Women's Wrestling Club

Wrestlers · Senior level

Alisha Howk

2022 U23 World bronze medalist; 2023 U.S. Open champion at 55 kg; 2024 Pan American champion; assistant coach at Augsburg

River Falls, WI · River Falls HS

By Joe Spisak, Pennsylvania state champion and 4x NCAA qualifier at Virginia · Published September 11, 2026

Alisha Howk
Photo: USA Wrestling

Alisha Howk grew up in Blue Springs, Missouri, and finished high school at River Falls High School in Wisconsin. She won the USMC Junior Nationals title in Fargo in 2017 and the Wisconsin Wrestling Federation girls' state folkstyle title in 2018. The national girls high school rankings run by USA Wrestling, the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and FloWrestling had her first at 117 pounds that February.

She placed fifth at the Junior World Championships in 2018 and won the Junior Pan American title in 2019. She was runner-up at the Senior Women's Freestyle Nationals in 2021, then won the U23 national title at 55 kg, about 121 pounds, in 2022. That October in Pontevedra, Spain, she took U23 World bronze. She lost the semifinal 9-8 to Mihaela Samoil of Moldova on a takedown at the buzzer, then beat Nethmi Poruthotage of Sri Lanka 13-5 in the bronze medal match.

In 2023 she won the U.S. Open at 55 kg, took silver at the Pan American Championships and finished second at Final X. She made the U23 World Team again that fall and finished eighth at the U23 World Championships in October. In February 2024, in Acapulco, she won Pan American gold over Zeltzin Hernandez Guerra of Mexico, and that April she entered the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in State College at 53 kg.

She joined the Augsburg women's wrestling staff as an assistant coach for the 2024-25 school year. Augsburg lists her on staff as Ali Paradise. She wrestled 55 kg at the 2025 U.S. Open.

She lives in River Falls and coaches the Augsburg women in Minneapolis, and she still enters senior freestyle events at 55 kg.

Results

SeasonLevelEventWeightPlaceNote
2017Age groupJunior Nationals, Fargo1stUSA Wrestling's World Team biography lists her as USMC Junior Women's Nationals champion and Cadet Women's Nationals champion in 2017, and twelfth at the Cadet World Championships. Her Fargo weight class is not given on a page read for this profile.
2017-18High schoolWisconsin Wrestling Federation girls' state folkstyle championships1stAlso the WWF freestyle state champion the same year. The Feb. 21 national girls high school rankings, published by the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, USA Wrestling and FloWrestling, listed her as a senior at River Falls High School. She was No. 1 at 112 pounds and then No. 1 at 117 pounds after she moved up a class. Augsburg's staff page calls her a native of Blue Springs, Mo., and a current resident of River Falls, Wis. USA Wrestling lists her as River Falls, Wis., which is what the hometown field follows.
2018Age groupJunior World Championships5thShe was also the UWW Junior Women's Nationals champion and the USMC Junior Women's Freestyle Nationals runner-up that year.
2019Age groupJunior Pan American Championships1st
2021SeniorSenior Women's Freestyle Nationals2nd
2022SeniorSpring Bill Farrell Memorial International1stUSA Wrestling's World Team biography lists her as the 2022 Spring Bill Farrell Memorial champion.
2022Age groupU23 Women's Nationals1stUSA Wrestling's World Team biography lists her as the 2022 U23 Women's Nationals champion.
2022Age groupU23 World Championships, Pontevedra, Spain55 kg3rdOct. 19 and 20, 2022. She won her first two bouts, lost the semifinal 9-8 to Mihaela Samoil of Moldova when Samoil scored a takedown on the buzzer and a U.S. challenge failed, then beat Nethmi Poruthotage of Sri Lanka 13-5 for bronze. USA Wrestling called it the best finish of her international career and listed her with the Victory School of Wrestling and Sunkist Kids.
2023SeniorU.S. Open55 kg1stShe also won the USMC Women's National Championship that year.
2023SeniorFinal X55 kg2ndHer second straight year in a Final X series, after the 2022 True Thirds.
2023SeniorPan American Championships55 kg2nd
2024SeniorPan American Championships, Acapulco55 kg1stFeb. 22, 2024. She beat Zeltzin Hernandez Guerra of Mexico for gold. The score is left out because the two records of the bout disagree. United World Wrestling's own record carries a 4-4 win on criteria. USA Wrestling reported 5-4 and described her coming from behind for a takedown and four points, with a lost challenge at the end sealing it. The third entrant in the bracket did not compete. Augsburg's staff page calls the meet the 2024 Pan American Games in Mexico City, which USA Wrestling contradicts.
2024SeniorU.S. Olympic Team Trials, State College53 kgApril 19 and 20, 2024. She entered at 53 kg, a class below the 55 she wrestled everywhere else, and lost 5-2 to Areana Villaescusa of the U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program in the quarterfinals. Augsburg's staff page lists her as a 2024 Olympic Team Trials qualifier and a USA Wrestling national team member in 2023-24.
2025SeniorU.S. Open, Las Vegas55 kgApril 2025, entered for the New York AC. She lost 3-2 to Louisa Schwab of the Menlo WC in the championship bracket. Her final placing at the meet is not given on a page read for this profile.

What we could not confirm

Anything not on this page, a high school record, a final score, a season, was left out because no primary source stated it when this was written. If you have a bracket, a program, or a clipping, send it and the page gets the number.

Sources

  1. https://www.themat.com/news/2023/october/12/2023-u23-u-s-women-s-freestyle-world-team-biographies · USA Wrestling's 2023 U23 U.S. women's freestyle World Team biographies list 55 kg Alisha Howk (River Falls, Wis./Sunkist Kids WC), born Jan. 11, 2000: 2023 Pan American Championships silver medalist, Grand Prix of Spain bronze medalist, ninth at the Zagreb Open ranking series, eighth at the Polyak Imre and Varga Janos Memorial, Final X runner-up, U.S. Open champion, USMC Women's National Championship champion; 2022 U23 World bronze medalist, Grand Prix of Spain silver medalist, fourth at the Fall Bill Farrell Memorial, Final X True Thirds runner-up, third at the World Team Trials Challenge, U23 Women's Nationals champion, fifth at the USMC U.S. Open, Spring Bill Farrell Memorial champion; 2021 U23 Nationals runner-up and Senior Women's Freestyle Nationals runner-up; 2019 Junior Pan American Championships champion, Dave Schultz Memorial International champion, fourth at Senior Nationals, third at the Senior World Team Trials Challenge, UWW Junior Nationals runner-up; 2018 fifth at the Junior World Championships, USMC Junior Women's Freestyle Nationals runner-up, UWW Junior Women's Nationals champion, WWF freestyle state champion and WWF women's high school folkstyle state champion; 2017 twelfth at the Cadet World Championships, USMC Junior Women's Nationals champion, Cadet Women's Nationals champion
  2. https://nwhof.org/news/national-girls-high-school-rankings-for-february-21 · National Wrestling Hall of Fame, USA Wrestling and FloWrestling national girls high school rankings for Feb. 21: 'Wisconsin senior Alisha Howk of River Falls High School, who was No. 1 at 112 pounds, has competed at a higher weight this season. She jumps up to 117 pounds, where she remains No. 1.' The 117-pound list reads 'Alisha Howk, Senior, River Falls, Wisconsin River Falls High School (1 at 112)'. Macey Kilty of River Falls High School appears in the same rankings
  3. https://www.themat.com/news/features/2022/october/20/guilford-silver-howk-bronze · USA Wrestling, Oct. 20, 2022: Alisha Howk claimed bronze at 55 kg at the U23 World Championships in Pontevedra, Spain, 'the best finish of her international career', beating 2022 Commonwealth Games bronze medalist Nethmi Poruthotage of Sri Lanka 13-5 in the bronze medal match; she is listed as Alisha Howk, River Falls, Wis. (Victory School of Wrestling/Sunkist Kids)
  4. https://www.themat.com/news/features/2022/october/19/group-1-women-day-1-session-2 · USA Wrestling, Oct. 19, 2022: Howk reached the U23 World bronze medal bout after being edged 9-8 in the semifinals by 2021 U20 World silver medalist Mihaela Samoil of Moldova, who scored a takedown on the buzzer to tie it at 8-8 on criteria, with a failed U.S. challenge making the final score 9-8; Howk had led 6-4 with 10 seconds left
  5. https://www.themat.com/news/features/2022/october/20/women-group-2-session-1 · USA Wrestling, Oct. 20, 2022 session report: Howk (55 kg) was set to wrestle for bronze at the U23 World Championships in Pontevedra, Spain
  6. https://www.themat.com/news/2024/february/22/u-s-earns-four-gold-two-bronze-on-day-one-of-women-s-freestyle-at-pan-american-championships · USA Wrestling, Feb. 22, 2024: the United States won all six medal matches on day one of women's freestyle at the Pan American Championships in Acapulco, Mexico; at 55 kg Alisha Howk (Sunkist Kids) won gold over Zeltzin Hernandez Guerra of Mexico, reported as 5-4, coming from behind with a takedown and four points, with a lost challenge at the end sealing the win; the third athlete in the bracket did not compete
  7. https://athletics.augsburg.edu/staff-directory/ali-paradise/600 · Augsburg University athletics staff directory: Ali (Howk) Paradise joined the Augsburg women's wrestling team as an assistant coach in the 2024-25 school year; a native of Blue Springs, Mo., and current resident of River Falls, Wis., she is a 55-kilogram freestyle wrestler, a two-time U23 national champion, the 2022 U23 World bronze medalist, the 2023 U.S. Open champion, a 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials qualifier and a USA Wrestling national team member in 2023-24; the page describes her 2024 Pan American title as the Pan American Games in Mexico City, which USA Wrestling's own report contradicts
  8. https://www.themat.com/news/2025/april/24/senior-women-s-freestyle-semifinals-set-at-2025-claw-u-s-open-championships · USA Wrestling, April 24, 2025: at the CLAW U.S. Open, the 55 kg bracket saw 2023 U.S. Open champion and Final X runner-up Alisha Howk drop a 3-2 decision to NAIA All-American Louisa Schwab; the results block lists 'Louisa Schwab (Menlo WC) dec. Alisha Howk (New York AC), 3-2'
  9. https://www.wiwrestlingfederation.com/news_article/show/1268049 · Wisconsin Wrestling Federation news article: Alisha Howk earned a bronze medal at the U23 World Championships in 2022 and is one of three Wisconsin World medalists named alongside Kylie Welker and Macey Kilty
  10. https://www.flowrestling.org/articles/11323290-get-to-know-your-2023-womens-freestyle-u23-world-team · FloWrestling's guide to the 2023 women's freestyle U23 World Team lists 55 kg Alisha Howk as the 2023 U.S. Open champion, the 2022 U23 World bronze medalist and a member of the 2018 Junior World team that finished fifth
  11. https://uww.org/athletes/howk-alisha-sue · United World Wrestling athlete page for PARADISE HOWK Alisha Sue. The 2024 Seniors Pan-American Championships block (February 2024, 55 kg, 1st) records the bout against HERNANDEZ GUERRA Zeltzin of Mexico as 'WON by VPO1 (4-4)' with classification points 1-3, a 4-4 win on criteria, and a second bout won by forfeit. The page also lists 8th at the 2023 U23 World Championships (October 2023, 55 kg), 8th at the 2023 Polyak Imre Memorial, 2nd at the 2023 Senior Pan-American Championships (May 2023), 9th at the 2023 Zagreb Open, 3rd at the 2022 U23 World Championships and 1st at the 2019 Junior Pan-American Championships (June 2019).
  12. https://www.ncaa.com/news/wrestling-men/article/2023-10-12/everything-you-need-know-about-college-wrestlers-competing-u23-world · NCAA.com, Oct. 12, 2023, roster table of the U23 World Team with a School column: the row reads 'Alisha Howk | 55kg | N/A | - 2022 U23 World Bronze medalist - 2019 Junior Pan American Champion', while teammates in the same table carry schools. The article also says Howk 'won both the U.S. Open and the U23 World Team Trials' to earn her spot.
  13. https://www.flowrestling.org/articles/12451726-2024-usa-wrestling-olympic-trials-results · FloWrestling results from the 2024 Olympic Wrestling Trials in State College, Pennsylvania, April 19-20: under the women's freestyle Quarterfinals heading, '53 kg: Areana Villaescusa (WCAP) won by decision over Alisha Howk (SKWC) Dec 5-2'. Howk appears nowhere else on the page, so no placing is derivable.
  14. https://www.flowrestling.org/articles/11303088-us-womens-national-team-shows-diverse-paths-to-success · FloWrestling, 'US women's national team shows diverse paths to success', the page the roster hint was drawn from: the 55 kg list reads 'Jacarra Winchester (NAIA), Missouri Valley', 'Alisha Howk (No College)' and 'Areana Villaescusa (No College/WCAP)', and Howk is listed again under the article's 'No College' heading. The college national title on that page belongs to Winchester, not Howk.
  15. https://www.armywcap.com/soldier-athletes/olympic-sports/wrestling · U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program wrestling roster: 'SSG Areana Villaescusa, Freestyle Wrestling', on a page that describes WCAP's wrestling team as Soldier-athletes representing the U.S. Army and Team USA

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