This Week in Women's Collegiate Wrestling (11/19/2024)

Top 3 Takeaways and Highlights

1. All-Star Classic Highlights Top-Ranked Wrestlers from NAIA and NCAA

The 2024 All-Star Classic got kicked off with five matchups between top-ranked athletes from NAIA and NCAA schools, and both conferences walked away with big wins. Starting at 110 lbs, #4 (NCAA) Kendra Ryan of North Central won a close decision against #1 (NAIA) Emma Baertlein of Southern Oregon. North Central then snagged another win when #1 (NCAA) Amani Jones pinned her opponent, #2 (NAIA) Maya Davis of Grand View, a 2x All-American. 

The 131-pound matchup was my most anticipated as #1 (NCAA) Victoria Baez Dilone of King took on #1 (NAIA) Carolina Moreno of Southern Oregon. Moreno is a 3x NAIA champion and looked tough in this match, but Baez Dilone hit a huge move to laces early and held on to that lead to win 6-2. I would love to see these two compete again because their styles created a few flurries that could have been big points either way.

The evening finished off with back-to-back pins from the McBryde sisters of Life University against their opponents from King. First, #1 (NAIA) Jamilah McBryde got the quick pin of #2 Aine Drury in just 48 seconds. Her sister Latifah who is also #1 (NAIA) got the fall in just under 4 minutes against #1 (NCAA) Cheyenne Bowman. The McBryde sisters continue to show their dominance and gain notoriety for their impressive performances.

2. Grand Valley State University hosts inaugural home dual

#4 Grand Valley State hosted their first dual at Fieldhouse Arena over the weekend against Northern Michigan. The team reported a crowd of over 580 people for the matchup, following a youth clinic they hosted earlier in the day to coincide with the dual. Northern Michigan unfortunately did not present a full lineup, so there were two forfeits in favor of Grand Valley State. Outside of those matches, the Lakers secured wins in seven, only losing at the 207 lbs match. 

Lakers starters #4 Aspen Blasko and Clarissa Agostini both had bonus point wins over some tough Northern Michigan wrestlers who have been in and out of the rankings this season, taking out Zhivanna Magdaleno and Sophia Bassino respectively. 

The lone win for the Wildcats came from Ozioma Ogu over Grand Valley’s Aaliyah Grandberry. Fans got to see some of the big names that made headlines with the announcement of their decision to attend Grand Valley including #2 Sage Mortimer and #2 Katie Lange. This team is making a big splash immediately and adding more and more wrestlers to the rankings. They went on to compete the next day in the Albion Open and had 4 wrestlers finish in first place. 

Their next competition will be at the Missouri Valley Open this weekend, where they will see some of the most stacked competition so far. In the meantime, take a second to watch the hype video they made for their inaugural dual. I love seeing programs highlighting their achievements in shareable media like this.

3. Lindenwood Finishes with 5 wins and 1 close loss at Lindenwood Duals

The 8th ranked (NCAA) Lindenwood Lions hosted their annual Lindenwood Duals and walked away with wins over William Woods, Eureka, Simpson, Quincy, and #8 (NAIA) Missouri Valley.

In their last dual of the day, they took on #5 McKendree and lost by 3 points. McKendree did not have a full lineup or all of their starters there for competition, but they are a team like many other top women’s programs, that has a lot of talent in their depth. The teams seemed to stack up in a way where each team’s top talent didn’t matchup head-to-head too often, but both schools had competitors putting on a show to score points for their teams. 

Like most other programs, Lindenwood and McKendree will be headed to the Missouri Valley open this weekend, and we are sure to see stars from both teams show out.
 

Results this week in major NCAA, NCWA, and NAIA competitions

(NCAA #3) North Central College vs Augustana

(NCAA #4) McKendree 28 over (NAIA RV) Missouri Baptist 18

(NAIA #1) Grand View 36 over (NAIA #20) Central Methodist 9

(NAIA #1) Grand View 34 over  (NAIA #16) Wayland Baptist 11

UWO Titan Duals VIEW RESULTS

Lindenwood Duals VIEW RESULTS

Albion Open VIEW RESULTS

Blue Hose Challenge VIEW RESULTS

Upcoming events for next week

Please note that this is not a comprehensive list of all collegiate women’s competitions.

Friday, November 22:

• Missouri Valley Open (Day 1)
• #10 (NAIA) Indiana Tech vs Rochester Christian

Saturday, November 23:

• Missouri Valley Open (Day 2)
• #2 (NCAA) King vs #6 (NCAA) Presbyterian
• Warrior Duals

Sunday, November 24:

• Presbyterian Tri-Dual

Tuesday, November 26

• #1 (NAIA) Grand View vs #8 (NAIA) Missouri Valley