Sophomore Olivia Meyer entered April 5 as the first female ISU boxer to compete in the National Collegiate Boxing Association national championships.

Meyer left April 5 with another first — the first female ISU boxer to win the national championship in her weight class.

Meyer fought a familiar opponent in her 147-pound championship fight as she defeated Sabrina Kehr in their first fight earlier this year, but she faced a different style of fighting from Kehr in their second matchup.

“I had fought [Kehr] before, so I was under the assumption that it was going to be the same kind of fight,” Meyer said. “As soon as that first go-round, she came up swinging and she was a lot more aggressive the second time around, so that really caught me off guard.”

Meyer was crowned champion after a unanimous decision by the judges.

“I was relieved [she won],” said ISU coach Jon Swanson. “I was concerned with the judging, and how the judges were going to look at it because some judges may be judging that fight on aggression. If they were judging on aggression, [Kehr] definitely had that. But, Olivia was the skilled boxer, the skilled athlete and that’s what won it.”

Sophomore Lucas Hahn also competed in his first-ever NCBA Championships but lost his first fight to former national champion Taylor Tennyson.

“We knew we were putting him into the lion’s den there,” Swanson said. [Tennyson] was a national champion, and he won his second national championship [April 5]. I knew [Hahn] could handle it, which he did.”

Hahn said his approach to this fight was unlike the previous two he fought this spring.

“This fight was a lot different for me because I went into it a lot more calm than some of my other fights,” Hahn said. “I knew I wasn’t faster or stronger than he was, so I had to beat him with skills if I was going to beat him.”

The fight ended late in the first round after Hahn sustained multiple hits to his head.

Both boxers said competing in the event was a great experience because they got the opportunity to perform on the “big stage” and witness multiple boxing styles and techniques.

“Going into the match, I didn’t want to think about [the fight],” Meyer said. “There was a lot of pressure riding on it as far as it was the national championship. There was a huge crowd with lots of cameras, so there was a lot going on.

“CBS Sports was there to film it and everything, so it was a really big deal.”