For Bella Williams, Cadence Diduch and Lilly Luft, the summer has been a busy and productive one. All three current Iowa Hawkeyes competed at the 2025 U20 Pan-American Championships in wrestling, taking home either gold or silver. The event took place in Lima, Peru.
Williams, a Hawaii native who moved to Oklahoma and won three high school state titles, won gold for a second time at the international event. She went 4-0 in round-robin, winning twice by fall and two other times by technical fall.
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This coming year, Williams will be a freshman for the Hawkeyes, who were 19-0 last year and won a second consecutive national title. Williams was ranked No. 8 overall at USA Wrestling for the Class of 2025.
Diduch, a two-time Illinois state wrestling champion, claimed her Pan-American title with a third technical fall of the tournament. She was also a champion at the event in 2023.
Luft, who captured three Iowa high school wrestling titles before moving to Iowa, finished second following a 2-1 loss to Annika Finnes of Canada. She won 30 matches for the Hawkeyes in 2023-24 while serving as an alternate this past year.
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