This Week in Women's Collegiate Wrestling (2/13/2024)

This Week in Women’s Wrestling (February 6 - February 12)

Key Takeaways from the week

This week saw the end of a few teams’ dual schedules, and several saved the best for last with close, ranked matches, dual-changing upsets, and previews of potential conference and nationals matches as we head into late February. Here are a few takeaways from big duals and what their results could mean for the remainder of the season.

1. Life’s dominant results ahead of the Mid-South Conference Tournament

Life hosted their Life Duals over the weekend with Brewton-Parker, Emmanuel College, #13 Indiana Tech, and St. Andrews in attendance. Every school besides Emmanuel is a Mid-South Conference school and after this weekend, Life is on their way to being undefeated against conference competition. 

While both (RV) Brewton-Parker and (RV) St. Andrews, were unable to send out a full lineup to compete against the Running Eagles, the #13 ranked Indiana Tech Warriors, put up a good fight. 

#8 Makayla Young of Tech got a big pin at 101 lbs over Life’s #10 Devyn Gomez. Gomez has had multiple top-ranked matches this season and has taken some tough losses as a result. She wrestled Young earlier this season at the Soldier Salute and was pinned in that match as well. 101 has really been volatile this season, but looking at her record, Gomez has been battle-tested given her opponents in both duals and open tournaments. It seems like in their matches where Young has been able to get the better of Gomez, she is able to get Gomez to react to her shots and fakes. She has been successful in capitalizing on how she finishes her takedowns to either catch her head or find another way to land in an advantageous way to secure the pin. It will be interesting to see if Gomez can figure out the formula to avenge the losses to Young this season as they will likely match up again at conferences.

#8 Tehani Soares kept the wins going for Indiana Tech with a big 10-0 tech fall over Brianna Funakoshi, pushing the team score to 9-0 in favor of the Warriors. However, it was all Life after 109 lbs. Starting with #9 Ariana Martinez, #6 Anna Krejsa, and #10 Riley Dalrymple all getting bonus point wins over their unranked opponents. 

While #3 Zaynah McBryde did not compete at the duals, Life has no shortage of talent at 136 lbs. #11 Angie Prado secured another 10-0 tech for the Running Eagles over #16 Carley Anderson. Prado has had some solid results lately taking out #20 Addison Messerly of Campbellsville and #11 Desine Lopez of Southern Oregon at the Warrior Open. While Zaynah has a consistent record and big wins under her belt, Prado can be a difference-maker on this squad when called on to compete.

From there, Indiana Tech fell victim to the most consistent and dangerous part of this Life lineup. With 4 ranked wrestlers in a row, Life secured 3 more tech falls and a pin. 143lbs-170lbs were all ranked matches, with the closest one being #5 Margaret Graham over #15 Grace Doering, where Doering was able to put up 2 points of her own, adding 1 additional team point to the Indiana Tech score. 

The Running Eagles go on to compete at #11 Campbellsville in a rescheduled conference dual from January. It will be their last regular season competition, and the last team they need to beat in order to claim the regular season Mid-South championship title. 

This will be one to watch. The teams are 5-4 Life over Campbellsville with Life winning the last 4 times the teams have met up, including back in December during the Patriot Duals. While much of the lineup could look the same, I don’t think the dual is locked up to look exactly as it did back in December. I think the highlight match that could make a big swing at the dual is at 116 lbs where #7 Icart Galumette could see #9 Ariana Martinez. Galumette got the 13-0 Tech at the Patriot Duals and then another 10-0 tech just 2 weeks ago at the Warrior Open. However, it seems like Martinez is right there, close to being able to fend off some of these attacks. I am interested to see if she can change the outcome in this matchup, even to a regular win rather than a tech. 

123 lbs will be another win for Campbellsville they’ll need to maintain in order to pull off the upset. In their last dual, #9 Josie Davis got the pin over #6 Anna Krejsa. At the Warrior Open, these two were one match away from meeting up in the finals; however, Davis dropped a close one to Iowa’s Ava Rose 6-5. In the finals, Krejsa was able to claim a title with a 10-6 win over Rose in one of the best matches of the tournament. You know that Krejsa will be looking for redemption here, but the Tigers will need a repeat of this win to stay in the dual. 

Another factor to consider is whether or not Zaynah McBryde will be back to compete. She secured a decision in this dual last time over #10 Gabriella Perez of Campbellsville. If Life sends out #11 Angie Prado, it could be a real swing match for either team. I think Life should be able to win this dual and remain undefeated in conference duals, but Campbellsville could certainly make things interesting.

2. University of The Cumberlands gets their first win over Campbellsville since 2019

A highly ranked and energized #7 Cumberlands team brought down #9 Campbellsville at their Senior Night this past week. The 25-20 win is the first time since 2019 that the Patriots have flipped the result against the Tigers. The first two matches favored the ranked wrestlers from the University of The Cumberlands, getting them out to an early 10-0 lead with two pins. At 116lbs, #7 Icart Galumette could have seen #8 Presley Anderson for the Patriots, but Ashley Courtney got the start instead. While Galumette has looked solid this season, other ranked wrestlers have given her some trouble, so this could have been an opportunity for Cumberlands to extend their lead even more. 

However, #17 Kaitlin Castro for the Patriots came out offensively early against her opponent #9 Josie Davis. After a quick four-point takedown, the wrestlers reset. There, Castro was able to string together three additional two-point takedowns to pull off the upset in dominant fashion. At this point, the dual score is 14-5 in favor of the University of Cumberlands. 

 Campbellsville made sure to keep things interesting, however, winning the next three matches in a row. At 130 and 136, sisters #14 Olivia Messerly and #20 Addison Messerly each got 10-0 tech falls over their unranked opponents. A true rockstar in this year’s Campbellsville lineup, #2 Emma Walker got a pin against #9 Micah Fisher in just under two minutes of the match. Walker has only dropped 5 matches this season, with all 5 being to ranked NCAA wrestlers including 3 losses to Iowa. 

At this point, Campbellsville has swung the team points to their favor and are up 18-14. The Patriots were outranked in their next match, and closely ranked at 170 lbs as well. However, Senior Ariana Pereira, ranked #19, was ready to fight for a win in her final home dual match. She went up early with a four-point takedown in the first period against #9 Kendra Thompson of Campbellsville. After Pereira notched another two, Thompson rallied back with three points of her own. With a few seconds left and both wrestlers staying aggressive, Pereira was the one who ended on top with another takedown toward the 8-3 decision. Now, with the team score still favoring the Tigers 19-17, the University of the Cumberlands needed to win the next one to stay in the dual. Another senior for the Patriots, #11 Chamira Cooper earned an 8-2 decision in her match against #19 Sierra Chavez to tie it up 20-20 as the dual headed into the 191lb match. 

Not to be outdone by the other seniors, #9 Maquoia Bernabe earned a pin against her opponent in under a minute to secure the dual for the team. 

University of the Cumberlands have had some really mixed results on the season, but are 6-1 against conference opponents with several wrestlers in good position to secure All-American status in March. If members of the team wrestle as they did here against conference opponents at the MSC Championships later this month, they are in good shape for a team trophy. And Campbellsville has the chance to bounce back from this close loss with a tough but interesting matchup against Life later this week.

 3. A short-handed Southern Oregon team secures the dual win on criteria

The #4 ranked Southern Oregon Raiders recorded a win in their final dual of the season over the #5 University of Providence Argos. The two schools wrestled earlier this season at National Duals with the University of Providence winning 22-21 after a last-second pin at 191 lbs to secure the extra team point. The dual started off with big wins from two of University of Providence’s top-ranked wrestlers #1 Erin Hikiji and #7 Paige Morales, who each secured tech fall wins for the Argos. Notably, #3 at 109 lbs, Emma Baertlein for Southern Oregon did not make the trip, so #16 Liv Villanueva wrestled instead.

Down 8-0 early, the Raiders bounced back in their next three matches. At 116 lbs, #11 Marissa Kurtz won a close decision 8-7 over #15 Isabella Asuncion. At 123 lbs, neither team had their ranked wrestlers competing, and Trynadii Rocha of Southern Oregon secured a pivotal pin for her team over Skyla Philpot-Fernandez. In a pivotal match at 130 lbs, #1 Carolina Moreno continued her undefeated streak this season with a 10-0 tech fall against #4 Alyssa Randles. 

At this point, the Argos had to stop the bleeding and bounce back from the 12-9 deficit they were in. Providence coaches decided to take advantage of their depth of ranked wrestlers and bounce Paige Respicio who is ranked #11 at 130 lbs up to wrestle at 136. There, she was able to secure the second-period tech fall. The Argos then wrestled up their #4 at 136 lbs, Waipuilani Estrella-Beauchamp to get another tech fall in just under 2 minutes. At 155 lbs, Southern Oregon typically has #1 Caitlyn Davis, but she did not make the trip here. Instead, the Raiders sent out #18 Quilaztli Miguel-Lapham to face #5 Sadie Antoque. Antoque picked up an 11-0 tech here to widen the lead for the Raiders and make it 21-12. 

To add to the excitement of the dual at this point, 170 lbs was the closest ranked matchup with #8 Shenita Lawson for Southern Oregon taking on #9 Katelyn Lewis. With the dual on the line, Lawson worked to get to her offense and scored 5 unanswered points in the first. After scoring another takedown early in the second, Lawson dug deep to get the final 4-point move with just seconds remaining in the match to get the tech fall and create a possible path for the Raiders to win. 

Down by 5, they needed a pin to pull it off. Southern Oregon does not currently have a 191 lb wrestler in the rankings, so Desi Matheny was sent out to take on #17 Alexis Tupuola of University of Providence. At 191 lbs during these teams’ last meetup, the Raiders bumped up their #8 at 170 lbs, Lawson who gave up the pin to Tupuola and gave the Argos the win. But here, Matheny rewrote the ending for the Raiders, securing the pin over Tupuola and with it, the team won on criteria, with Southern Oregon securing two pins, while University of Providence had zero. These two teams have created some of the most exciting dual matchups so far this season, and each win has required some craftiness on the part of both the coaches and the athletes to battle hard and win unexpected matchups. Both teams are now set to compete at the end of February at the Cascade Collegiate Conference tournament before the NAIA National Tournament in March.

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

February 6: #1 (NCAA) North Central (35) vs #7 (NCAA) Aurora (9)

February 7: #8 (NAIA) University of the Cumberlands (25) vs #11 (NAIA) Campbellsville (20)

February 9: #4 (NAIA) Southern Oregon (21 Win on Criteria) vs #5 (NAIA) University of Providence (21) WATCH HERE

February 10: Life Duals VIEW BRACKETS

February 10: #6 (NAIA) Texas Wesleyan (34) vs Texas Woman's University (9)

Upcoming Events

February 13: RV (NAIA) Central Methodist University vs #14 (NAIA)Missouri Valley

February 15: #8 (NAIA) University of the Cumberlands vs RV (NAIA) Brewton-Parker

February 16: #2 (NAIA) Life vs #11 (NAIA) Campbellsville