National champ Reese Larramendy becomes third commitment for Iowa women's wrestling team

The recruiting floodgates have officially opened for the Iowa women's wrestling program.

Last Thursday, Kylie Welker, a Junior world champion and the No. 1 pound-for-pound women's high school wrestler in America, became the first to commit. On Saturday, Ella Schmit, a three-time Iowa state champion from Bettendorf, announced her commitment.

On Sunday, for the third time in four days, another high-level high school women's wrestler announced that she, too, will be joining the Iowa women's wrestling program. This time, it's Reese Larramendy, another top-20 overall women's wrestling prospect.

"I am excited to announce that I have decided to further continue my academic and athletic career at the University of Iowa," Larramendy wrote in an Instagram post, announcing her commitment.

"I want to thank all my supporters," she continued, "especially my family, Kennedy and Korina Blades, Saul Pulido, my coaches Erin and Chad Vandiver, and Izzy Martinez. And my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I'm excited to continue to work and build toward my goals as a Hawkeye."

Larramendy, a senior originally from Reno, Nevada, who now attends Wyoming Seminary in Pennsylvania, is considered the No. 19 pound-for-pound women's high school wrestler in America, according to USA Wrestling. She is also ranked No. 1 nationally at 144 pounds, and has a résumé to back that up.

In 2019, Larramendy made USA Wrestling's 15U women's freestyle world team and won a silver medal at the 15U world combat games in Budapest. She also won a 16U women's freestyle national title later that summer.

In 2021, she took third at the Cadet world team trials, fifth at the Junior world team trials — both of those competitions were contested on the same weekend, by the way — and also made the finals of the Junior women's freestyle national championships. 

Even more, Larramendy is just the latest Wyoming Seminary wrestler to commit to the Hawkeyes. Two others, Kolby Franklin and Gabe Arnold, both committed to the men's wrestling program. Franklin, a 2022 signee, has since relocated to Iowa City. Arnold will join the Hawkeyes as part of their 2023 recruiting class.

Clarissa Chun began her tenure as Iowa's women's wrestling coach a month early in order to capitalize on the recruiting trail. Her original starting date was Feb. 7, according to her contract. By Feb. 6, she's already landed three big-time commitments.

Who knows how many more big-time commitments Chun will have a month from now.

Cody Goodwin covers wrestling and high school sports for the Des Moines Register. Follow him on Twitter at @codygoodwin.