Women's Collegiate Wrestling News (June 2024)

Transfer Portal Update

There have been some additional commitments since my last article that will have big impacts on lineups for the coming season.

Commitments

Kendall Bostelman - from North Central to William Penn

William Penn made a big splash last season with the arrival of Coaches Wilcke and Kadel from the now-closed Iowa Wesleyan along with many of their former teams top talent including Adaugo Nwachukwu and Mia Palumbo. The team went from 33rd place to 4th place at NAIA Nationals in one season. In addition to their strong recruiting class so far (keep an eye out for a lineup preview article), Kendall Bostelman will be another super charge for the Statesman program to keep them winning. Bostelman comes from last season’s NCWWC runner up North Central where she competed for two seasons. During her freshman season she became an All American, finishing sixth at the tournament after finishing third in her region. She has also earned a sixth place finish at the U23 World Team Trials in 2023. In her last season, she competed at 143 lbs and went 20-5, including 9 tech falls against her opponents. Bostelman’s offense can be lethal, so it will be exciting to see what momentum she adds to the already climbing William Penn squad.
 

Kaelani Shufeldt - from Lock Haven to North Central

While the Cardinals may have lost Bostelman from their lineup, they picked up an instant-impact competitor in Kaelani Shufeldt. Shufeldt was Lock Haven’s first two-time All American and first national finalist after coming up just short against Iowa’s Ava Bayless in the finals of NCWWCs. In the semifinals, Shufeldt pinned the No. 1 seed from North Central, Kendra Ryan. In fact, Shufeldt pinned every opponent in the tournament outside of Bayless. Shufeldt will head into her junior season with a career record of 50-8 with 18 pins last season. Back in December, Shufeldt placed fourth at 2023 Senior Nationals. Both Shufeldt and Ryan competed at 109 lbs last season, but Ryan is now listed at 116 on the North Central 2024-25 lineup. However, another consideration is North Central’s 3x All American Sydney Petzinger who also competes at 109 lbs. Regardless of how the regular lineup shapes up, the depth at these lower weights for this team is going to be hard to beat.

In the portal

There are still a few wrestlers who entered the portal that have not yet committed to a new school or announced they are staying at their current school that I would keep an eye on.

Esther Han - Iowa (ranked in the top 5 last season at 136 lbs, MoVal Open Champ, ended season early due to injury) 

Payton Stroud - McKendree (3x All-American, 116 lbs)

Claire Agostini - Adrian (Ranked in top-10 at 143 lbs last season)

Two Collegiate Powerhouses Win Spots on U23 World Team

At non-Olympic weight classes on the U23 Women’s World Team, there are circumstances that can create the possibility for a wrestle off for the spot(s) on the team. This year, challenges at the 65kg and 72kg weight classes were decided this week in wrestle offs in Colorado Springs.

First was the challenge at 72kg where Kylie Welker of Iowa, defeated Aspen Barber in first two matches of the best-of-three competition. Welker was originally slated to wrestle Jasmine Robinson, who was unable to compete, pulling Barber into the spot after her third place finish at U23 Women’s Nationals earlier this year. With the win, Welker will take her fifth trip to a World Championship, this being her second in the U23 division. She already has a U20 gold medal as well as U17 and U23 bronze.

Next was the competition for the spot at 65kg. There was first a one-match wrestle off between Adaugo Nwachukwu of William Penn and Claire DiCungo of King. Nwachukwu defeated her opponent 8-1 to move on to the best-of-three series against Aine Drury of King University, who was the 2024 U23 Nationals Champion. The two split the first two matches with Nwachukwu getting a 10-0 tech fall in the first and Drury taking a strategic 2-1 victory in the second. Drury had a 3-1 lead heading into the second period, however Nwachukwu was able to execute a low leg shot on the edge that led to a pin with just under two minutes left in the match. This will be Nwachukwu’s fourth World Championships. She received a bronze medal at U20 in 2022 and has also competed on the 2023 U23 and U20 world teams.

The 2024 U23 World Championships will take place in late October of this year in Albania.

Coaching Change at Southern Oregon

Earlier this month, the athletic director at Southern Oregon announced that Head Coach Gabrielle Weyhrich is no longer employed at SOU as the head coach. While additional details of her departure have not been shared, the Athletic Director then announced this week that former Raider and 5x All American, Joye Levendusky will serve as interim head coach for the 2024-25 season. Levendusky served as an assistant coach in 2024. The statement did mention that at the conclusion of the 2024-25 season, a full search for a new head coach will be conducted. Southern Oregon is coming off a 3rd place finish at the NAIA National Championships with 7 All-Americans including 2 National champs.

New Conference to Sponsor Women’s Wrestling for 2024-25 Season

It was announced on Monday that the American Rivers Conference will add Women’s Wrestling as the league’s 24th sponsored sport. The ARC will be the second NCAA D3 conference to sponsor women’s wrestling. Schools participating in this upcoming season will be Simpson College, University of Dubuque, Wartburg College, Buena Vista University, Central College, and Loras College. Wartburg finished with the highest team score of these schools at the 2024 NCWWC Nationals at 20th with two All-Americans. The first ARC wrestling championship will be held at Buena Vista University in Iowa in January of 2025.