North Central wins fourth-straight Midlands with five individual champions
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by Tanner Lafever
North Central College wins 2025 Ken Kraft Midlands Championships.
An annual holiday tradition, one of college wrestling’s most recognizable tournaments returned to Evanston, Illinois, this week.
And for the fourth consecutive year, nearby NCAA powerhouse North Central (IL) won the team title at the Midlands Women’s Championships.
But even with five individual champs, the fourth-ranked Cardinals were pushed hard by NAIA #1 Life University (GA) – ultimately topping the Eagles by a final score of 169.5-150.
(A sixth Cardinal – Brianne Graves – placed first at 103 while competing unattached.)
As for the rest of the team race, Indiana Tech (81), Aurora (72.5) and Lehigh (55) rounded out the top five.
**Complete team scores can be found here**
Here’s my recap of, and takeaways from, the titles won at a tournament which featured no shortage of elite talent from across the collegiate ranks (and beyond).
It’s tough to produce semifinal matchups much better than the ones at 131 pounds in Evanston on Tuesday.
That’ll happen when you toss three multi-time national finalists into the mix, along with a superstar freshman.
As for the result? Well, it was as compelling as you might expect.
In one semifinal, you had returning NCWWC champion Alexis Janiak (Aurora) – making her season debut this weekend – square off against two-time NAIA runner-up Sarah Savidge (Life).
And on the other, 19-year-old Aubre Krazer (Lehigh) faced the biggest test of her young college career against two-time NCWWC runner-up Yele Aycock (North Central).
Both Janiak and Krazer would move on – the former after an unfortunate clash of heads midway through the first period resulted in a win via injury default, and the latter thanks to a dominant second period finish which earned her a 10-1 victory.
That set up the final many were hoping to see.
Janiak – a three-time age-level World medalist – versus Krazer – who was named Outstanding Wrestler at the 2025 Bill Farrell Memorial International barely a month ago.
On this occasion, the rookie would prevail.
Holding a 1-1 lead on criteria after the two traded activity clock points, Krazer scored a pair of takedowns in the final 90 seconds to secure the win – and a probable spot atop the next national rankings in the process.
Best of all, these two could very well meet again at NCAAs this March. And if that happens – much like today – we’ll all be ‘winners’ as fans for having witnessed it.
With dominance the prevailing theme of this year’s Midlands, there were two other champions whose paths to a title nearly didn’t materialize.
In fact, both Brianne Graves (103) and Paige Wehrmeister (145) faced semifinal scares from high school opponents.
Graves trailed Tennessee product Ryleigh Sturgill (ranked #2 nationally at 100 pounds) by one in the final minute, only to score a takedown and three turns to prevail via 14-7 decision.
Wehrmeister found herself in even greater peril, fighting off her back for an extended sequence against top-ranked, 140-pound Wisconsin prospect Riley Hanrahan.
A two-time All-American at Presbyterian, Wehrmeister (competing unattached) trailed 6-0 at the break before rattling off 12 consecutive points to earn the win.
Both champs closed their finals bout with a frenzy, too.
Graves scored all her points after intermission in a 4-1 decision over ninth-ranked Genesis Ramirez (Aurora). Meanwhile, Wehrmeister turned a narrow 3-2 lead against NAIA #9 Amelia Fawcett (Life) into a 13-2 runaway tech. fall over the final three minutes of match time.
Of the seven remaining weight classes, a grand total of two matches by their collective champions lasted a full six minutes.
Starting at 110 pounds, North Central’s #4 Kaelani Shufeldt produced two tech. falls and two pins en route to the top of the podium.
The 2024 NCWWC runner-up faced her greatest test in the final against high schooler Kayla Batres – trailing 1-0 in the second period before securing the fall.
Up one weight at 117, NAIA #2 Salyna Shotwell (Life) secured her own come-from-behind pin in the semis over NCAA #5 Riley Rayome (North Central).
Impressively, no other bout for Shotwell lasted beyond a minute – as she secured quick falls over her three other foes, the last of those being Mikayla Garcia (North Central) in the first-place match.
Another sterling performance was put forth by Claire DiCugno.
The 2024 NCWWC champ for King University (TN) made her official North Central debut on Tuesday, tech. falling her way through the bracket at 138 pounds.
DiCugno wrestles one of the more free-flowing styles you’ll see and will absolutely be a title contender once again this March. Her Midlands final came against teammate Grace Stem – ranked #5 nationally in the latest NCAA Coaches Poll.
And just like their meeting two weeks ago in the final of the North Central Invite, DiCugno cruised to a first-period technical fall (12-1).
The bonus-point trend continued at the uppermost weight classes, where, even more so than the rest of the tournament, North Central was dominant.
The Cardinals produced both finalists at 180 pounds, with #4 Shenita Lawson concluding her all-bonus, 4-0 day with a technical fall (12-2) over teammate Jael Miller.
And at 207, North Central occupied three of the top four spots on the podium – headlined by freshman champion Tirza Twoteeth, who pinned her way through the bracket, including a come-from-behind finals effort to defeat NAIA’s fifth-ranked Madeline Welch (Life).
Elsewhere in the field, the final two champions just missed out on bonus-point-exclusive performances of their own.
At 124 pounds, #3 Sara Sterner (North Central) surrendered just two points across five matches – a 7-2 semifinal victory over Calli Gilchrist (Brown) her lone bout to go the distance.
And at 160, NAIA #1 Latifah McBryde (Life) was just a 9-1 semifinal decision over Sydney Perry (North Central) from going unscored upon during her own decisive title run.
Both Sterner and McBryde earned tech. falls to secure first place – the former over NAIA #5 Rose Kaplan (Indiana Tech) and the latter over talented Wyoming Seminary product Janiya Johnson.
Unlike several previous high-profile tournaments this season, no high school athlete topped the podium on Tuesday in Evanston.
However, that’s not to say there weren’t several who made strong impressions.
The aforementioned Kayla Batres (110) and Janiya Johnson (160) each produced notable wins/performances during their runner-up finishes.
And all told, nine different high schoolers placed fifth or better – once again reflecting what a great place this sport is in going forward.
**Complete results, brackets and more can be found at FloWrestling.org**
1st – Brianne Graves (Unattached) dec. Genesis Ramirez (Aurora), 4-1
3rd – Ryleigh Sturgill (Unattached) tech. fall Makayla Young (Indiana Tech), 11-1 (3:33)
5th – Madison Avila (North Central) dec. Zoey Haney (Indiana Tech), 8-2
1st – Kaelani Shufeldt (North Central) fall Kayla Batres (Unattached), 4:02
3rd – Riley Karwowski (Wyoming Seminary) tech. fall Diana Gonzalez (Life), 12-2 (4:03)
5th – Makenize Smith (Indiana Tech) tech. fall Alexis Winecke (UW-Stevens Point), 12-2 (4:24)
1st – Salyna Shotwell (Life) fall Mikayla Garcia (North Central), 1:00
3rd – Riley Rayome (North Central) dec. Taylor Whiting (Unattached), 5-2
5th – Elizabeth Dollar (Indiana Tech) for. Journie Rodriguez (Lock Haven)
1st – Sara Sterner (North Central) tech. fall Rose Kaplan (Indiana Tech), 11-0 (4:31)
3rd – Madilyn Peach (Unattached) fall Calli Gilchrist (Brown), 0:47
5th – Emma Engels (Aurora) fall Morgan Leonhardt (Otterbein), 4:22
1st – Aubre Krazer (Lehigh) dec. Alexis Janiak (Aurora), 5-1
3rd – Yele Aycock (North Central) dec. Olivia Mottley (Life), 5-2
5th – Alicia Coleman (Otterbein) def. Sara Savidge (Life)
1st – Claire DiCugno (North Central) tech. fall Grace Stem (North Central), 12-1 (1:48)
3rd – Zaynah McBryde (Life) tech. fall Sophia Ball (Aurora), 10-0 (2:37)
5th – Lynn Horn (North Central) tech. fall Kryssceah Ravenelle (Lehigh), 10-0 (2:17)
1st – Paige Wehrmeister (Unattached) tech. fall Amelia Fawcett (Life), 13-2 (6:00)
3rd – Marisol Nugent (New York Athletic Club) fall Riley Hanrahan (Unattached), 1:34
5th – Brooke Schuenemann (UW-Stevens Point) tech. fall Natalie Klavetter (North Central), 19-8 (3:46)
1st – Latifah McBryde (Life) tech. fall Janiya Johnson (Wyoming Seminary), 11-0 (2:08)
3rd – Bo Geibe (Indiana Tech) dec. Presley McCandlish (Lock Haven), 3-1
5th – Sydney Perry (North Central) dec. Elizabeth Rosenstiel (North Central), 8-0
1st – Shenita Lawson (North Central) tech. fall Jael Miller (North Central), 12-2 (3:49)
3rd – Brooke Huffman (Unattached) fall Genevieve An (Lehigh), 3:36
5th – Reka Busa (Life) def. Anneliese Tavira (Aurora)
1st – Tirza Twoteeth (North Central) fall Madeleine Welch (Life), 2:00
3rd – Dasia Yearby (North Central) fall Caroline Ward (North Central), 2:24
5th – Halle Spears (Unattached) tech. fall Lindsay Laws (Lock Haven), 10-0 (4:26)
