Sterling Dias, a member of the Iowa Women’s wrestling team, visited City High for the first girls’ wrestling tournament of the season on November 25th. She was there to show support for girls wrestling, which is now in its fourth season as a Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union sanctioned sport.
“The biggest reason why I wanted to come here is to show my support to women’s wrestling. Not just City High, but to the entire community of women’s wrestling,” Dias said. “I think this is the reason why I love being a part of the sport, and to see this grow and to be a part of it is awesome.”
According to Rich Bender, director of USA wrestling, women’s wrestling is the fastest growing sport.
15 schools participated at the Little Hawk tournament, including Iowa City high schools West and Liberty. City High girls wrestling coach Ryan Ahlers invited Dias to attend after she conducted a clinic at the school over the summer.
“Just from getting to chat with her, I could tell she had a really cool passion for the sport and a good outlook on how to teach it, too,” Ahlers said. “It was evident from the first five minutes of the clinic that this is really good exposure for not only the girls in our program, but [also] girls around Iowa City to come and learn from her.”
Stella Raitt ‘28, a member of the City High Girls wrestling team, attended the clinic with Dias over the summer and has also watched her wrestle at Carver Hawkeye Arena.
“[The clinic] was really fun. I like how she incorporated games, but still made them [so] we were still moving and stuff like that,” Raitt said. “That was nice. I like that she participated in it and got into that competitive spirit too.”
Dias is a junior at the University of Iowa and was named a 2025 NCWWC All-American, and in 2024 was a runner-up. To many young female wrestlers, she is a role model, and they appreciate having the opportunity to meet and learn from her.
“She inspires me because she’s so excited to be there on the mat and to help people out. She’s very competitive, so I think she is hard on her opponents, too,” Raitt said. So I think I want to learn from her to be more aggressive in my matches, because she does that a lot.”
The University of Iowa was the first Power Five institution to introduce women’s wrestling. Now, a little over two seasons later, they have earned two NCWWC Champions and are considered one of the best collegiate women’s wrestling teams.
“When you get to see those people in person and hear them talk about the sport, but also about other things too, [you get to] understand that they’re fun-loving human beings, just like we are, but they also take the sport very seriously,” Ahlers said. “They’re passionate about it. And it’s really, really impactful in like, hey, I can do that too. What if that was me in five years, 10 years?”
For those wrestlers who imagine being in Dias’ shoes, she emphasises, similarly to Ahlers, that it’s possible for anyone who puts their mind to it.
“Just keep going, keep working hard. I think everyone has the same opportunity. Everyone has an equal opportunity to get to where I am today, and it’s all about just putting in the effort, reaching out, communicating, networking, and putting yourself out there,” Dias said.
In their first season, the Iowa Women’s wrestling team had the mantra ‘For Her.’ It’s a reminder that they are wrestling not only for themselves, but also for the women who came before and those who will come after. For Dias, this theme still persists.
“That word [trailblazer], it blows my mind. I hate to label myself as a trailblazer, because I feel like I haven’t done too much in my life to be known as that,” Dias said. “But I do think that the people that have paved this way are the true trailblazers. It’s not me. The people that came before me are the reason why I get to do what I get to do.”
Though Dias doesn’t think of herself as a trailblazer, she’s still driven by the young wrestlers who see her as a role model.
“I think wrestling can be very hard, but knowing that there are younger generations looking up to me is very motivating, very inspiring,” Dias said. “It means everything to me. I think it’s my driving factor. It’s the reason why I do what I do, and the reason why I love what I do.”
