It was never a matter of if for United States Olympian and recent Iowa commit Kennedy Blades, but a matter of when.

Blades is one of the premier talents in the United States’ pool of youth wrestlers. She made waves initially by becoming the first girl to win a boys state championship in the state of Illinois while in high school, before cementing her status as an elite wrestler by reaching the U.S. Olympic Trials best-of-three finals at the age of 17.

Blades’ opponent in the finals was none other than Adeline Gray, a six-time World champion who had set the standard for women’s wrestling in the U.S. When Gray won her first World title, Blades was just 9, and Gray continued her career in the most dominant and consistent way possible.

Blades came up short, losing to Gray (who went on to win silver in the 2020/21 Tokyo Olympics). At that moment, Blades was not quite up to the task.

Fast forward to today. Blades has beaten Gray once (at the 2023 U.S. Open) but lost to her again at Final X. Maybe the torch had been passed, but there was enough doubt that it hadn’t and that Gray may have one more Olympic run in her.

This time at the Olympic Trials at age 20, Blades left little doubt, rolling through to the Olympic Trials finals once again by winning three matches by a total score of 33-1. Facing Gray once again, Blades triumphed with an 11-6 and an 8-3 decision over Gray to become an Olympian.

“It didn’t go my way when I was 17, but I knew I could beat her because I did it before so it’s obviously possible,” Blades said. “I just trusted my training and I literally just said, ‘full send.’”

Now, the Iowa women’s wrestling program has its first Olympian after Blades made her way to Iowa City a couple months after clinching the spot. A dream has been realized as Blades now carries the torch as one of the country’s best wrestlers.

“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.”

Here’s everything you need to know about Blades’ upcoming test, from her opponents to when she will wrestle.

Opponents in Kennedy Blades’ bracket

Blades showed she is capable of beating anyone in the world with her wins over Gray, but it doesn’t get any easier when she arrives in Paris.

Aiperi Medt Kyzy of Kyrgyzstan is the No. 1 seed at 76 kilograms, 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. Japan is the top women’s wrestling country in the world.

No. 2 seed Kagami is followed by No. 3 seed Tatiana Renteria of Columbia, a World bronze medalist in 2023.

Rounding out the top five seeds are Catalina Axente of Romania and Milaimys Marin of Cuba. Both took fifth in their respective weight classes at the World Championships a year ago. Mari defeated Blades at the Spanish Grand Prix this summer by a 13-4 score, so there will need to be a game-plan adjustment for Blades if these two face off again.

There also are three other former Olympians in this field in Nigeria’s Hannah Rueben (14th in 2016), Tunisia’s Zaineb Sghaier (16th in 2020) and Turkey’s Yasemin Adar Yigit (bronze medalist in 2020). Of those three, only Rueben is seeded at No. 6.

Combine those with former World medalists in Canada’s Justina Di Stasio (World champion in 2018) and Mongolia’s Davaanasan Enkh Amar (World silver medalist in 2023), this is a field full of experienced and talented wrestlers.

Blades has as much talent as anyone in the world as an offensive dynamo, but the question will be whether her talent will show through again as it did at the Olympic Trials or if she’ll need more experience to compete at an Olympic level.

Full field of wrestlers in 76-kilogram bracket

• No. 1 Aiperi Medt Kyzy (Kyrgyzstan)
• No. 2 Yuka Kagami (Japan)
• No. 3 Tatiana Renteria (Columbia)
• No. 4 Catalina Axente (Romania)
• No. 5 Milaimys Marin (Cuba)
• No. 6 Hannah Rueben (Nigeria)
• No. 7 Justina Di Stasio (Canada)
• No. 8 Bernadett Nagy (Hungary)
• Yuliana Yaneva (Bulgaria)
• Juan Wang (Chia)
• Genesis Reasco Valdez (Ecuador)
• Reetika (India)
• Davaanasan Enkh Amar (Mongolia)
• Zaineb Sghaier (Tunisia)
• Yasemin Adar Yigit (Turkey)
• Kennedy Blades (United States)

What is repechage?

Repechage is a French word meaning a second chance, and it will be talked about a lot in Paris.

Fans who watched the Last Chance Qualifier that Iowa’s Spencer Lee competed in to qualify for the Olympics may recall what repechage is, but in case this is new to you, here’s an explainer:

Repechage is the consolation-bracket format the Olympics will use. Unlike the traditional wrestleback format seen at high school and collegiate levels here in the U.S., only the athletes who lost to the gold-medal finalists of the tournament will get another shot in the consolations to take as high as third. In other words, a bracket is created comprised of every wrestler who lost to a finalist.

Losers of the semifinal matches get a bye to the semifinals of the repechage, where four other wrestlers are remaining for a chance at bronze. Winners of those semifinal matches will then wrestle for bronze.

When will Kennedy Blades wrestle at Olympics?

Here are the session times for Kennedy Blades’ matches. Times aren’t an exact science here, but these are the scheduled session times via the Olympics. Blades would wrestle in the repechage matches on Aug. 11 only if she were to lose on Aug. 10 to a gold-medal round finalist as previously mentioned.

All times listed are CT.

• Aug. 10 from 4 a.m to 6:30 a.m: Preliminary rounds and Quarterfinals
• Aug. 10 from 11:15 a.m to 3 p.m: Semifinals
• Aug. 11 from 4 a.m to 7:30 a.m: Repechage
• Aug. 11 from 4 a.m to 7:30 a.m: Medal matches

How to watch Olympic Wrestling

Wrestling will be broadcast live on NBC, as well as being streamed and replay-able on Peacock.

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

Cade McNamara remains clear QB1 at this point in summer

INDIANAPOLIS — Kirk Ferentz left little ambiguity about who Iowa’s starting quarterback is when fall camp begins next week.

Asked if he considers McNamara to be the definitive starter, Ferentz said, “I do.”

That being said, nothing seems to be written in permanent marker with six weeks to go until the Hawkeyes’ season opener against Illinois State on Aug. 31.

“I would say everything is fluid right now,” Ferentz said on Wednesday as part of the Big Ten’s football media days. “Hopefully it won’t be in the fall, but right now everything is fluid.”

The preseason depth chart released on Wednesday had McNamara as the first-team quarterback, Marco Lainez as the second-teamer and Northwestern transfer Brendan Sullivan as the third-teamer.

Sullivan’s third-team spot, for now, is despite him starting four games in the Big Ten last season with Northwestern. (He completed 63.6 percent of passes while throwing six touchdowns and two interceptions.)

“We could have listed Brendan, too,” Ferentz said, answering a question about the depth chart. “He hasn’t put a helmet on yet for us. When we see him on the field, maybe he’ll be in competition with the other three guys. I expect it to be three guys competing.”

McNamara’s “demonstrated success” gives the former third-team all-Big Ten quarterback a “huge advantage” in that competition, Ferentz said.

In McNamara’s last fully healthy season, he completed 64.2 percent of his passes while throwing 15 touchdowns versus six interceptions on a Michigan team that advanced to the College Football Playoff.

“Cade’s got an impressive resume,” Ferentz said. “He’s done it, done it successfully and directed his team to wins, which is what the quarterback is supposed to do. At least that’s his No. 1 challenge.”

Ferentz said he “didn’t even have a conversation with Cade” about adding Sullivan via the portal.

“I don’t think he’s looking in the rearview mirror,” Ferentz said.

To Ferentz’s point, when McNamara was asked earlier this month about adding another quarterback with Big Ten starting experience, he pointed out that Iowa had to “add someone eventually.” (At one point, he and Lainez were the only quarterbacks on the roster.)

“Even the NFL has more than two guys,” McNamara said.

As confident as McNamara seems, Ferentz still preaches there are “no incumbents.”

“It’s a good room,” Ferentz said of his quarterbacks. “All three of these guys are great guys, and they’re competitive guys. And they’re all going to compete, and that’s good for our football team.”

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com

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The Iowa City Community School District (ICCSD) is considering restructuring its current elementary school model, anchored by a desire for smaller class sizes, specialized academies, and new preschool centers.

The local school board – which covers elementary schools in Iowa City, Coralville and North Liberty, held a special work session on Tuesday, July 23, to discuss ways to eliminate inefficiencies within each of the district’s 20 elementary schools and create more consistent class sizes.

The vast, multi-option plan is called “Reenvisioning our elementary schools.”

The work session highlighted areas of concern the school board wanted addressed. They explored five different plans, which included a move to 18-section schools, optimal-size schools, paired schools, academy schools, and preschool centers.  

Superintendent Matt Degner emphasized that the plans discussed Tuesday serve as an introduction and that work is just beginning. The district will gather feedback from the board and the community and decide how to proceed.

“We anticipate like to continue to come back around each of the pieces of this and to hear your feedback and community’s feedback and then continue to just evolve with time,” Degner said. “Tonight (is not) necessarily looking for your opinions or factual statements on these things, but just more information at some level setting for us but get started.”

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Exploring academy schools

The school district proposed a preliminary plan for “academy schools” and how they would benefit the district.

The ICCSD defines an academy school as  “A public school offering special instruction and programs not available elsewhere, designed to attract a more diverse student body from throughout a school district. Students enroll through an application process based on program interest.”

The district has considered developing academy schools several times over the last 18 years. The goal of an elementary academy is to provide a different learning experience for students and their families while also increasing open enrollment. Specialized academies could include performing arts, world languages/language immersion, leadership, and science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). The academies would create ideal class sizes while maximizing building capacity.

“We feel that the academy schools will be specialized curriculum-focused programs, students that have that interest will be able to go and to be able to explore those in a much richer capacity than they can you’re familiar with the elementary right now,” said Eliza Proctor, Executive Director of Elementary Schools. “There would be diverse learning environments, pulling students from the district, and students and families would feel that they have the choice to enroll in the program and that the teaching methods would be a little bit more innovative.”

Expanding early childhood education

The reenvisioning plan also touched on expanded preschool centers. The district highlighted two options during Tuesday’s meeting − placing preschools inside elementary schools and or building dedicated preschool centers.

The plan suggests offering expanded care within an elementary school, with full-day or part-day options and before- and after-school care. This approach would seamlessly integrate existing programs like “Shared Vision” into the expanded structure.

Dedicated preschool centers would cater specifically to three and four-year-olds, with the potential for extended care before and after school. While locations in Iowa City and North Liberty are being considered, this option could take longer to establish.

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Benefits and operational efficiency of 18-section K-5 schools

The board first discussed a plan for 18-section schools at the K-5 level, meaning that each grade level would use three separate sections (essentially classrooms) within the school. This plan would have instructional benefits, including more consistent class sizes, efficient use of staff, and maximized building efficiency. The plan also includes dedicated special teachers, whom ICCSD identifies as educators who teach art, music, and physical education.

“It not only has an impact in terms of what we believe is instructional benefits, it also has operational benefits in terms of standardizing the workload of custodians, our secretaries, and other buildings support staff,” said Deputy Superintendent Chace Ramey. “Instructionally, the 18-section approach will allow us to really maximize our special teachers and allow them to be a part of that entire educational ecosystem in those schools.”

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Enhancing building collaboration with paired schools

The board also discussed “paired schools,” which involves splitting the grade levels between two buildings. One building serves kindergarten through second grade, and the other serves third through fifth.

The board has previously discussed this idea known as “sister schools.”

Data from Mann and Lincoln Elementary schools were analyzed during Tuesday’s work session. Both buildings currently have class sizes averaging between 18 and 19 students, with 21 sections combined.

If the ICCSD adopted the paired school model, there would be nine sections for K-2 in one building and nine sections for grades 3-5 in the other building, totaling 18 sections. The average class size would be 20 or 21 students.

Currently, there are some grades with only one section, which means students and teachers have limited opportunities for peer interaction and collaboration. The paired school model would provide better collaboration among teachers in the same grade level while allowing students to have more peers in their grade, enhancing social opportunities.

Jessica Rish is an entertainment, dining and business reporter for the Iowa City Press-Citizen. She can be reached at JRish@press-citizen.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @rishjessica_