The women's college wrestling competition season begins on Saturday, October 4 with duals held at Oklahoma City University, where the OCU Stars will compete against teams from Lindenwood University and the U.S. Olympic Education Center at Northern Michigan University.
Oklahoma City University will be offering a live video stream of its season-opening women's wrestling duals Saturday on its athletics web site.
The dual between the Stars and Lindenwood (Mo.) will be at 1 p.m., and the dual between OCU and the U.S. Olympic Education Center will be 3 p.m. at Abe Lemons Arena and will be video streamed via OCUsports.com. In addition, the 2 p.m. dual between Lindenwood and the U.S. Olympic Education Center will also be broadcast live.
The video stream will cost $8.95. To sign up, visit:
http://www.ocusports.com/member/bridge.asp?url=/member/aa_signup.aspx
The Women's College Wrestling Association was formed in 2008 by coaches within women's college wrestling to oversee women's college freestyle wrestling. Kevin Black, the coach at UW-River Falls, was elected as its first commissioner.
The annual National Women's College Championships was renamed the WCWA National Championships when it was held in Oklahoma City last March. The defending WCWA national champions is the Univ. of the Cumberlands, which edged Oklahoma City University in the team standings.
Under the new organization, the college season for women has officially begun earlier than in the past. In addition, the national tournament will be moved up to an earlier date.
The WCWA National Championships will be hosted at Missouri Valley College on January 31.
Currently, teams that are expected to compete as part of the WCWA are: Buffalo, Cumberlands, Jamestown, Lindenwood, Lock Haven, Menlo, Missouri Baptist, Missouri Valley, USOEC-Northern Michigan, Oklahoma City, UW-River Falls, Simon Fraser. Other teams may join as the season progresses.
It is an exciting year for those in women's college wrestling, as new varsity teams at Jamestown, Missouri Baptist and Lindenwood have joined the sport, and a new program at Buffalo is also entering the competition.
"The WCWA is a great start for women's wrestling," said WCWA Commissioner Kevin Black. "Today is the beginning of the new season, and everybody involved is optimistic about the future. Our focus this year is to get our coaches on the same page, and to establish guidelines and rules that all the teams will follow. The new organization will provide legitimacy for women's college wrestling that it may not have had in the past."
Among the highlights of the season is the NWCA National Duals, set for Cedar Falls, Iowa, January 10-11. Eight U.S. women's teams will be showcased, an increase over last year. This is a tremendously exciting opportunity to promote women's wrestling, as it will be seen before large crowds alongside the men's college programs from all three NCAA divisions, the NAIA, the NJCAA and the NCWA.
There are new tournaments on the college schedule, such as the Can Am Championships, set for Jamestown College on November 22 and the Harry Geris Open set for the University of the Cumberlands on November 29.
Many of the WCWA teams will participate in dual meets and tournaments against college teams from Canada.
After the official college season ends, many of the top athletes from the WCWA teams will participate in USA Wrestling post-season events, such as:
- The Dave Schultz Memorial International in Colorado Springs, Colo.
- WCWA All-Stars vs. USA National Team Dual in Oklahoma City, Okla.
- The University Nationals in Akron, Ohio
- The U.S. Nationals in Las Vegas, Nev.
- The Body Bar FILA Junior Nationals in Colorado Springs, Colo.
TheMat.com will publish its annual women's college wrestling preview in mid-October, will post the updated WCWA rankings and will follow the entire women's college season as it unfolds.
2008 WCWA individual champions
44 kg/97 lbs. - Melissa Girard of University of Cumberlands
48 kg/105.5 lbs. - Sadie Kaneda of USOEC/Northern Michigan
51 kg/112.25 lbs.- Jessica Medina of University of Cumberlands
55 kg/121 lbs. - Sandy Do of University of Cumberlands
59 kg/130 lbs. - Kelsey Campbell of Arizona State University
63 kg/138.75 lbs.- Briana Conway of Oklahoma City University
67 kg/147.5 lbs. - Amberlee Ebert of Missouri Valley College
72 kg/158.5 lbs.- Melissa Simmons of Oklahoma City University
82 kg/180.5 lbs. - Carrie Clark of Oklahoma City University
95 kg/209 lbs.- Theresa Fennell of University of Cumberlands
Oklahoma City University will be offering a live video stream of its season-opening women's wrestling duals Saturday on its athletics web site.
The dual between the Stars and Lindenwood (Mo.) will be at 1 p.m., and the dual between OCU and the U.S. Olympic Education Center will be 3 p.m. at Abe Lemons Arena and will be video streamed via OCUsports.com. In addition, the 2 p.m. dual between Lindenwood and the U.S. Olympic Education Center will also be broadcast live.
The video stream will cost $8.95. To sign up, visit:
http://www.ocusports.com/member/bridge.asp?url=/member/aa_signup.aspx
The Women's College Wrestling Association was formed in 2008 by coaches within women's college wrestling to oversee women's college freestyle wrestling. Kevin Black, the coach at UW-River Falls, was elected as its first commissioner.
The annual National Women's College Championships was renamed the WCWA National Championships when it was held in Oklahoma City last March. The defending WCWA national champions is the Univ. of the Cumberlands, which edged Oklahoma City University in the team standings.
Under the new organization, the college season for women has officially begun earlier than in the past. In addition, the national tournament will be moved up to an earlier date.
The WCWA National Championships will be hosted at Missouri Valley College on January 31.
Currently, teams that are expected to compete as part of the WCWA are: Buffalo, Cumberlands, Jamestown, Lindenwood, Lock Haven, Menlo, Missouri Baptist, Missouri Valley, USOEC-Northern Michigan, Oklahoma City, UW-River Falls, Simon Fraser. Other teams may join as the season progresses.
It is an exciting year for those in women's college wrestling, as new varsity teams at Jamestown, Missouri Baptist and Lindenwood have joined the sport, and a new program at Buffalo is also entering the competition.
"The WCWA is a great start for women's wrestling," said WCWA Commissioner Kevin Black. "Today is the beginning of the new season, and everybody involved is optimistic about the future. Our focus this year is to get our coaches on the same page, and to establish guidelines and rules that all the teams will follow. The new organization will provide legitimacy for women's college wrestling that it may not have had in the past."
Among the highlights of the season is the NWCA National Duals, set for Cedar Falls, Iowa, January 10-11. Eight U.S. women's teams will be showcased, an increase over last year. This is a tremendously exciting opportunity to promote women's wrestling, as it will be seen before large crowds alongside the men's college programs from all three NCAA divisions, the NAIA, the NJCAA and the NCWA.
There are new tournaments on the college schedule, such as the Can Am Championships, set for Jamestown College on November 22 and the Harry Geris Open set for the University of the Cumberlands on November 29.
Many of the WCWA teams will participate in dual meets and tournaments against college teams from Canada.
After the official college season ends, many of the top athletes from the WCWA teams will participate in USA Wrestling post-season events, such as:
- The Dave Schultz Memorial International in Colorado Springs, Colo.
- WCWA All-Stars vs. USA National Team Dual in Oklahoma City, Okla.
- The University Nationals in Akron, Ohio
- The U.S. Nationals in Las Vegas, Nev.
- The Body Bar FILA Junior Nationals in Colorado Springs, Colo.
TheMat.com will publish its annual women's college wrestling preview in mid-October, will post the updated WCWA rankings and will follow the entire women's college season as it unfolds.
2008 WCWA individual champions
44 kg/97 lbs. - Melissa Girard of University of Cumberlands
48 kg/105.5 lbs. - Sadie Kaneda of USOEC/Northern Michigan
51 kg/112.25 lbs.- Jessica Medina of University of Cumberlands
55 kg/121 lbs. - Sandy Do of University of Cumberlands
59 kg/130 lbs. - Kelsey Campbell of Arizona State University
63 kg/138.75 lbs.- Briana Conway of Oklahoma City University
67 kg/147.5 lbs. - Amberlee Ebert of Missouri Valley College
72 kg/158.5 lbs.- Melissa Simmons of Oklahoma City University
82 kg/180.5 lbs. - Carrie Clark of Oklahoma City University
95 kg/209 lbs.- Theresa Fennell of University of Cumberlands
