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Women’s College Notebook: NCAA National Championships Preview

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by Tanner Lafever

Brianna Gonzalez competing at the NCAA Regionals

Brianna Gonzalez competing at the NCAA Regionals

At long last, history has arrived for women’s college wrestling.


This weekend in Coralville, Iowa, the sport will hold an NCAA-sanctioned championship event for the very first time.


The road to get here has been a long and winding one – with so many athletes, coaches and advocates paving the way to this much-deserved destination.


And now, over two days at Xtream Arena (Mar. 6-7), 180 beneficiaries of those countless efforts will experience a first-of-its-kind opportunity at the 2026 NCAA Women’s Wrestling Championships.

For fans/spectators looking to follow along with the action this Friday/Saturday, I’d recommend the following sources – in addition to our wall-to-wall coverage here at USA Wrestling:



As for the tournament itself, here are just a few of the numerous storylines worth tracking throughout the weekend.


McKendree (not Iowa) holds projected edge in team title race

When NCAA seeds were announced last week, some may’ve been surprised to see the projected favorite in the team title race.


No, it’s not two-time reigning champion Iowa – which had been ranked number one ever since the preseason.


Instead, it’s the McKendree Bearcats – who’ve been nipping at the heels of the Hawkeyes all season long and finally surpassed them, in no small part due to winning all 10 weight classes at the Region VI NCAA qualifier.


McKendree (Ill.) is no stranger to championship contention, winning three consecutive titles under the previous NCWWC banner from 2020-22. Current head coach Alexio Garcia wasn’t at the helm back then, but his 2025-26 Bearcats are similarly loaded like those previous championship outfits.


And of course, one can’t forget about North Central (Ill.) either.


Not when the program has placed first/second/second in their last three trips to the national tournament. And certainly not when this year’s Cardinals have already defeated both McKendree and Iowa in a pair of thrilling duals.


Meanwhile, Grand Valley State (Mich.) will be favored to claim the fourth and final team trophy just as it did a year ago in the program’s debut season.


If anyone is going to challenge the Lakers, watch out for Lehigh and Presbyterian (S.C.).


The former – in its debut season as a varsity program – has a trio of talented freshmen, including a pair of title contenders.


As for Presbyterian, head coach Brian Vutianitis has built a consistent winner down in South Carolina. And after placing sixth at nationals last March, the Blue Hose are one of only four teams to qualify all 10 wrestlers for NCAA this season – the others being McKendree, Iowa and North Central.


Stars upon stars

Comprising the aforementioned team race are 180 individuals – 18 at each of the 10 weight classes.


And among them, there’s no shortage of star power.


Audrey Jimenez (Lehigh), Kennedy Blades (Iowa) and Kylie Welker (Iowa) all represented the United States at the 2025 World Championships. Blades and Welker both earned bronze medals in Croatia last September – bumping the World/Olympic medal tally to two apiece for the pair of Hawkeyes.


And that trio is hardly the only elite talent descending upon Coralville this weekend.


Past U23 World Champions Sage Mortimer (Grand Valley State) and Yu Sakamoto (McKendree) will each be in title contention.


So too will a pair of U.S. Open champs in Brianna Gonzalez (Iowa) and Xochitl Mota-Pettis (Quincy).


As for a specific weight class, 124-138 pounds are all rife with intrigue.


Along with Mota-Pettis, 124 pounds features a trio of national runners-up in Sara Sterner (North Central), Virginia Foard (King) and Shelby Moore (McKendree). Add last year’s U20 World Team Trials champ, Lorianna Piestewa (Colorado Mesa), and you’ve got arguably the deepest bracket of the tournament.


Meanwhile, 131 pounds is led by McKendree veteran Cameron Guerin – a four-time champion who’s back for one last title run. She’ll be challenged by the likes of Aubre Krazer (Lehigh) and Alexis Janiak (Aurora) – both of whom are already battled tested at the Senior international level.


Janiak is the defending champion at this weight – and an age-level World medalist each of the past three years.


And at 138 pounds, take your pick between two-time national champ Katerina Lange (Grand Valley State), 2024 champ Claire DiCugno (North Central) and 2025 runner-up Haylie Jaffe (McKendree).


Littered throughout the rest of the field are numerous athletes who’ve made deep tournament runs before – including past champions Madison Avila (North Central), Reese Larramendy (Iowa) and Tristan Kelly (McKendree).


In short, wrestling fans are in for an absolute treat watching all these elite athletes put on a show over the course of two days.


Paying respect

As I touched on in the introduction, it should not be lost on anyone (especially newcomers to women’s wrestling) how much work and struggle went into making this historic moment possible.


No one has chronicled that history better than FloWrestling. So, if you’re interested (and why wouldn’t you be?), a deep dive is well worth your time.


Many of the athletes competing this weekend would’ve never dreamed about becoming an NCAA champion as they grew up in the sport, because for most of their journey, the opportunity didn’t even exist.


And now, here it is – right in front of them.

Look, I’m just a guy covering this awesome sport, so far be it from me to give advice to any of these women about how to process these next few days.


I just hope that they enjoy the heck out of it all, not only for themselves but for the valiant pioneers before them and the grateful generation(s) to follow.


Each and every one of them so richly deserves this moment. And it’s just the latest step toward an even bigger and brighter future for women’s wrestling ahead.