College Achievers: North Central’s Perry dealing with weightier challenge
Earlier this month the North Central College women’s wrestling team defeated the University of Iowa at the National Wrestling Coaches Association National Duals in Iowa.
It may have seemed like Appalachian State over Michigan in football.
“It kind of seemed impossible in our room,” said North Central College sophomore 160-pounder Sydney Perry, a 2024 Batavia High School graduate.
“We’re (Division) III, we’re not really supposed to beat Iowa, so it just felt amazing,” she said.
Handing the No. 1 Hawkeyes their first defeat in program history, North Central advanced to the National Duals finals against No. 2 McKendree University — and won that match, too.
“When we came together and accomplished one goal, it was a beautiful moment,” Perry said.
Though the Jan. 19 NWCA poll still ranks North Central College No. 3 in the nation, the Cardinals obviously have some terrific wrestlers. Perry is one of them.
Last season as a Cardinals freshman Perry finished eighth nationally at 145 pounds, with a record of 34-7.
In a family whose five siblings at one point all were wrestling, she said that as a kid she attended the out-of-state meets of older brother Tyler Perry, a Marmion Academy graduate, and became his “little drill partner in the living room.” She got the bug and started competing herself.
Tyler Perry is still at it, too, as a senior wrestler at the University of Northern Colorado. A homecoming of sorts, as the Perrys lived in Colorado before coming to Illinois.
At Batavia, Sydney Perry won the first three IHSA girls titles at 145 pounds, and before that the Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials state tournament in 2020-21 after the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the IHSA finals.
Perry had a 141-0 record in high school.
Representing the United States junior national team in 2022 at competitions in Buenos Aires and Rome, and a five-time All-American at the Fargo Nationals, in March 2024 the National Wrestling Hall of Fame ranked Perry first in the nation among high school 145-pound girls.
This season, in a mutual decision by Perry and North Central College coach and former Montini Catholic wrestler Joe Norton, Perry moved up to the 160-pound weight division. She started 20-7 and her 11 technical falls were tied for the team lead.
College is a time of self-discovery. Perry is learning what it takes to compete against a heavier, stronger field.
“It’s a hard transition, for sure,” said Perry, who potentially gives away a little size at 154 pounds. “The main thing is just being a student of the sport, learning how to maneuver my body better when I’m weighing lighter than other girls.
“My big focus this year was gaining weight, gaining muscle, lifting a lot. It’s been a good adjustment in my wrestling. When you’re wrestling people bigger than you it makes your mistakes more prominent in the match. It’s a lot easier to see your mistakes and to make adjustments,” she said.
“But it’s a lot. I’m figuring it out, slowly but surely.”
Both Perry and teammate Taylor Graveman competed for the Cardinals at 160 pounds in the College Conference of Illinois-Wisconsin meet on Sunday at Elmhurst University. After each made it through opposite sides of the bracket, top-seeded Graveman edged No. 2 Perry in the title match.
North Central had won the CCIW each year since it first offered a women’s wrestling final in 2023.
Perry was the defending 145-pound champion. Now in a weightier class, she’ll keep learning “in the room” and on the fly.
“My main goal is just playing my part on my team and continuing to get better,” she said, “continuing to be on the mat and playing my part, being there for the girls that need a partner, need someone to talk to. Just continuing to prosper through my career, especially for next year.”