This Week in Women's Collegiate Wrestling (2/5/2025)

Only a few weeks of regular season competition remain, and many teams are making the most of remaining dates testing out lineups, getting in reps against top competitors and getting wrestles ready for intense regional and conference tournaments in the upcoming weeks. Here are some highlights from this week.

Xochitl Mota-Pettis makes her collegiate debut

Xochitl Mota-Pettis has a slew of international accomplishments under her belt – U.S. Senior Nationals finalist, U23 Nationals Champ, U.S. Open champ, Pan Ams Gold and Bronze. She now looks to add a few collegiate titles as well as part of the #10 Missouri Valley squad. Mota-Pettis made her Viking debut at the Grand View Open this past weekend at 131 lbs, finishing second after taking out #19 Teani Medeiros-Maielua of William Woods, Jamie Laswell of Fort Hays, Annabelle Suto of Cumberlands and Viktorya Torres of McKendree. She won her first three matches via technical fall and looked dominant in the 7-2 decision win over Torres. In the finals, she dropped the 6-3 decision to Mercy Adekuoroye of Wayland Baptist, another wrestler with international success making her college debut. Adekuoroye is a 2x African champion from Nigeria. It is unclear what Mota-Pettis’ college career will look like, but she is listed as a freshman and has not used any eligibility. Regardless of the length of her tenure, she will surely have a huge impact on the Missouri Valley squad and has become an instant front-runner at the weight.

Ogunsanya and Kolawole continue to claim titles

Last week, Christianah Ogunsanya and Esther Kolawole made their Statesmen debut at the Indiana Tech Open and each claimed titles for #6 William Penn. The two freshmen from Nigeria proved this weekend that it was no beginners' luck, as they each won the top spot at their weights at the Grand View Open. Ogunsanya and Kolawole both went 5-0 on the day, all from technical falls. Ogunsanya’s notable wins included Cailin Campbell of Grand View and #1 at the weight Camile Fournier of Texas Wesleyan. In the finals, Kolawole took out Haylie Jaffe of McKendree. As I mentioned last week, with these two freshman along with America Lopez and Caitlyn Davis as mid-season transfers, William Penn makes an interesting case for creating big waves at NAIA nationals this March.

Inaugural Home Dual for Lehigh sparks excitement for the growing sport

On Friday, Lehigh hosted their first home dual against Columbia and walked away with a 45-3 dual victory. Lehigh’s women’s wrestling club formed in 2020-21 and hired Coach Brazel Marquez in 2023. Marquez has since been helping the team work towards the goal of becoming the next NCAA Division 1 women’s wrestling team by 2026, aligned with the newly approved NCAA-sanctioned national championship. The team made headlines again when pound-for-pound #1 recruit Audrey Jimenez committed to the team for the 2024-25 season. With 25 talented wrestlers on the roster, you can keep an eye on the Mountain Hawks at their remaining competitions at the Gannon Dual on February 15, the Novice Tournament at the New York City RTC on March 29th, and at Women’s Nationals on April 4-6.

North Central brings back hardware from Menlo Invitational

The North Central Cardinals sent 13 wrestlers to the Menlo College Invitational and they came back with 8 first place finishes and 3 more in the finals.

Madison Avila, Kendra Ryan, Sydney Petzinger, Amani Jones, Sara Sterner, Bella Mir, Brittyn Corbishley and Traeh Haynes all blazed through competition from Menlo, Southern Oregon, Simpson, Providence, and more to claim top spots for their team. Notably, at 138 lbs, two NCC wrestlers, Emma Grimm and Taylor Graveman, met in the finals of their weight class as well and defaulted. 

A few notable wins include #4 Kendra Ryan taking out All-American Kayla Mckinley-Johnson in the finals. #2 Sydney Petzinger had a tough opponent in the finals as well, ultimately getting the 8-3 decision over 2024 National Finalist Kaelani Shufeldt. At 180 and 207 lbs, the Cardinals were in the business of quick pins. Corbishley had a pin in 1:05 and in 23 seconds. But not to be outdone, Haynes recorded pins in 49, 19, and 12 seconds to secure her top spot.

Upcoming events for next week

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

Wednesday, February 5

• Lindenwood vs Quincy
• Missouri Valley vs Central Methodist

Thursday, February 6

• North Central vs Aurora

Friday, February 7

• Life vs Campbellsville and University of the Cumberlands
• Indiana Tech vs Lourdes

Saturday, February 8

• Grand Valley State vs N. Michigan
• Presbyterian Tri-Dual
• Midland Warrior Open
• NCAA Division 3 Invite
• Indiana Tech vs Siena Heights