By Matt Gade

605 Sports

NAPERVILLE (Ill.) — On Jan. 10, the North Central College women’s wrestling team made history, recording its first-ever national dual title in program history.

Helping make that happen was two-time All-American and Spearfish alum, Taylor Graveman. 

“I've honestly never been a part of something so big,” Graveman said. “It just felt amazing. I don't think I could describe the experience or the emotions that I felt after we won. 

“It was just kind of surreal. It was like something that everyone dreams of, that we got to do. A little D3 college beating DI, DII teams. It was very eye-opening and very fun and exciting.”

Coming into the 2025-26 season, Graveman had previously competed at 138 pounds, where she finished as an All-American with a fifth-place finish.

Over the off-season, the Cardinals welcomed a transfer and All-American Claire DiCugno, also at 138 pounds. 

With the addition of DiCugno, Graveman made the decision to move up in weight classes. And with the Cardinals returning national runner-up Bella Mir at 145 pounds, Graveman made the move to 160 pounds.

“It was just something that was like, ‘Okay, how do I put myself in the lineup, and how do I allow the team their best opportunity to win?’” Graveman said. “So I had a lot of meetings with my coach, and we decided that me going up to 160 would be the best thing for the team.”

Graveman is a two-time All-American wrestling at 160 pounds this year for the Cardinals. (Courtesy photo)

Although Graveman wrestles at 160, she said she still regularly weighs in about 10 pounds light. 

“The weight class difference, the weight gap, is very large. I'm wrestling girls that are way bigger than me, and I'm still very undersized for my weight class,” she said. “So I've had to change a lot of my style and just taking that adversity of wrestling those bigger girls. But I do have some advantages, of being smaller and quicker than them, and I'm still pretty explosive and powerful, so those work for me.

“The first few weeks, I’m not gonna lie, I was pretty sick of food. Anytime I looked at food, I didn't, I didn't really feel an appetite or anything, and so it was really hard for me to be able to, like, continue to eat when I wasn't hungry. I still haven't really found what works for me, you know, but just fueling my body the right way.”

On Saturday, the third-ranked Cardinals faced the No. 1-ranked Hawkeyes of Iowa in the first dual of the day. 

While Graveman would face the defending national champion, and Olympic silver medalist Kennedy Blades, and lose by a technical fall 11-1, the Cardinals would edge the Hawkeyes 23-21.

Graveman said she’s not disappointed in her match, rather it was a learning experience.

“Unfortunately, I got teched 11-1, but I was one of the only females to ever score on her in her collegiate career,” Graveman said. “So just being able to know that I'm right there with these girls and I can be at the top too. So I’m just keeping my head down. Keep working hard, and I'll get better before the national tournament. We always prove that.”

After knocking off Iowa, the Cardinals met second-ranked McKendree University (Ill.), defeating the Bearcats 21-18 to claim the national championship.

At 160, Graveman met Jasmine Robinson, a U20 World Champion and U23 World silver medalist, defeating her 8-6 by decision.

“I wasn't supposed to win that match and I knew that going into it, but I knew that that girl was beatable,” Graveman said. “I know that anyone is beatable on any given day. So I just went out there and I just wrestled my match. I feel like I kind of put the pace on her, and I gassed her, and I broke her. I knew, after I saw that, and I had my entire team, my entire coaching staff, everyone behind me, that I was going to win the match.”

Following the Cardinals' victory on Saturday, Graveman said that the celebration that night was “really fun” but short-lived.

“Coach told us, at the end of the night, ‘We wake up tomorrow and we've got to do it all over again,’” Graveman said.

While Graveman is busy on the mat, the former three-time state champion South Dakota prep wrestler, she doesn’t slow down when she’s not wrestling.

Graveman is a double major in sports management and psychology, named to the Dean’s list every semester, also involved in undergraduate research and other clubs.

Graveman said she likes to stay busy.

While Graveman is mainly focused on her wrestling season, she makes sure to follow her brother, Parker, and his senior year with the Sturgis Scoopers.

Parker is currently the third-ranked Class A wrestler at 132 pounds.

“I watch every single video, every single match that he wrestles,” Taylor said. “Sometimes it can be a little bit difficult. But my parents always go and watch him and support him. And I love that. We always push each other to be better. So of course, I'm going to critique him on some things and he'll give me some feedback and advice about things too. 

“But next year we'll be together here at North Central, so we'll be able to do it side-by-side.”

Graveman was a 3-time state champion high school for the Spartans in Spearfish. (Courtesy photo)