Wrestlers · College
Sterling Dias
3x Nevada state champion; 2018 Cadet World bronze and 2019 silver at 40 kg; 2024 NCWWC runner-up at 101 pounds for Iowa
Las Vegas, NV · SLAM Academy HS · University of Iowa
By Joe Spisak, Pennsylvania state champion and 4x NCAA qualifier at Virginia · Published September 3, 2026
Sterling Dias was born in Las Vegas on August 19, 2003, the daughter of Renalyn and Leroy Dias and the sister of Steele and Sylver. She started judo and jiu-jitsu at five and wrestling a year later, following her older brothers. For most of her youth she wrestled boys, because Nevada had so few girls in the sport. She wrestled for SLAM Academy in Las Vegas.
She won Pan American Schoolgirl titles in Medellin, Colombia, in 2016 and in Santiago, Chile, in 2017. In 2018 she went 21-0 and won the Nevada state title at 101 pounds. That summer she took bronze at 40 kg, about 88 pounds, at the Cadet World Championships in Zagreb, pinning Elif Iskin of Turkey in the bronze-medal match. She also became the first Nevada girl to win a Fargo national title, where she was named Outstanding Wrestler.
In 2019 she repeated at state at 22-1, won Cadet and Junior folkstyle national titles in Oklahoma City, won Fargo again, and reached the Cadet World final in Sofia, Bulgaria. She beat Alina Kurylenka of Belarus 11-0, Kamila Kasprow of Poland 10-0 and Mushtariy Tolipbekova of Uzbekistan 4-1 before meeting Komal of India for gold. She took silver.
She won the Super 32 in 2020 and the Nevada all-girls' state title at 106 pounds in 2022 at 21-1. That May she signed with Iowa, part of the first recruiting class Clarissa Chun assembled for the first Division I Power Five women's wrestling program.
She wrestled unattached in 2022-23, then went 31-4 and finished as the runner-up at 101 pounds at the 2024 NCWWC National Championships. She won a regional title and placed fourth at the national championships in 2025. She went 24-5 in 2025-26 and returns as a redshirt senior at 101 pounds for Iowa.
She is a redshirt senior at 101 pounds for Iowa, wrestling for Clarissa Chun on a team that has been ranked first in the country.
Results
| Season | Level | Event | Weight | Place | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Age group | Pan American Schoolgirl Championships, Medellin, Colombia | 1st | ||
| 2017 | Age group | Pan American Schoolgirl Championships, Santiago, Chile | 1st | ||
| 2017-18 | High school | Nevada State Championships | 101 lb | 1st | 21-0 |
| 2018 | Age group | Cadet World Championships, Zagreb, Croatia | 40 kg | 3rd | Def. Buman Enkhbold (Mongolia) 6-1, lost 11-0 to Luchana Bekbaulova, then pinned Elif Iskin (Turkey) for bronze; wrestling for the Slam WC out of Las Vegas. The same results page gives the fall time as 0:57 in one place and 0:58 in another, so no time is claimed. |
| 2018 | Age group | Fargo National Championships | 1st | Named Outstanding Wrestler; the first girl from Nevada to win a Fargo national title | |
| 2018-19 | High school | Nevada State Championships | 101 lb | 1st | 22-1 |
| 2019 | Age group | Cadet and Junior Folkstyle Nationals, Oklahoma City | 1st in both divisions | Also a Fargo national champion in 2019, her second straight | |
| 2019 | Age group | Cadet World Championships, Sofia, Bulgaria | 40 kg | 2nd | Aug. 1-2, 2019; def. Alina Kurylenka (Belarus) 11-0, Kamila Kasprow (Poland) 10-0 and Mushtariy Tolipbekova (Uzbekistan) 4-1, then met Komal of India in the final |
| 2020 | Age group | Super 32 Challenge, Myrtle Beach, SC | 1st | ||
| 2021-22 | High school | NIAA All-Girls' Nevada State Championship | 106 lb | 1st | 21-1. Third state title; she did not compete in 2021; runner-up at the Ayala Women's Wrestling Invitational the same season; the first female Triple Crown champion in Nevada; Nevada winner of the 2022 Tricia Saunders High School Excellence Award |
| 2022-23 | College | Unattached season at Iowa | 101 lb | 11-0 | 11-0. Missouri Valley Open, Soldier Salute and Bearcat Open champion; the Hawkeyes did not begin varsity competition until 2023-24 |
| 2023-24 | College | NCWWC National Championships | 101 lb | 2nd | 31-4. Redshirt freshman; 11-2 against ranked opponents, 10-0 in duals, 10 technical falls and 14 pins with a fastest pin of 22 seconds; 2023 Soldier Salute and Bearcat Open champion; NCWWC regional runner-up |
| 2024-25 | College | NCWWC National Championships | 101 lb | 4th | 21-10. NCWWC regional champion and All-American; four technical falls and 10 pins |
| 2025-26 | College | Iowa season | 101 lb | 24-5 | 24-5. 7-0 in duals with 27 dual points and 15 technical falls. Iowa's career line reads 82-18 with 36 technical falls, while the same table's season lines of 11-0, 31-4, 21-10 and 24-5 total 87-19, so the career figure appears to exclude part of the unattached season and is not claimed here. |
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://hawkeyesports.com/sports/womens-wrestling/roster/player/sterling-dias · Iowa roster header for Sterling Dias reads 'Hometown Las Vegas, Nev.' and 'High School SLAM Academy'; roster bio and career table carry born Aug. 19, 2003, parents Renalyn and Leroy Dias, brothers Steele and Sylver, exercise science major, 101 pounds as a redshirt senior on the 2026-27 roster, the Pan American Schoolgirl titles, the 2018 Cadet World bronze and Fargo title with Outstanding Wrestler, the 2019 folkstyle and Fargo titles and Cadet World silver, the 2020 Super 32 title, the 2022 NIAA All Girls Nevada state title, and season records of 11-0, 31-4, 21-10 and 24-5 against a career line of 82-18
- https://hawkeyesports.com/news/2022/05/20/iowa-signs-2-time-world-medalist-sterling-dias · May 20, 2022: Dias signed with Iowa as the No. 23 pound-for-pound wrestler nationally and third-ranked 106-pounder; head coach Clarissa Chun; she would compete at 101 pounds and wrestle unattached in 2022-23; Iowa announced in September 2021 it would become the first Division I Power Five school to add women's wrestling and began competing in 2023-24; she was the first female Triple Crown champion in Nevada and won the 2022 NIAA All Girls state title at 106 pounds
- https://nwhof.org/hall_of_fame/bio/15291 · National Wrestling Hall of Fame bio: three-time Nevada state champion, 106 pounds in 2022 at 21-1, 101 pounds in 2019 at 22-1 and in 2018 at 21-0; did not compete in 2021; two-time Cadet World medalist with bronze in 2018 in Croatia and silver in 2019 in Bulgaria; four-time national champion; Nevada winner of the 2022 Tricia Saunders High School Excellence Award
- https://www.flowrestling.org/results/6219117-uww-cadet-world-championships/24721 · 2018 Cadet World Championships 40 kg results: Sterling Dias, wrestling for the Slam WC out of Las Vegas, took bronze, beating Buman Enkhbold (Mongolia) 6-1, losing 11-0 to Luchana Bekbaulova, and pinning Elif Iskin (Turkey) in the bronze-medal match (the page gives the fall time as 0:57 in the results list and 0:58 in the bracket)
- https://www.themat.com/news/2019/august/01/dias-secures-spot-in-2019-cadet-world-finals · Aug. 1, 2019: Dias reached the 40 kg Cadet World final in Sofia by beating Alina Kurylenka (Belarus) 11-0, Kamila Kasprow (Poland) 10-0 and 2019 Cadet Asian champion Mushtariy Tolipbekova (Uzbekistan) 4-1, and would face Komal of India for gold
- https://www.themat.com/news/2019/august/01/dias-welker-elor-dominate-to-advance-to-cadet-world-semifinals · Aug. 1, 2019 companion report: Dias, the 2018 Cadet World bronze medalist, went unscored upon in the morning session at 40 kg with a four-takedown 11-0 win and a 10-0 technical fall in two minutes
- https://knpr.org/magazine-desert-companion/2019-03-01/top-of-their-game · March 2019 Desert Companion profile: Dias started judo and jiu-jitsu at five and wrestling a year later, influenced by her older brothers; she wrestled mostly boys because of the low number of girls in the sport in Nevada; she credits quick reflexes and speed; her high point at the time was the 2018 Cadet World bronze in Zagreb
- https://hawkeyesports.com/news/2026/03/6/9-hawkeyes-claim-all-america-honors-at-ncaa-national-championships · March 6, 2026: Iowa's national championship report lists Valarie Solorio at 103 pounds for the Hawkeyes, and Dias is not among the nine Iowa All-Americans, matching the blank national placement in her 2025-26 career line
- https://www.ncaa.com/news/wrestling-women/article/2026-03-07/history-made-mckendree-claims-first-ncaa-womens-wrestling-championship-tops · NCAA release on the March 2026 championships: 'The McKendree Bears captured the first NCAA women's wrestling national championship ... in the inaugural tournament', which establishes that the 2024 event Dias reached the final of was the NCWWC National Championships and not an NCAA championship
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