Athlete of the Month
Reese Larramendy

Pictures and Content courtesy of the Larramendy Family, the University of Iowa, IA@ROSS BCHEK and USA Wrestling Aj Grieves and Cliff Keen Athletics

Reese Larramendy is a Force to be reckoned with on and off the mat. She loves the sport of wrestling, and in her words “I love this fricken sport,” and she has no plans of stopping anytime soon. This is a definite life commitment for Reese. Since her previous bio she has accomplished many more great things–Amazing, but not surprising. First was becoming the Fargo Runner Up in July of 2021 while finishing her Junior year of high school.

During her Senior year of high school, at Wyoming Seminary, she became a Super 32 Champion. In January of 2022 she went on her recruitment trip to the University of Iowa, and by her third recruiting visit she signed with the University of Iowa. She then went on in March to travel to the Tallinn Open in Estonia and earned a Championship Title for USA. In May, she won the USMC Women’s Nationals for Freestyle at 65 kg which in turn awarded her a position on the Junior World Team. And then, she Graduated from Wyoming Seminary (High School) in Kingston, PA.

Following her graduation she went to Sofia, Bulgaria and competed in Freestyle at the Junior Worlds where she placed 5th. When school started she began her Red Shirt year at the University of Iowa. During this time she became Champion at the Missouri Valley Open, and also at the Soldier Salute.

In March of 2023, her first true college season, Cliff Keen Athletics realized her value and offered her an NIL Deal. In May 2023 she Placed 3rd at USMC Women’s Nationals at 65 kg in Freestyle. In October 2023 she was again Champion at Missouri Valley Open and then in December 2023 she was the Runner Up at Soldier Salute.

Now here we are in her Sophomore year. In February she became the Region 5 College Champion, and most recently she won the NCWWC – National Collegiate Women’s Wrestling Championship (NCAA). She is the Champion at 143 pounds, and her University of Iowa team was also crowned Team Champions. Reese finished her season with a 36-3 record. For those that don’t realize it and just an FYI, women still wrestle Folkstyle in college.

Reese’s mindset going into Nationals was one of a new found confidence. She wasn’t as nervous as usual as she finally realized that she shouldn’t make these tournaments bigger than she needs to, not that they aren’t big, but what it truly comes down to is one match at a time and what you do within each match–no matter what tournament it is. When making these tournaments too big it puts more unnecessary pressure and has previously caused her to not perform as she has trained for.

Reese knew going into Nationals that she had done everything she could with her pre-tournament training. This became apparent when she made it to the Finals, but now it was the Finals, can she deliver? Can she do what she had practiced over and over again? Can she not get into her own head and not make this match bigger than it needs to be? Well this is where her mindset became apparent. She went into the Finals wanting to have fun. Wanting to be an entertainer so to speak. She was on the Big Stage but she didn’t want to wrestle scared. She wanted to score. She didn’t want to wrestle a boring match, and she didn’t want to leave it up to anyone else, like the ref or her opponent. She wanted to control the match, and that she did.

One of the mental and physical adjustments that Reese depended on was what she could do “within” the match. By that she meant, can she make the in-match adjustments at that critical time during the match. “You can plan all day about what you want to do. You can watch film over and over again and know your opponents moves as much as possible, but what if they don’t do those moves? What if the match doesn’t go as you planned in your head beforehand,” this is where Reese became a different wrestler. She has learned to wrestle the match that is at hand and making adjustments as necessary “within” the match. She has finally learned to trust herself and her Lord (Who she definitely depends on). She has learned that her training is exceptional and just because she hears this and that about another wrestler, aka her opponent, it doens’t mean that she should put that person above herself.

Winning Nationals has Qualified Reese for the Olympic Trials, but she is also going to be competing in the U20 World Team Trials on April 12-14 in Spokane, Washington, as one of her main goals for this year is to become a World Champion–Becoming an Olympic Champion would be Icing on the Cake as she wasn’t thinking that she would compete for an Olympic Title until 2028, but winning Nationals gave her an early opportunity, so she will see how things go–Never say Never.

Also just because she is at a peak, so to speak in her wrestling career, to Reese it is just another day, as like was previously mentioned above, she plans on being in this sport for a very long time. She has big plans for herself and the sport. Reese is studying Enterprise Leadership at the University of Iowa and plans to carry that Leadership knowledge with her on and off the mat. Reese is serious about her education and wrestling. She wants to become a CEO and also help build the viewership of wrestling.

She feels that this is key to helping to grow wrestling. She wants to help more people understand the rules of wrestling and she thinks having good commentators on the mics at these big tournaments is also key. She thinks that the person on the mic has a big job/obligation of helping people to understand the sport. I see her doing this.

I remember when Reese was a young girl, she always wanted to be on the mic–this must have been a precursor to what she would be working on to help the sport in the future. Now she might not be the one on the mic for a long time, as she will be on the mat, but I do believe that she will be a Voice for wrestling for the rest of her life.

By placing first in the NCAA Women’s Nationals Reese Larramendy qualified for the Olympic Trials which were held April 19th-20th, 2024. Although Reese wasn’t necessarily planning on wrestling for the Olympic Berth, the opportunity was earned. Reese decided to bump up from 65kg to 68kg, and in spite of having to wrestle at the upper weight she did well and placed 5th–4th in the Olympic Trials Challenge tournament, but since Amit Elor was sitting in the Finals it bumps down everyone in Placement for the Actual Olympic Trials. Not a bad showing at all for 19 year old Reese who has plenty of time and opportunity in front of her. She found out that she can compete with the best, and I know that she will be honing in on her skills for 2028. Reese will be competing in Spain this Fall at the U20 Worlds, and I know she is looking forward to seeing what she can do in her age bracket at that level.

Here is the link to Reese’s First Athlete of the Month for NVSportsLocal Reese Larramendy Bio Part 1