Women’s College Notebook: North Central, Life, Wartburg emerge with NWCA National Duals titles

The headline performance from a weekend of great ones was what North Central College pulled off in the NCAA Combined Division.

Entering as the reigning three-time runners-up at this event, the #4 seed stormed into Saturday’s semifinal round – where it was joined by fellow top seeds #1 Iowa, #2 McKendree (IL) and #3 Grand Valley State (MI).

By day’s end, Joe Norton’s squad stood tops among them with a first-place trophy in hand.

All it took was handing Iowa its first loss in program history – stopping a 42-dual win streak since the Hawkeyes began varsity competition in 2023 – and then knocking off a supercharged McKendree squad.

Both matchups came down to the very last match. And as it turned out, two different Cardinals delivered perfectly.

Against Iowa, Norton went with backup Dasia Yearby – needing either a pin or shutout tech. fall to erase a three-point deficit. A gutsy call turned out to be the right one, as the senior threw and pinned four-time national runner-up Jaycee Foeller midway through the first period.

Just like that, the Hawkeyes went down for the very first time, 23-21.

In a dual in which North Central won only 4-of-10 bouts, three of them came via fall (110, 124 and 207). The Cardinals also scored team points by getting on the board in five of their six defeats – including scratching out valuable points against Iowa superstars Kennedy Blades and Kylie Welker.

As for its other dramatic finish, North Central turned to a different senior for a different, albeit equally monumental task.

Leading McKendree 18-17 after a wild, back-and-forth final, Shenita Lawson, ranked #4 at 180 pounds, was Norton’s choice to take on defending national champion Tristan Kelly in a winner-take-all scenario.

After five cagey minutes of action, Lawson got to a leg, driving Kelly out of bounds to go ahead on criteria, 2-2, with 59 seconds remaining. The Cardinal senior held position from there, and as time expired, a jubilant North Central team (and crowd) celebrated arguably the most impressive single-day performance in women’s college wrestling history.

 Iowa defeated Grand Valley State, 26-15, for third place.

This whole National Duals champion thing is getting to be pretty familiar to Ashley Flavin and her Running Eagles program.

The 11^th-year head coach has now led Life University to four titles in five years at this event. Its latest performance was yet another dominant showing by the #1-ranked team in the country.

The Eagles won 33-of-40 matches on the weekend, topped off by a 32-11 finals victory over #2 Providence (MT).

The Argos were similarly impressive en route to the final, where they earned a program-best finish at this event for the fourth-consecutive year. But even after jumping out to an 8-0 lead against Life, the eventual champs were just too much.

Back-to-back falls quickly erased the deficit, and when two-time national finalist Sarah Savidge knocked off #1 Waipuilani Estrella-Beauchamp, 2-2 on criteria at 131 pounds, the result was all but inevitable.

Consecutive wins by the McBryde sisters (Zaynah, Jamilah and Latifah) sealed a dual in which the Eagles won the final eight bouts – once again, soaring to a National Duals title in the process.

#3 Grand View (IA) defeated #4 William Penn (IA), 22-19, in a thrilling third-place match as heavyweight Selena Mares pinned-to-win her third dual of the weekend for the Vikings.

The third-and-final women’s champion of the weekend (albeit its first chronologically) was Wartburg (IA).

Competing in the newly established NCAA Division III bracket, the top-seeded Knights emerged victorious from a field littered with nationally ranked teams and individuals who will make noise at the (all-divisions) inaugural NCAA Women’s Championships this March.

Led by third-year head coach Brady Kyner, Wartburg’s closest call actually came in the semifinals against #5 seed Aurora (IL).

Both teams threw absolute haymakers in this one, splitting a pair of high-scoring decisions at 138 pounds and 160 pounds, and ultimately combining for eight tech. falls/pins between them.

The last of those bonus-point wins decided the dual, as #4 Rewa Chababo pinned Hannah McDuffee to help Wartburg overcome a three-point deficit entering the final bout – defeating Aurora, 23-21.

A few hours later, that momentum appeared to carry right into the finals.

Facing a familiar in-state foe, Simpson College (IA) – who had gone unchallenged on its half of the bracket – the Knights jumped ahead early and never looked back.

By the time Simpson won its first match (at 160 pounds), the scoreboard read 27-3 in favor of Wartburg – and the National Duals title belonged to the Knights.

Led by returning national champion Alexis Janiak – a bonus-point victor in all four matches this weekend – Aurora defeated Western New England, 23-22, in a back-and-forth third-place dual.