep you here,” Lahn said. “I was one of these kids. I thought I had to leave the state to find something better. We have to prioritize Iowa’s incentive dollars to make sure they’re going to grow Iowa businesses that are going to be here for the long haul, so our kids have places to work.”

Running a distinct campaign feels challenging this election, as Lahn is one of five GOP candidates who want to be Iowa’s next governor, facing U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra, former Department of Administrative Services Director Adam Steen, state Rep. Eddie Andrews and former state Rep. Brad Sherman.

Iowa Auditor Rob Sand is the only Democrat running for the state’s top office.

Lahn said he stands out by promising Iowa will be for Iowans, pledging to ban the use of eminent domain for private gain and tax out-of-state landowners and data centers at higher rates to lower property taxes.

“It always goes back to follow the money, so when it comes to not being a weak-kneed Republican today, I believe the paramount piece of that is answering only to the citizens of Iowa, not to special interests to pad their bottom line, but what’s best for the people of Iowa,” Lahn said.

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Iowa State adds women’s wrestling, Alli St. John to coach

Published

2 days ago

April 17, 2026

Press Room

Iowa State adds women’s wrestling, Alli St. John to coach

Iowa State announced Thursday the addition of women’s wrestling as its 18th varsity sport, with the program scheduled to begin competition during the 2027-28 academic year. The team is the first varsity sport added at the university since soccer in 1996. Iowa State will be the 12th school in the state of Iowa to have an NCAA women’s wrestling program.

The Cyclones will be only the second Power Four institution to feature a varsity women’s wrestling program, joining the University of Iowa.

The university appointed Alli St. John, a two-time World Wrestling Championships silver medalist, as the program’s first head coach. St. John, who has spent the last three years with the Cyclone Regional Training Center, was a two-time women’s college national champion at King University.

“I am incredibly honored and grateful for the opportunity to be the first head coach of women’s wrestling at Iowa State University,” St. John said. “This is a historic moment not only for Iowa State University, but for the sport of wrestling, too. Iowa State has a rich wrestling tradition, and I’m excited to expand that legacy on the women’s side as we work to build a premier program in Ames that produces not only NCAA champions, but World and Olympic champions as well.”

The program will support a roster of 30 student-athletes with 10 scholarship equivalents, matching the scholarship limit of the men’s team. Official competitions will be held in Hilton Coliseum, with practice facilities in Beyer Hall.

The university also announced a major restructuring of its wrestling leadership, naming long-time men’s head coach Kevin Dresser as the Director of Wrestling. In this new capacity, Dresser will oversee both programs, assisting with fundraising and mentoring the coaching staff, which includes newly promoted men’s head coach Brent Metcalf.

“The addition of women’s wrestling is an exciting opportunity for Iowa State Athletics,” Dresser said. “The fact that it is one of the fastest growing sports at the high school level coupled with the overall love of wrestling in the state of Iowa makes this a very good decision. I can envision the Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk dual already and the excitement it will bring to the sport. I am excited to roll up my sleeves and help start another wrestling program.”

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