The crowd vividly portrayed the opening day of the National Collegiate Women's Wrestling Championships at the Alliant Energy Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Hawkeyes on one side.

Cardinals on the other side. 

Both sides know what’s at stake. 

After the quarterfinals, North Central leads Iowa by 14.5 points with the biggest round of wrestling yet to come. The team race will be decided in a semifinal round featuring five head-to-head matches between the schools.

North Central has 11 semifinals; Iowa has 10.
North Central has 14 All-Americans; Iowa has 12. 

A showdown between Iowa and North Central was expected after the Hawkeyes defeated the Cardinals, 21-20, during the National Duals final in January. North Central's coach Joe Norton still loses sleep over the setback. His team won six of 10 matches but the Hawkeyes secured more bonus point wins and scored team points in every match.  

Norton believes his team can make up for it with a strong performance on the second day of the national championship

“I think our girls wrestled well today,” Norton said. “They did what we asked them to do — just compete. Go out and be aggressive and score points. Don’t change what you do just because of the moment. 

“They did an awesome job. Some of them went above and beyond expectations.”

Iowa coach Clarissa Chun has reasons to feel optimistic. Her team suffered five losses on the day, including two to North Central, but the unique scoring system means a handful of those losses weren’t fatal. 

Only the top 10 wrestlers from each team score points (one per weight), but preventing another team from scoring can be crucial. 

King University is 8.5 points behind Iowa and is still in the hunt. The Tornado have eight semifinalists and 13 All-Americans.

Iowa, King, McKendree, and North Central occupy 34 of 40 semifinal spots. 

Lexi Janiak of Aurora versus Cam Guerin of McKendree is the marquee match of the semifinals. The two faced off in last year’s finals with Guering securing a 9-0 victory for her third NCWWC title. The series is currently tied at 2-2, but that number will inevitably change soon. 

Click here for full results

Top 10 Team Scores

North Central — 127.5
Iowa — 113
King — 104.5
McKendree — 71.5
Colorado Mesa — 50.5
Sacred Heart — 42.5
Presbyterian — 41
Lock Haven — 38.5
Wisconsin Stevens Point — 33
Simon Fraser — 31

Iowa vs North Central Semifinal Match-ups

101: Sterling Dias (Iowa) vs Maddie Avila (North Central)
National Duals result: Dias teched Avila, 11-0

109: Ava Bayless (Iowa) vs Jaslynn Gallegos (North Central)
National Duals result: Bayless dec. Gallegos, 5-5

116: Brianna Gonzalez (Iowa) vs Sydney Petzinger (North Central)
National Duals result: Petzinger dec Gonzalez, 6-4

155: Marlynne Deede (Iowa) vs London Houston (North Central)
National Duals result: Deede fall Houston, 1:38

191: Jaycee Foeller (Iowa) vs Traeh Haynes (North Central)
National Duals result: Haynes dec. Foeller, 6-1

Iowa’s Semifinal Matches (10)

101: Emilie Gonzalez (Iowa) vs Lizette Rodriguez (McKendree)
101: Sterling Dias (Iowa) vs Maddie Avila (North Central)
109: Ava Bayless (Iowa) vs Jaslynn Gallegos (North Central)
116: Brianna Gonzalez (Iowa) vs Sydney Petzinger (North Central)
116: Felicity Taylor (Iowa) vs Samara Chavez (King)
143: Reese Larramendy (Iowa) vs Maddie Kubicki (Presbyterian)
155: Marlynne Deede (Iowa) vs London Houston (North Central)
155: Bella Mir (Iowa) vs Cheyenne Bowman (King)
170: Kylie Welker (Iowa) vs Kami Senlycki (Wartburg)
191: Jaycee Foeller (Iowa) vs Traeh Haynes (North Central)

North Central’s Semifinal Matches (11)

101: Maddie Avila (North Central) vs Sterling Dias (Iowa)
109: Kendra Ryan (North Central) vs Kaelani Shufeldt (Lock Haven)
109: Jaslynn Gallegos (North Central) vs Ava Bayless (Iowa)
116:  Sydney Petzinger (North Central) vs Brianna Gonzalez (Iowa)
123: Amani Jones (North Central) vs Montana DeLawder (King)
130: Sara Sterner (North Central) vs Victoria Baez-Dilone (King)
136: Yele Aycock (North Central) vs Jade Trolland (Simon Fraser)
143: Alara Boyd (North Central) vs Aine Drury (King)
155: London Houston (North Central) vs Marlynne Deede (Iowa)170: Yelena Makoyed (North Central) vs Tristan Kelly (McKendree)
191: Traeh Haynes (North Central) vs Jaycee Foeller (Iowa) 

Semifinal matches

101: Emilie Gonzalez (Iowa) vs Lizette Rodriguez (McKendree)
101: Sterling Dias (Iowa) vs Maddie Avila (North Central)

109: Kendra Ryan (North Central) vs Kaelani Shufeldt (Lock Haven)
109: Jaslynn Gallegos (North Central) vs Ava Bayless (Iowa)

116: Brianna Gonzalez (Iowa) vs Sydney Petzinger (North Central)
116: Felicity Taylor (Iowa) vs Samara Chavez (King)

123: Shelby Moore (McKendree) vs Virginia Foard (King)
123: Amani Jones (North Central) vs Montana DeLawder (King)

130: Sara Sterner (North Central) vs Victoria Baez-Dilone (King)
130: Cam Guerin (McKendree) vs Lexi Janiak (Aurora)

136: Yele Aycock (North Central) vs Jade Trolland (Simon Fraser)
136: Viktorya Torres (McKendree) vs Claire DiCugno (King)

143: Alara Boyd (North Central) vs Aine Drury (King)
143: Reese Larramendy (Iowa) vs Maddie Kubicki (Presbyterian)

155: Marlynne Deede (Iowa) vs London Houston (North Central)
155: Bella Mir (Iowa) vs Cheyenne Bowman (King)

170: Kylie Welker (Iowa) vs Kami Senlycki (Wartburg)
170: Yelena Makoyed (North Central) vs Tristan Kelly (McKendree)

191: Traeh Haynes (North Central) vs Jaycee Foeller (Iowa)
191:Sandra Guerrero (New Jersey City University) vs Alexa Garcia (King University)