Can King be overthrown as top women’s college team, or will they three-peat at WCWA Nationals?
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by Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling
WCWA national champion Kayla Miracle of Campbellsville works a gut wrench during the 2014-15 women’s college season. Photo courtesy of Campbellsville Athletics.
The women’s college wrestling season kicked off in early October, and there has already been a number of competitions across the nation. The main question going into the new season is if somebody is ready to overthrow King from its throne.
The King University women’s wrestling team has been on a roll, winning the last two WCWA Women’s College Nationals title, led by an experienced and talented lineup including a number of top Olympic hopefuls.
Winning No. 3 in a row will not be an easy task for Jason Moorman’s Tornado team, which has to reload this season. All four of the 2015 WCWA champions will be gone, with Sarah Hildebrandt (123), Amanda Hendey (143) and Julia Salata (155) graduated, while two-time WCWA champion Haley Augello (116) is taking an Olympic redshirt.
The team will need to lean on three runners-up from last year to serve as team leaders, Marina Doi at 101, Hanna Grisewood at 123 and Jessi Kee at 130, all who could be champions this year. Kee is moving up to 135.
“Marina is looking really sharp. She didn’t have the summer she wanted, so she is real hungry right now. Jessi is looking real good at her new weight. Hanna is a grinder. They are all working so hard and they are doing things right. You have to earn it and they are capable of doing that,” said Moorman.
Another hammer in the lineup is Forrest Molinari at 143, who was fourth last year. Doi and Molinari were members of the 2015 U.S. UWW Junior World Team, and received important international experience this summer. Two-time All-American Breonnah Neal returns at 109 and All-American Jackie Williams is at 191. Coming off a redshirt is talented Samantha Klingel at 116, who was an All-American in 2013. Moorman is impressed by freshmen Hanna Jewell at 130 and Ricki Liang at 116. He is also pleased with the progress from Rachel Hale at 130.
King won an early season event, the Patriot Duals, beating Oklahoma City in the finals, 25-19. Moorman said the team competed very well there but still has a long way to go.
“We are young. We are not as deep as in the past. We have to stay healthy. We had such a good team last year, we didn’t have to do everything right to win. This year, we will need more coaching and more technique learning. We have a lot of development we need to do to achieve. The girls have 100% bought in. Now it’s about putting in the work and challenging ourselves. We need to push the limit, and grow from our successes and our failures,” said Moorman.
Like many of the coaches in the WCWA this year, Moorman is having trouble predicting the outcome this year.
“At the Patriot Duals, there were a lot of close matches. Everyone is kind of young. It will come down to good coaching and getting the athletes to peak at the right time. There will be a lot of interest at the national tournament. Each team has talented girls at different weight classes. We may not know who will win it until the finals. Hopefully, it is not like that and we have won it by then,” said Moorman.
In the WCWA preseason rankings, it was Campbellsville, a third-year program, which held the No. 1 ranking. Last year, a balanced team attack with clutch wrestling, pulling Lee Miracle’s Tigers into a second place finish at the WCWA Nationals.
The team is led by returning WCWA national champion Kayla Miracle, who moved up to 136 for the nationals to help the team and won the gold medal as a freshman. Miracle has won World medals on the UWW Cadet and Junior levels, and is a challenger on the Senior level already. She missed some of the early events this year with injury, and they currently are considering an Olympic redshirt year.
“Kayla is special. She can wrestle three different weight classes. We have a team that could win a national title, so do you redshirt your national champion? The team race is important, but the Olympics are important also,” said Miracle, who is also Kayla’s father.
The team boasts another 2015 WCWA national champion, Tiara Scott at 191, who won her title as a sophomore and was a leader on the team. The team’s depth comes from returning WCWA runner-up Hanna Hall at 155, and All-Americans Rosemary Flores at 130, Hannah Gladden at 143, Kait Fitzpatrick at 113, Michelle Organ at 155 and Lyon transfer Jesse Grubbs at 170. The team also has talented freshmen Koral Sugiyama at 130, Ruby Ariosa at 101 and Lexi Escamilla at 109, all making an impact in the lineup.
“It was great to be ranked No. 1. It’s just an indication of the potential of the team. We have a long way to go to prove it at the end of the season. We didn’t lose anybody from last year’s team. This will be the first year we have any upperclassmen. Last year, we made some moves at nationals to score more points. If I see that opportunity this year, we will do it. This year, we are seeing some parity. There are enough good programs with good coaches that the blue chippers aren’t all going to the same place. There are seven programs that mathematically could win the WCWA,” said Miracle.
Oklahoma City, which won four straight WCWA titles between 2009-2012, has remained a top challenger in the years since, and is hungry to reclaim the top spot under head coach Archie Randall.
The Stars are led by 2015 WCWA champion Cody Pfau at 109, a senior who has made three straight U.S. Junior World teams. She is the lone OCU wrestler with a No. 1 ranking in the preseason, and has become a true leader on the squad.
“She is focused. As far as college wrestling goes, she is way above her class. She is focused on winning the national championships and getting to the Olympic Trials. She has adjusted well to the changes we’ve made in her offense. She is doing everything you can ask from an athlete. There’s nothing stopping her from accomplishing her goal,” said Randall.
OCU has numerous top challengers who could push through to the WCWA finals. Returning All-Americans Shelby Morrison at 116, Carla Ponce at 130, Heiley Garcia at 143 and Yvonne Galindo at 155 should rack up big points in the major tournaments. Incoming freshmen Marizza Birrueta (116) and Becka Leathers (130) were on the 2015 UWW Junior World Team, with Leathers winning a bronze medal. Another freshman with high expectations is Monica Mason (191). Veterans Rachel Archer (123) and Rachel Young (136) are also wrestling well in the early season.
“You always look to have balance among the teams. Right now, it could be anybody’s tournament. Anybody could win the National Duals. Anybody could win the nationals. It is how wrestling should be. There are as many as six or more teams that could win it. It will be an interesting year and a great national tournament. We don’t have a 101 pounder yet, until second semester. We are beating some teams with just nine wrestlers. It will be a real battle at the end of the year,” said Randall.
Simon Fraser, the WCWA champions in 2013, is located in Canada, but has a strong lineup mixed with both Canadian and American wrestlers. Mike Jones’ Clan have four 2015 All-Americans who received No. 2 preseason rankings in their weight clases, Darby Huckle at 101, Abby Lloyd at 109, Jennifer Anderson at 123 and Payten Smith at 191.
Two other returning All-Americans are also expected to do well, Francesca Giorgio at 130 and Monica Podgoski at 155. Mallory Velte, who missed the college 2015 season with injury, placed fifth for the USA at the UWW Junior Worlds and should be a title contender at 136 this year. The team features a pair of past Junior National champion freshmen from California, Dominique Parrish at 123 and Kendall Reusing at 170, plus an impressive Canadian freshman in Nicole Depa at 130. Some of the wrestlers may wrestle up a weight during the season, but Jones expects them to be down to weight and ready when nationals are held.
“We are young. We have two seniors and the rest are underclassmen. Some of them can be very good. We look forward to seeing how much they will improve. They have us ranked about fifth or sixth, and that is fair. We want to beat people, for sure. We won’t be in the race for first or second, but for third through sixth, we will challenge,” said Jones
Jones, whose teams have placed in the top four at all of the WCWA Nationals that they have entered, agrees that the WCWA Nationals continues to grow and improve.
“What’s exciting about it is that it used to be Oklahoma City, King and us and everybody else was hoping to be the fourth team. Now with Lindenwood, Campbellsville, McKendree and the Cumberlands coming on, it will be very competitive. Some of the other teams are individually good. That will make a big difference. Every year, we add three or four new teams. It’s not growing as fast as I’d like it to, but it is steady. And I am happy about that,” said Jones.
This year, there are other legitimate contenders beyond OCU, Simon Fraser, King and Campbellsville. The lineups for Lindenwood, the University of the Cumberlands and McKendree are also well stocked, all who could put together a strong run at the national tournament.
Toccara Montgomery’s Lindenwood Lions are a consistently tough team, which has its share of All-Americans eligible to return including WCWA champion Victoria Francis (170) and WCWA runner-up Diaysha Moore at 116. Other returning All-Americans include Monica Ramirez (136), Liza Gonzalez (155) and Gabriela Guzman (191).
One of the teams which have started strong this season is the University of the Cumberlands, coached by Donnie Stephens. Returning All-Americans include Sarah Allen (101), Kristin Yamasaki (136) and Clarc Walker (170). Two standout freshmen who could make an impact are Maya Nelson (130) and Jessika Rottier (155).
A team which brings back a ton of talent is McKendree, under coach Sam Schmitz. Starting the season with No. 2 national rankings are returning All-Americans Alexis Porter (143) and Ashley Miles (170). Also claiming All-American honors were Cassy Herkelman (143), Taylor Rezuris (101) and Jasmine Bailey (136).
The WCWA has continued to grow, with 27 teams on the women’s college scene. The new teams on the circuit this year are Adrian College, an NCAA Div. III school in Michigan, Ferrum College, an NCAA Div. III school in Virginia, Emmanuel College, an NCAA Div. II school in Georgia and Southern Oregon University, an NAIA school in Oregon.
Another good early test of the field will occur this week when the Oklahoma City Duals will be held at Oklahoma City University, with a number of the nation’s top teams and athletes in attendance.
With the growth of women’s college wrestling, earning WCWA All-American honors becomes even more difficult with additional teams and larger brackets at the national tournament. Many of the young freshmen coming in have had extensive wrestling experience growing up and came through USA Wrestling’s programs, making some of them almost immediately ready to compete at a high level.
The 2016 WCWA Nationals will be held Feb. 12-13 at Oklahoma City University.
Women’s college national tournaments have been held since 2004 and only five teams have won national team titles: Oklahoma City University (4), University of the Cumberlands (3), Missouri Valley College (2), King University (2) and Simon Fraser University (1).
Will one of these standard bearers rule the kingdom in 2016, or will there be a new program that can become a women’s college national team champion?
The women’s college wrestling season kicked off in early October, and there has already been a number of competitions across the nation. The main question going into the new season is if somebody is ready to overthrow King from its throne.
The King University women’s wrestling team has been on a roll, winning the last two WCWA Women’s College Nationals title, led by an experienced and talented lineup including a number of top Olympic hopefuls.
Winning No. 3 in a row will not be an easy task for Jason Moorman’s Tornado team, which has to reload this season. All four of the 2015 WCWA champions will be gone, with Sarah Hildebrandt (123), Amanda Hendey (143) and Julia Salata (155) graduated, while two-time WCWA champion Haley Augello (116) is taking an Olympic redshirt.
The team will need to lean on three runners-up from last year to serve as team leaders, Marina Doi at 101, Hanna Grisewood at 123 and Jessi Kee at 130, all who could be champions this year. Kee is moving up to 135.
“Marina is looking really sharp. She didn’t have the summer she wanted, so she is real hungry right now. Jessi is looking real good at her new weight. Hanna is a grinder. They are all working so hard and they are doing things right. You have to earn it and they are capable of doing that,” said Moorman.
Another hammer in the lineup is Forrest Molinari at 143, who was fourth last year. Doi and Molinari were members of the 2015 U.S. UWW Junior World Team, and received important international experience this summer. Two-time All-American Breonnah Neal returns at 109 and All-American Jackie Williams is at 191. Coming off a redshirt is talented Samantha Klingel at 116, who was an All-American in 2013. Moorman is impressed by freshmen Hanna Jewell at 130 and Ricki Liang at 116. He is also pleased with the progress from Rachel Hale at 130.
King won an early season event, the Patriot Duals, beating Oklahoma City in the finals, 25-19. Moorman said the team competed very well there but still has a long way to go.
“We are young. We are not as deep as in the past. We have to stay healthy. We had such a good team last year, we didn’t have to do everything right to win. This year, we will need more coaching and more technique learning. We have a lot of development we need to do to achieve. The girls have 100% bought in. Now it’s about putting in the work and challenging ourselves. We need to push the limit, and grow from our successes and our failures,” said Moorman.
Like many of the coaches in the WCWA this year, Moorman is having trouble predicting the outcome this year.
“At the Patriot Duals, there were a lot of close matches. Everyone is kind of young. It will come down to good coaching and getting the athletes to peak at the right time. There will be a lot of interest at the national tournament. Each team has talented girls at different weight classes. We may not know who will win it until the finals. Hopefully, it is not like that and we have won it by then,” said Moorman.
In the WCWA preseason rankings, it was Campbellsville, a third-year program, which held the No. 1 ranking. Last year, a balanced team attack with clutch wrestling, pulling Lee Miracle’s Tigers into a second place finish at the WCWA Nationals.
The team is led by returning WCWA national champion Kayla Miracle, who moved up to 136 for the nationals to help the team and won the gold medal as a freshman. Miracle has won World medals on the UWW Cadet and Junior levels, and is a challenger on the Senior level already. She missed some of the early events this year with injury, and they currently are considering an Olympic redshirt year.
“Kayla is special. She can wrestle three different weight classes. We have a team that could win a national title, so do you redshirt your national champion? The team race is important, but the Olympics are important also,” said Miracle, who is also Kayla’s father.
The team boasts another 2015 WCWA national champion, Tiara Scott at 191, who won her title as a sophomore and was a leader on the team. The team’s depth comes from returning WCWA runner-up Hanna Hall at 155, and All-Americans Rosemary Flores at 130, Hannah Gladden at 143, Kait Fitzpatrick at 113, Michelle Organ at 155 and Lyon transfer Jesse Grubbs at 170. The team also has talented freshmen Koral Sugiyama at 130, Ruby Ariosa at 101 and Lexi Escamilla at 109, all making an impact in the lineup.
“It was great to be ranked No. 1. It’s just an indication of the potential of the team. We have a long way to go to prove it at the end of the season. We didn’t lose anybody from last year’s team. This will be the first year we have any upperclassmen. Last year, we made some moves at nationals to score more points. If I see that opportunity this year, we will do it. This year, we are seeing some parity. There are enough good programs with good coaches that the blue chippers aren’t all going to the same place. There are seven programs that mathematically could win the WCWA,” said Miracle.
Oklahoma City, which won four straight WCWA titles between 2009-2012, has remained a top challenger in the years since, and is hungry to reclaim the top spot under head coach Archie Randall.
The Stars are led by 2015 WCWA champion Cody Pfau at 109, a senior who has made three straight U.S. Junior World teams. She is the lone OCU wrestler with a No. 1 ranking in the preseason, and has become a true leader on the squad.
“She is focused. As far as college wrestling goes, she is way above her class. She is focused on winning the national championships and getting to the Olympic Trials. She has adjusted well to the changes we’ve made in her offense. She is doing everything you can ask from an athlete. There’s nothing stopping her from accomplishing her goal,” said Randall.
OCU has numerous top challengers who could push through to the WCWA finals. Returning All-Americans Shelby Morrison at 116, Carla Ponce at 130, Heiley Garcia at 143 and Yvonne Galindo at 155 should rack up big points in the major tournaments. Incoming freshmen Marizza Birrueta (116) and Becka Leathers (130) were on the 2015 UWW Junior World Team, with Leathers winning a bronze medal. Another freshman with high expectations is Monica Mason (191). Veterans Rachel Archer (123) and Rachel Young (136) are also wrestling well in the early season.
“You always look to have balance among the teams. Right now, it could be anybody’s tournament. Anybody could win the National Duals. Anybody could win the nationals. It is how wrestling should be. There are as many as six or more teams that could win it. It will be an interesting year and a great national tournament. We don’t have a 101 pounder yet, until second semester. We are beating some teams with just nine wrestlers. It will be a real battle at the end of the year,” said Randall.
Simon Fraser, the WCWA champions in 2013, is located in Canada, but has a strong lineup mixed with both Canadian and American wrestlers. Mike Jones’ Clan have four 2015 All-Americans who received No. 2 preseason rankings in their weight clases, Darby Huckle at 101, Abby Lloyd at 109, Jennifer Anderson at 123 and Payten Smith at 191.
Two other returning All-Americans are also expected to do well, Francesca Giorgio at 130 and Monica Podgoski at 155. Mallory Velte, who missed the college 2015 season with injury, placed fifth for the USA at the UWW Junior Worlds and should be a title contender at 136 this year. The team features a pair of past Junior National champion freshmen from California, Dominique Parrish at 123 and Kendall Reusing at 170, plus an impressive Canadian freshman in Nicole Depa at 130. Some of the wrestlers may wrestle up a weight during the season, but Jones expects them to be down to weight and ready when nationals are held.
“We are young. We have two seniors and the rest are underclassmen. Some of them can be very good. We look forward to seeing how much they will improve. They have us ranked about fifth or sixth, and that is fair. We want to beat people, for sure. We won’t be in the race for first or second, but for third through sixth, we will challenge,” said Jones
Jones, whose teams have placed in the top four at all of the WCWA Nationals that they have entered, agrees that the WCWA Nationals continues to grow and improve.
“What’s exciting about it is that it used to be Oklahoma City, King and us and everybody else was hoping to be the fourth team. Now with Lindenwood, Campbellsville, McKendree and the Cumberlands coming on, it will be very competitive. Some of the other teams are individually good. That will make a big difference. Every year, we add three or four new teams. It’s not growing as fast as I’d like it to, but it is steady. And I am happy about that,” said Jones.
This year, there are other legitimate contenders beyond OCU, Simon Fraser, King and Campbellsville. The lineups for Lindenwood, the University of the Cumberlands and McKendree are also well stocked, all who could put together a strong run at the national tournament.
Toccara Montgomery’s Lindenwood Lions are a consistently tough team, which has its share of All-Americans eligible to return including WCWA champion Victoria Francis (170) and WCWA runner-up Diaysha Moore at 116. Other returning All-Americans include Monica Ramirez (136), Liza Gonzalez (155) and Gabriela Guzman (191).
One of the teams which have started strong this season is the University of the Cumberlands, coached by Donnie Stephens. Returning All-Americans include Sarah Allen (101), Kristin Yamasaki (136) and Clarc Walker (170). Two standout freshmen who could make an impact are Maya Nelson (130) and Jessika Rottier (155).
A team which brings back a ton of talent is McKendree, under coach Sam Schmitz. Starting the season with No. 2 national rankings are returning All-Americans Alexis Porter (143) and Ashley Miles (170). Also claiming All-American honors were Cassy Herkelman (143), Taylor Rezuris (101) and Jasmine Bailey (136).
The WCWA has continued to grow, with 27 teams on the women’s college scene. The new teams on the circuit this year are Adrian College, an NCAA Div. III school in Michigan, Ferrum College, an NCAA Div. III school in Virginia, Emmanuel College, an NCAA Div. II school in Georgia and Southern Oregon University, an NAIA school in Oregon.
Another good early test of the field will occur this week when the Oklahoma City Duals will be held at Oklahoma City University, with a number of the nation’s top teams and athletes in attendance.
With the growth of women’s college wrestling, earning WCWA All-American honors becomes even more difficult with additional teams and larger brackets at the national tournament. Many of the young freshmen coming in have had extensive wrestling experience growing up and came through USA Wrestling’s programs, making some of them almost immediately ready to compete at a high level.
The 2016 WCWA Nationals will be held Feb. 12-13 at Oklahoma City University.
Women’s college national tournaments have been held since 2004 and only five teams have won national team titles: Oklahoma City University (4), University of the Cumberlands (3), Missouri Valley College (2), King University (2) and Simon Fraser University (1).
Will one of these standard bearers rule the kingdom in 2016, or will there be a new program that can become a women’s college national team champion?
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