Jessie Whitmer of Iowa defeated Lindsay Durlacher of Illinois in a 5-4 decision. started the scoring early with a duck under takedown 34 seconds into the match. escaped midway through the first period, but Whitmer answered with a late first to make the score 4-1. Whitmer chose both up in the second period a neither wre Durlacher chose down in the third and managed to escape. Whitmer held Durlacher reainder of the period and is the 1997 NCAA Division I champion.