Wrestlers · Career complete
Ella Schmit
3x Iowa girls' state champion; one of four girls ever to reach Iowa's boys' state tournament; 2023 U20 Pan American champion at 65 kg
Bettendorf, IA · Bettendorf HS · University of Iowa
By Joe Spisak, Pennsylvania state champion and 4x NCAA qualifier at Virginia · Published September 3, 2026
Ella Schmit wrestled at Bettendorf High School in the Quad Cities. She walked the halls recruiting classmates to wrestle with her. She reached the final at each of the first four Iowa girls' state tournaments run by the Iowa Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association, winning twice at 106 pounds and once at 125. She went 16-0 with 13 pins as a senior and finished 70-18 against boys and girls.
In February 2021 she qualified for the Iowa boys' state tournament at 106 pounds in Class 3A, one of only four girls to do it. In 2022 she was the Dan Gable Ms. Wrestler of the Year and Iowa's Tricia Saunders High School Excellence Award winner.
On February 5, 2022, she committed to Iowa, the first in-state wrestler to join the new Hawkeye women's program under Clarissa Chun. She spent a year unattached, winning the Bearcat Open and finishing second at the U20 national championships. On July 7, 2023, in Santiago, Chile, she won the U20 Pan American title at 65 kg, about 143 pounds, with three falls and a 17-6 technical fall over Gleymaris Beria Diaz of Venezuela. She took the Golden Boot as the meet's outstanding women's freestyle wrestler.
As a redshirt freshman she went 26-10 with 15 pins and placed seventh at the NCWWC championships. She went 17-7 the next season and 20-8 in her last, with nine pins and seven technical falls. She wrestled her final home dual at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in January 2026, and she now runs the girls' wrestling academy at Dowling Catholic in West Des Moines.
She runs the Dowling Catholic Girls Wrestling Academy in West Des Moines, coaching everyone from peewees to high schoolers and building the school toward its own girls' program.
Results
| Season | Level | Event | Weight | Place | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | High school | IWCOA Iowa Girls State Championships | 2nd | She reached the final at each of the first four girls' state tournaments run by the Iowa Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association | |
| 2019-21 | High school | IWCOA Iowa Girls State Championships | 106 lb | 1st | Two state titles at 106 pounds. The pages read say she won twice at that weight without splitting the two seasons, so the years are left as a range. |
| 2019 | Age group | Cadet freestyle nationals, Fargo, ND | All-American | The Iowa roster records the honor without naming the event, so the meet is given as the Cadet freestyle nationals | |
| 2020-21 | High school | IHSAA Iowa State Wrestling Tournament, Class 3A | 106 lb | qualified | February 2021; one of four girls in Iowa history to qualify for the boys' state tournament, joining Megan Black, Cassy Herkelman and Jasmine Luedtke, who qualified the same year |
| 2021 | Age group | Junior Women's Freestyle National Championships, Fargo, ND | 5th | Two-time All-American at the Fargo Junior Nationals | |
| 2021-22 | High school | IWCOA Iowa Girls State Championships | 125 lb | 1st | 16-0, 13 pins; 70-18 career. Third state title; 2022 Dan Gable Ms. Wrestler of the Year and Iowa's Tricia Saunders High School Excellence Award winner; ranked No. 3 nationally at 117 pounds as a senior |
| 2022-23 | College | Unattached season at Iowa | Bearcat Open champion | Also runner-up at the 2023 U20 National Championships and fifth at the Klippan Women's Open | |
| 2023 | Age group | U20 Pan American Championships, Santiago, Chile | 65 kg | 1st | July 7, 2023; pinned Evelyn Orta Gonzalez of Mexico in 1:14, Jaeell Llontop Vasquez of Chile in 0:55 and Natalie Vecchio of Canada in 0:46, then beat Gleymaris Beria Diaz of Venezuela by 17-6 technical fall; awarded the Golden Boot as the meet's outstanding women's freestyle wrestler. USA Wrestling's July 12 Athlete of the Week story calls the fourth match a fall at 5:22; the day-of event report and recap both give a 17-6 technical fall, so the event report is followed here. |
| 2023-24 | College | NCWWC National Championships | 7th | 26-10. Redshirt freshman; 9-0 in duals, team-high 15 pins and eight technical falls; runner-up at the Princeton Open and the Warrior Open; fourth at NCWWC Region Five | |
| 2024-25 | College | Luther Hill Open | 1st | 17-7. Seven technical falls and 10 pins on the season, fastest in 19 seconds; second at the Eagle Madness Open; fourth at the 2025 Grand View Open |
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
- https://nwhof.org/hall_of_fame/bio/15460 · Three-time IWCOA state champion for Bettendorf; qualified for the Iowa boys state tournament in 2021, one of four girls in history; 16-0 with 13 pins as a senior and 70-18 career against boys and girls; 2022 Tricia Saunders High School Excellence Award for Iowa and Iowa High School Female Wrestler of the Year
- https://www.hawkcentral.com/story/sports/college/iowa/wrestling/2022/02/05/iowa-wrestling-women-ella-schmit-commits-hawkeyes-bettendorf-state-champion/9276872002/ · Feb. 5, 2022 commitment to Iowa, the first in-state wrestler to join the program; reached the final at each of the first four IWCOA girls' state tournaments, winning twice at 106 pounds and once at 125; 16-0 with 13 pins as a senior; qualified for the boys state tournament in 2021 at 106 pounds in Class 3A, one of four girls ever after Megan Black, Cassy Herkelman and Jasmine Luedtke; 70-18 career; Cadet freestyle All-American in 2019 and Junior All-American in 2021; ranked No. 3 nationally at 117 pounds; Iowa girls participation grew from 67 in 2015-16 to 1,023 in 2021-22
- https://hawkeyesports.com/sports/womens-wrestling/roster/player/ella-schmit · Hometown Bettendorf, Iowa; born May 6, 2004; 2025-26 season 20-8 with nine pins and seven technical falls and 6-2 in duals; 2024-25 17-7; 2023-24 26-10 with 15 pins, 9-0 in duals, seventh at the NCWWC national tournament; 2022-23 unattached with the Bearcat Open title, fifth at Klippan, U20 National runner-up and the U20 Pan American title; high school 2022 Dan Gable Ms. Wrestler of the Year, three-time Iowa state champion, two-time All-American, fifth at the 2021 Junior Women's Nationals, Cadet freestyle All-American 2019
- https://www.themat.com/news/athlete-of-week/2023/july/12/ella-schmit-named-usa-wrestling-athlete-of-the-week · July 7, 2023 U20 Pan American Championships in Santiago, Chile: pinned all four opponents at 65 kg, including Evelyn Orta Gonzalez (1:14), Jaeell Llontop Vasquez (0:55), Natalie Vecchio (0:46) and Gleymaris Beria Diaz (5:22); awarded the Golden Boot; USA Wrestling Athlete of the Week July 12, 2023; three-time IWCOA state champion and two-time Fargo Junior Nationals All-American
- https://www.hawkcentral.com/story/sports/college/iowa/wrestling/2026/04/10/iowa-hawkeye-ella-schmit-to-lead-dowling-catholic-girls-wrestling/89534747007/ · April 10, 2026: Schmit will head the Dowling Catholic Girls Wrestling Academy from peewee through high school and lead the effort to build an independent Dowling girls program; until then she trains with West Des Moines Girls Wrestling athletes as a Dowling representative; she was a three-time state champion and four-time state finalist at Bettendorf, took seventh at the 2024 national college championships and is a U20 Pan American champion; she wrestled her final Iowa dual on Jan. 18, 2026
- https://www.themat.com/news/features/2023/july/07/usa-women-get-seven-golds-at-u20-pan-ams · USA Wrestling's day-of report on the July 7, 2023 U20 Pan American Championships in Santiago, Chile: 'Schmit was explosive in her five-athlete round robin, securing three falls and a wide-open 17-6 technical fall in her last round robin match over Gleymaris Beria Diaz of Venezuela. Based upon her dominant performance, Schmit was awarded with the Golden Boot as the Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament.' Final results list Gold Ella Schmit (USA), Silver Gleymaris Beria Diaz (Venezuela), Bronze Evelyn Orta Gonzalez (Mexico)
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