“It just felt right.”
For Naomi Simon, Decorah’s hometown women’s wrestling hero, the decision to dedicate herself to wrestling was a simple one.
“Wrestling fits my body, it fits how I like to think about the world,” she says.
And despite being an individual sport, Naomi insists that the real heart of wrestling is the supportive, tight-knit community it provides. “Wrestlers are really hard-working people,” she explains. “When you spend time around other wrestlers, you automatically have this point of connection that most people can’t understand.”
Finding Her Way to the Mats
While Naomi’s decision to try wrestling was her own, it does run in the family. Her dad, Matthew Simon, wrestled throughout high school and one year in college. Her younger sister, Anastasia, joined wrestling with a group of her friends at a young age. In fact, it was watching Anastasia compete at the Kid’s State Wrestling Tournament in Des Moines that inspired her own career in the sport.
Today, Naomi has an impressive list of accolades to her name: A four-time Iowa High School State Wrestling Champion with an undefeated record across all four years, the 2024 Dan Gable Ms. Wrestler of the Year, and, as of September 2024, a bronze medalist for Team USA at the 2024 U20 (Under 20) World Freestyle Wrestling Championships in Spain.
But no rise to the top happens without its challenges, and many heroes come from humble beginnings. This is certainly true of Naomi, who began her career as the only girl on the middle school boys’ wrestling team in Decorah, Iowa. When she joined wrestling in 7th grade, there was no girl’s program.
“Since it was technically a school sport, they couldn’t turn me away,” she says.
For most of that year, Naomi felt out of place among the boys, who weren’t very accepting. And she certainly wasn’t a natural talent – she recalls winning only four of the 20+ matches she competed. By the end of the season, Naomi was ready to walk away from the sport. Then, just prior to her 8th grade year, Decorah native and Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame inductee Lee Fullhart moved back to town and began building a women’s program at the high school.
“He built an environment where I could just be an athlete and I didn’t have to worry about being bullied or singled out,” says Naomi. “He told me I would have a spot here, that I would be respected, and that I would have to put in the work just like anyone else. Sticking it out was one of the biggest challenges I’ve ever faced, but I haven’t looked back since”.
With a renewed excitement and a dedicated, determined group of teammates to train with, Naomi quickly rose to the top of the girls high school wrestling scene. And in 2022, Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union officially sanctioned women’s wrestling as a sport, making Iowa the 34th state nationally to do so.
The sport’s popularity exploded across the state, and at the same time Naomi began to seek additional opportunities outside of the high school season. Supported by her community, she took the leap into the national wrestling scene.
National Wrestling
USA Wrestling is governed at the state level, with each state federation having its own leadership and methods of operating. “It can be really confusing the first time around, but it’s also very rewarding,” says Naomi.
In Iowa, the women’s program is directed by National Wrestling Hall of Fame inductee Charlotte Bailey and coached by former NCAA champion and University of Iowa Hall of Fame inductee Jeff McGinness.
Like Coach Fullhart, Charlotte and Coach McGinness have had a massive impact on Naomi’s development, both on and off the mats. They are able to bring a group of girls from different locations across the state together into one strong, cohesive team, investing in and providing opportunities for each athlete. It is their leadership, commitment, and encouragement that has made Naomi’s time with Team Iowa, “some of the best wrestling experiences I have ever had”.
USA Wrestling competitions offered Naomi challenges and learning opportunities that high school matches no longer could. Not only was she facing more skilled opponents, but high school and USA wrestling competitions utilized different “styles” of wrestling and methods of determining scores to which she had to adapt. While many wrestlers will make a big deal out of the transitions from wrestling “folkstyle” in high school season to “freestyle” at USA or international meets, Naomi takes it all in stride. “At the end of the day, it’s just wrestling.”
In 2022, shortly after her sophomore year of high school, Naomi competed at the Youth Trials in Fort Worth, Texas. There, she lost her match for the first time in over two years. While a loss might be discouraging to some, it only energized Naomi. She quickly got to work with Coach McGinness, driving to his weekly training camps in all different areas of Iowa and pushing herself to compete at a higher and higher level.
She credits her first Junior and 16 & Under National Championships – a tournament commonly referred to in the wrestling community as “Fargo,” as it takes place each year in Fargo, North Dakota – as being one of the biggest turning points in her career. Finishing 6th that year, she would go on to become the Fargo champion in 2023.
International Wrestling
In May of 2024, Naomi competed at the World Team Trials event in Spokane, Washington. She won the Under 20 Division, securing her a spot on the USA U20 World Championships team – which also meant her first chance at wrestling internationally.
One requirement upon making the team was to travel to Colorado Springs at least once over the summer for training camps. These camps are held not only to ensure peak physical performance ahead of the big competition, but also to create and deepen bonds between athletes and coaches, as well as among teammates.
In July, the World’s team traveled to Madrid, Spain, to get a feel for international competition and attend an additional camp. For Naomi, the hardest parts of the experience had little to do with the competition itself. “It was the things outside of wrestling – the long plane ride, adjusting to the time difference – and it was so hot – usually around 105 degrees!” she says. “Once I started wrestling, I didn’t have much of an issue.”
Back in the states, the athletes returned to their home base for the last few weeks of preparation before flying to Spain again – Pontevedra this time – on August 31. Within 15 hours of landing, the team was in the gym, preparing.
On September 6, Naomi competed in her first match at Worlds, against Mariia Orlevich of Ukraine. She lost by just one point – and then had to wait to find out if she would have the opportunity to compete in a second match.
International wrestling competitions differ from US tournaments, in that they follow a Repechage Double Elimination bracket model. Essentially, if you win a match you automatically move on to the next stage. If you lose, you have to wait to see how well your opponent does in their next match. If your opponent wins again, you get added to the Repechage bracket and are afforded the chance to keep wrestling.
In the end, Orlevich advanced to the final and Naomi was given another match. Paired against one of the toughest competitors in the field, Japan’s Chisato Yoshida, Naomi had her work cut out for her. She delivered, dominating with a 9-0 victory and earning 3rd place in the 180 weight at her first international wrestling championship.
University of Iowa Wrestling
In the fall of 2024, Naomi began her first year at the University of Iowa, studying health and human physiology. Knowing from a young age that she wouldn’t want to attend a small college, she was thrilled when the Hawkeyes announced the addition of a women’s wrestling team in 2021. There, she is helping to define the emerging landscape of Division I women’s wrestling.
Now in their second year of competition, the Hawkeyes boast one of only four Division I women’s wrestling programs in the entire country. Of these four, the Hawkeyes are the only member of the Power Five Conference – the group of 69 Division I schools that boast the most prominent collegiate athletic programs in the nation. The other three – Presbyterian College, Sacred Heart University, and Lindenwood University – are all smaller, private, liberal arts institutions.
Currently, women’s wrestling is not recognized by the NCAA, meaning there is no official national tournament. However, it was named an NCAA Emerging Sport in 2020 and is projected to become official in 2026.
Just over a month into wrestling season, Naomi confirms that deep bonds, camaraderie, and sportsmanship are just as present among the Hawkeyes as the other teams she has been a part of. These connections and friendships are important, if only because of the sheer amount of time the girls spend training together. Currently, Naomi attends five-to-six team wrestling practices, three lifts, one cardio session, and additional club wrestling practices (not affiliated with the University) each week.
Surprising no one, except perhaps herself, Naomi’s first collegiate season has had a successful start, beginning with the Luther Hill Open in Indianola, Iowa. Of the 18 Hawkeyes who competed, 13 earned top-three finishes.
“I was incredibly nervous to wrestle in Indianola,” she confesses. “It was my first collegiate competition, and I just didn’t know how it would go.”
Naomi wrestled four matches, ultimately winning the 180 weight category.
Their next meet, a double dual in Marietta, Georgia, saw the Hawkeyes come away with a 46-1 win over Hastings and a 30-14 victory over Life University, both NAIA teams. Naomi won both of her matches, then went on to win all three matches the following day at the Eagle Madness Open, also held in Marietta.
The Hawkeye’s final competition of the season will be the National Collegiate Women’s Wrestling Championships (NCWWC), which is scheduled for March 7-8, 2025, in Coralville, Iowa. Founded in 2019, the NCWWC offers the chance for all NCAA varsity women’s wrestling programs (Division I, II, and III) to compete at a high-level national competition at the end of the season.
With many years ahead of her, Naomi looks forward to continued effort and improvement on the mats. In the same way that her journey has been inspired and supported by trailblazing women wrestlers and coaches before her, she will add her name to the legacy and influence future wrestlers and wrestling fans alike. With each practice, each match, and each victory, Naomi is not just making a name for herself but paving the way for the future of women’s wrestling.
Clara Wodny
Closer to home, Luther College in Decorah recently announced the addition of a women’s wrestling program, becoming the 39th Division III school to do so. The team is set to begin competition next fall for the 2025-2026 academic year.
