Obviously for the growth of the sport you want the most exciting athletes to always show up - and I'm on record stating that Kennedy is the most dominant collegiate athlete regardless of sport or gender - but to wrestle Friday, then have somewhere between a 16-18 hour flight with stopovers in Europe and most likely Chicago - to turn around and wrestle on Sunday is asking a LOT of someone. If she's there to sign autographs after the duals great but does she really need to compete?
I mean, as I'll write in my women's weekend preview later this week - there's a decent chance they may
need Blades in order to beat McKendree in pool play (and potentially William Penn in a crossover final).
160 pounds is one of the only weights where Iowa doesn't have an All-American caliber backup - which gets magnified considering Blades is almost guaranteed bonus points. Coupled with the fact that I'm not sure Brianna Gonzalez or Skye Realin will be available and the margin for error becomes even thinner.
As for the travel considerations, I trust Iowa's staff to make a call that won't put Blades at undue risk.
They sat Kylie Welker for the first two months of this season simply for the sake of giving her body some time to rest - even though she was begging to get back on the mat about a week into her hiatus.
I'd imagine it also helps that Blades cuts very little, if any weight to make 160lbs - so you eliminate that variable from the equation as well.
Again, this could all be for naught if she doesn't end up taking the mat. But I was told several weeks ago by a reliable source that Iowa was preparing to have Blades available.
As much as anything, I think that thought process reflects the very first part of your comment - RE: growing the sport.
These women are deeply motivated to give back to wrestling and continue its growth for the generations after them. And they
love competing in Carver/Coralville in front of Iowa fans - of which season ticket holders had this event included in the 2025-26 home ticket package, BTW.
And every single year since the program was started, when Iowa has committed to an event at Xtream Arena they've brought out their big guns for the fans.
)
