26 SPORTS ILLUSTRATED | SI.COM
BARELY OUT of high school,
Kylie Welker has never shied away
from the biggest stages in her sport.
The No. 1 pound-for-pound wrestler
in the 2022 class won gold at the
’21 Junior World Championships,
bronze at the U23 Worlds and
finished second in the U.S. OlympicKYLIE WELKER
Hometown: Waterford, Wis.
Date of Birth: Dec. 17, 2003Sport: Wrestling
Discipline: FreestyleWeight class: 72 kg
FACE S
IN THE
CROWD
Photograph by TODD ROSENBERGtrials last April at just 17 years old.
Add one more stage: In February,
Welker became the first wrestler
to commit to the Iowa women’s
team, which will compete during
the 2023–24 season. As women’s
wrestling continues to grow (and
looks to potentially become an NCAA
championship sport), Iowa became
the third Division I school to add
such a program in September.
“I like making history,” Welker
says. “I did a lot this past year,
so I just thought to myself, if I
were to go to college, I want to
make a big announcement and set
big expectations.”
Welker wasn’t sure whether she
wanted to go to college even after
being recruited by Iowa coach andSCORECARD2012 Olympic bronze medalist
Clarissa Chun, whom she looked up
to as a kid. But after a three-day visit
to Iowa City, she was sold.
“At home, I didn’t have a strength
training coach, nutritionist or any of
those resources,” she says. “There’s
a lot of missing pieces to the puzzle,
so I wanted to set up something
more structured.”
Welker’s goals haven’t changed,
despite the newfound attention. She
hopes to make the 2024 Olympic
team and dominate at the collegiate
level, just as she did against high
school competition.
“I like to set my goals and
expectations high,” she says. “So I
expect nothing less.”
—Lia Assimakopoulos