Wrestlers · College
Cadence Diduch
3x Fargo champion; 3x IHSA girls' state champion for Freeport; 2024 U20 World Team member at 62 kg
Freeport, IL · Freeport High School HS · University of Iowa
By Joe Spisak, Pennsylvania state champion and 4x NCAA qualifier at Virginia · Published September 23, 2026
Cadence Diduch is from Freeport, Illinois. As a Freeport High School freshman in the spring of 2021, she played soccer instead of wrestling. That June she won the Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association girls' state title at 113 pounds for the Alber Athletics Wrestling Club. She beat Taylin Long of Batavia 5-2 in the final in Springfield.
A month later she won the 16U women's title at 117 pounds in Fargo. She opened with three 10-0 wins and beat Valerie Hamilton of Illinois 4-0 in the final.
In 2022 she won the IHSA girls' state title at 120 pounds. That July she reached two finals in Fargo. Skylar Little Soldier of Minnesota beat her 3-2 for the 16U title at 127 pounds. Three days later she won the Junior women's title at 122 pounds by technical fall, 12-2, over Emily Sindoni of New York.
She repeated as IHSA champion at 125 pounds in 2023. That June she won the U17 Pan American title at 61 kg, about 134 pounds, in Mexico City. In July she won a second Junior Nationals title in Fargo, at 132 pounds, with a 10-0 technical fall over Lilly Luft of Iowa.
In February 2024 she won her third IHSA title, at 135 pounds. Natalie Beaumont of Cumberland placed second. The National Wrestling Hall of Fame gave her Illinois's 2024 Tricia Saunders High School Excellence Award. In April she won the U20 women's title at 62 kg, beating Skylar Hattendorf of New Hampshire two bouts to one. She took bronze at the Grand Prix of Spain. At the U20 World Championships in Pontevedra, Spain, she pinned Seoyeon Bae of Korea and placed ninth.
At Iowa she won the 138-pound title at the Soldier Salute in December 2024, beating Samantha Barragan of Texas Wesleyan 8-6 with a late takedown. As a sophomore at 145 pounds she placed fourth at the Missouri Valley Open.
She is in her third year with the University of Iowa women's wrestling team, studying secondary education and environmental sciences.
Results
| Season | Level | Event | Weight | Place | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | High school | IWCOA girls' state tournament | 113 lb | 1st | Illinois held no IHSA state series that year. Wrestling for the Alber Athletics Wrestling Club, she won four matches to reach the final in Springfield, then beat Taylin Long of Batavia 5-2 with a late takedown. |
| 2021 | Age group | 16U Nationals, Fargo | 117 lb | 1st | 4-0. Three straight 10-0 wins, one in 12 seconds, then a 4-0 win over Valerie Hamilton of Illinois in the final on two takedowns. |
| 2021-22 | High school | IHSA girls' state tournament | 120 lb | 1st | Wrestling for Freeport High School. Mackenzie Pratt of Edwardsville placed second. |
| 2022 | Age group | 16U Nationals, Fargo | 127 lb | 2nd | She moved up from 117 pounds and lost the final 3-2 to Skylar Little Soldier of Minnesota, who held off a late leg attack. |
| 2022 | Age group | Junior Nationals, Fargo | 122 lb | 1st | Beat Emily Sindoni of New York by technical fall, 12-2, in 2:57 in the final, three days after the 16U final. |
| 2022-23 | High school | IHSA girls' state tournament | 125 lb | 1st | Wrestling for Freeport High School. Claudia Heeney of Lockport placed second. |
| 2023 | Age group | U17 Pan American Championships | 61 kg | 1st | 4-0. In Mexico City. Beat Grecia Romero Gudino of Mexico, Maicielo Molina Rivasplata of Peru and Carina Giangeruso of Puerto Rico, then Leiddy Acuna Penaranda of Ecuador 11-0 in the gold medal match. |
| 2023 | Age group | Junior Nationals, Fargo | 132 lb | 1st | Beat Lilly Luft of Iowa by technical fall, 10-0, in 2:12 in the final. Illinois won the team title. |
| 2023-24 | High school | IHSA girls' state tournament | 135 lb | 1st | Her third straight IHSA title, won at the Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington. Natalie Beaumont of Cumberland placed second. |
| 2024 | Age group | U20 Women's Nationals | 62 kg | 1st | Best-of-three final series against Skylar Hattendorf of New Hampshire. Lost the first bout by technical fall, 10-0, then won 6-0 and 2-1. |
| 2024 | Senior | Grand Prix of Spain | 62 kg | 3rd | 2-1. Beat Lydia Perez of Spain 4-4, lost to gold medalist Astrid Paola Montero Chirinos of Venezuela by technical fall, then won the bronze match over Miren Huarte of Spain by technical fall, 10-0. |
| 2024 | Age group | U20 World Championships | 62 kg | 9th | 1-1. In Pontevedra, Spain. Pinned Seoyeon Bae of Korea in 4:11, then was pinned by Melanie Jimenez Villalba of Mexico, the eventual bronze medalist, in 5:38. |
| 2024-25 | College | Soldier Salute | 138 lb | 1st | 3-0. Beat Esperanza Almazan of William Penn by technical fall and pinned Kendall Bostelman of William Penn, then beat Samantha Barragan of Texas Wesleyan 8-6 in the final with a late takedown. |
| 2025-26 | College | Missouri Valley Open | 145 lb | 4th | 7-2. Her losses were 3-2 to Gretchen Donally of Colorado Mesa and 4-0 to Aleah Nickel of Alberta. |
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 to the operator, Joe Spisak, at joe@spisak.co and the page gets the number.
Sources
- https://hawkeyesports.com/sports/womens-wrestling/roster/ · University of Iowa roster, 2026-27. Cadence Diduch, 136 pounds, third year, from Freeport, Illinois, and Freeport High School.
- https://hawkeyesports.com/sports/womens-wrestling/roster/player/cadence-diduch · University of Iowa biography, 2026-27. Her high school, age-group and Iowa record, including the 2024 U20 World Team and the 2024 Soldier Salute title, and her majors in secondary education and environmental sciences.
- https://www.ihsa.org/data/wrg/records/ybysch1.htm · IHSA girls' wrestling medalists by school. Cadence Diduch of Freeport won state titles at 120 pounds in 2021-22, 125 in 2022-23 and 135 in 2023-24.
- https://www.ihsa.org/data/wrg/records/ybyyr1.htm · IHSA girls' wrestling medalists by year. The full placings at 120 in 2021-22, 125 in 2022-23 and 135 in 2023-24.
- https://www.iwcoa.net/ihsa-girls-individual-state-finals-preview · Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association, IHSA girls' state finals preview. Freeport's Cadence Diduch won three IHSA titles, 2022 to 2024, one of four girls to win three or more.
- https://nwhof.org/hall_of_fame/bio/16158 · National Wrestling Hall of Fame. A four-time Illinois state champion for Freeport High School, with three IHSA titles and an IWCOA title as a freshman, and the 2024 Tricia Saunders High School Excellence Award for Illinois.
- https://www.rrstar.com/story/sports/2021/06/23/illinois-girls-state-wrestling-title-freeports-cadence-diduch-wins/5309372001/ · Rockford Register Star, June 23, 2021. She won the IWCOA state title at 113 pounds for Alber Athletics, beating Taylin Long of Batavia 5-2 in the final, after playing soccer for Freeport that spring.
- https://www.rrstar.com/story/sports/high-school/2021/07/27/freeports-cadence-diduch-earns-usa-wrestling-national-title/7998837002/ · Rockford Register Star, July 27, 2021. She won the 16U women's title at 117 pounds in Fargo with three 10-0 wins and a 4-0 final over Valerie Hamilton.
- https://www.themat.com/news/features/2022/july/17/16u-womens-wrap · USA Wrestling, July 17, 2022. Skylar Little Soldier of Minnesota beat Cadence Diduch of Illinois 3-2 in the 16U final at 127 pounds.
- https://www.themat.com/news/features/2022/july/20/jr-wfs-finals-wrap · USA Wrestling, July 20, 2022. Cadence Diduch of Freeport won the Junior women's title at 122 pounds by technical fall over Emily Sindoni of New York.
- https://www.themat.com/news/features/2023/june/23/wfs-u17-pan-am-recap · USA Wrestling, June 23, 2023. Cadence Diduch of Freeport won 61 kg at the U17 Pan American Championships in Mexico City with four wins.
- https://www.themat.com/news/features/2023/july/16/junior-women-wrap · USA Wrestling, July 16, 2023. Cadence Diduch of Illinois won the Junior women's title at 132 pounds over Lilly Luft of Iowa, and Illinois won the team title.
- https://www.themat.com/news/features/2023/july/16/junior-women-bios · USA Wrestling, July 16, 2023. Junior women's finalist biographies list Cadence Diduch of Freeport at 132 pounds, second at 2023 U17 Nationals and third at 2022 U17 Nationals.
- https://www.rrstar.com/picture-gallery/sports/high-school/wrestling/2024/02/24/photos-trio-of-rockford-area-wrestlers-win-girls-state-titles/72729965007/ · Rockford Register Star photo gallery by Kara Hawley, February 24, 2024. Freeport's Cadence Diduch won her third straight IHSA girls' state title, at 135 pounds, in Bloomington.
- https://www.themat.com/news/2024/april/14/larramendy-qureshi-secure-titles-as-u20-action-concludes-at-2024-usmc-women-s-nationals · USA Wrestling, April 14, 2024. Cadence Diduch of Illinois won the 62 kg U20 women's title, two bouts to one over Skylar Hattendorf of New Hampshire.
- https://www.themat.com/news/2024/july/06/welker-claims-gold-olympian-blades-gets-bronze-u-s-women-earn-eight-medals-at-grand-prix-of-spain · USA Wrestling, July 6, 2024. Cadence Diduch won bronze at 62 kg at the Grand Prix of Spain.
- https://www.themat.com/news/2024/august/27/rodriguez-janiak-among-skilled-women-s-freestyle-team-set-for-u20-world-championships · USA Wrestling, August 27, 2024. The U.S. women's freestyle team for the U20 World Championships, with Cadence Diduch at 62 kg.
- https://www.themat.com/news/2024/august/30/2024-u-s-u20-women-s-freestyle-world-team-bios · USA Wrestling, August 30, 2024. U20 women's freestyle World Team biographies, with her 2021 16U title and her 2022 and 2023 Junior Nationals titles.
- https://www.themat.com/news/2024/september/05/robinson-into-women-s-freestyle-semifinals-four-remain-eligible-for-repechage-at-u20-world-championships · USA Wrestling, September 5, 2024. At the U20 World Championships she pinned Seoyeon Bae of Korea in 4:11 and was pinned by Melanie Jimenez Villalba of Mexico.
- https://www.themat.com/news/2024/september/06/robinson-caps-u20-worlds-run-with-finals-pin-u-s-women-finish-third-as-team · USA Wrestling, September 6, 2024. Final standings at 62 kg at the U20 World Championships in Pontevedra, Spain, with Cadence Diduch ninth.
- https://hawkeyesports.com/news/2024/12/31/5-hawkeyes-claim-soldier-salute-titles · University of Iowa, December 30, 2024. Cadence Diduch won the 138-pound title at the Soldier Salute with an 8-6 final over Samantha Barragan of Texas Wesleyan.
- https://storage.googleapis.com/hawkeyesports-prod/2026/03/10/HDAWFtqV9HWf99FauDAfSbFIUAF0V1qZeDMB1f9c.pdf · University of Iowa, 2025-26 match-by-match results. Her bouts at 145 and 160 pounds, including fourth at the Missouri Valley Open.
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