Takedown Report

Women’s Wrestling News (2021) – # 4

TDR Editor’s Notes ; Women’s wrestling continues to grow across the country in spite of these pandemic times. Over half of the states have sanctioned women’s wrestling as a sport and several other states with strong history of wrestling for males are looking and considering adding this sporting opprtunity.
E-mail us at the Editor’s office at martinkfleming@gmail.com
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1 } – Palumbo picks Iowa Wesleyan
MOUNT PLEASANT — The Iowa Wesleyan University women’s wrestling team won’t hit the mat for another three weeks, but already the Tigers have made a huge splash on the college women’s wrestling scene. Iowa Wesleyan head coach Shawn Contos on Wednesday landed the No. 2-ranked high school girls wrestler in America at 112 pounds in Mia Palumbo, a senior at Richards High School in Oak Lawn, Illinois. She is a two-time Fargo national champion who was the first girl to win a match at the Illinois high school state tournament. Next year, she hopes to be the first Iowa Wesleyan University women’s wrestler to win a national championship. “I am really excited. I think the coaching staff over there is just amazing,” … rest of story at _{^{https://www.thehawkeye.com/story/sports/2021/01/16/womens-college-wrestling-tigers-land-nations-top-recruit/4171102001/?mc_cid=80454f9eb5&mc_eid=%5B2ef7cbca4b%5D}}

2 } – ‘I love being a part of history’: NJ’s first women’s college wrestling team hits the mat
Sandra Guerrero has done this before.
Countless times over the past 11 years, the college freshman from West Orange has made her way to the wrestling mat to spar with her teammates. She’s done it from the recreational level through high school. She’s honed her craft so well that last year she was crowned a state and regional champion, posting a perfect 22-0 record with 21 pins on her way to becoming her program’s first state champ.
But hitting the mat in 2021 will feel different for the talented wrestler.
This year, Guerrero will suit up in green and gold, representing New Jersey City University alongside a budding group of women from New Jersey, New York and Maryland. Together, the team is raising the glass ceiling for female wrestling in New Jersey: They make up the first college women’s wrestling program in the state, and just weeks away from their first competition. … rest of story at _{^{https://www.northjersey.com/story/sports/college/wrestling/2021/01/14/new-jersey-city-university-nj-first-womens-wrestling-team/3865230001/?mc_cid=80454f9eb5&mc_eid=%5B2ef7cbca4b%5D}}

3 } – KELLY LA COST NAMED KCAC WOMEN’S WRESTLER OF THE WEEK
WICHITA, Kan.— Kelly La Cost (FR/Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.) of the University of Jamestown has been named the KCAC Women’s Wrestler of the Week, the conference office announced Monday. La Cost was selected for her performance during Jan. 11-17 by a vote of conference Sports Information Directors.Kelly La Cost – #13 University of Jamestown191 lbs. | Fr. | Santa Margarita, Calif. … rest of story at _{^{https://www.jimmiepride.com/article/5756?mc_cid=ad63827ef7&mc_eid=%5B2ef7cbca4b%5D}}

4 } – NO. 2 MCKENDREE WOMEN BEAT NO. 3 EMMANUEL, NO. 4 KING AND NO. 7 COLORADO MESA IN QUAD-MEET AT KING
(BRISTOL, Tenn. – Jan. 17) – The No. 2 McKendree University women’s wrestling team competed in their first quad dual of the season Sunday. Sam Schmitz’s team took all three matches of the afternoon over top-ranked opponents, No.7 Colorado Mesa, No.3 Emmanuel, and No.4 King University. McKendree’s first competition of the afternoon was No.7 Colorado Mesa, where the Bearcats handed the Mavericks their first loss of the season. For many of the Bearcats, this was their first collegiate competition of the season, including winning over nationally ranked opponents. The Bearcats took the first three weight classes, and would come back with four-consecutive victories by tech/ fall, and the final weight class to secure the win. … rest of story at _{^{https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2021/January/17/McKendree-wins-three-duals-at-King-quad?mc_cid=c35ed28379&mc_eid=%5B2ef7cbca4b%5D}}

5 } – STEPHENS WINS FIRST CAREER MSC WRESTLER OF THE WEEK AWARD
Bowling Green, KY – After winning her first career tournament title, Jaine Stephens can add first career Mid-South Conference Wrestler of the Week winner to her resume, as announced by conference officials on Monday. Fifth ranked Stephens went 4-0 at the York College Open in the 109-weight class. The sophomore entered the tournament with one fall on the season and an overall record of 4-2. After the competition on Saturday, Stephens added four fall victories, three of which came against ranked opponents.
In her first match, Stephens faced 16^th ranked Kassidy Leiszler from Baker University. The match ended up being Stephens’ longest time on the mats after she pinned Leiszler at 2:46. The Williamsburg, KY native then had to line up across fourth ranked Emma Cochran from Grand View. The match was deadlocked at 2-2 until Stephens put Cochran on her back and earned the fall at 2:16. … rest of story at _{^{https://cumberlandspatriots.com/news/2021/1/18/womens-wrestling-stephens-wins-first-career-msc-wrestler-of-the-week-award.aspx?mc_cid=ad63827ef7&mc_eid=%5B2ef7cbca4b%5D}}

6 } – Union City’s AJ Iobe becomes first female head coach in program history
UNION CITY, MI. — Not long after Angelica (AJ) Iobe learned to walk, she started to wrestle. Iobe took to the mat for the first time when she was just four years old and she has been blazing trails and shattering norms ever since. This year Iobe will blaze another trail, not just for her alma mater of Union City Community Schools, but for the entirety of the Big 8 as well, becoming the first female head wrestling coach at any level when she takes over the Union City Middle School wrestling team for the 2021 season.
“It feels normal honestly,” Iobe said when asked how it felt to be the first female coach in school and conference history. “I helped coach last year but knowing that I am the first female coach in the Big 8 feels great. I’m hoping it brings more girls to the sport. I grew up in this program and after graduation my two younger brothers have come into the program … rest of story at _{^{https://www.thedailyreporter.com/story/sports/2021/01/18/breaking-down-barriers-union-citys-aj-iobe-becomes-first-female-coach-in-program-history/115327152/}}

7 } – TOM’s College Wrestler of the Week – January 18th, 2021
Sunday saw four of the top NCAA women’s wrestling programs collide as #2 McKendree, #3 Emmanuel, #4 King, and #7 Colorado Mesa all did battle at the Tornado Duals. The standout for the host King Tornado was their 101 lber, Jaclyn McNichols. Entering the weekend, McNichols held a national ranking of number four. She earned that ranking with a fourth-place finish at the 2020 WCWC National Championships and was victorious in her only previous dual of the season. As a freshman, McNichols was eighth at the WCWA Tournament.  Jacyln got her day started with a hard-fought 3-2 decision over Emmanuel’s Angelina Gomez. The second-ranked Gomez was a WCWA runner-up in 2019. In the second bout of the day, McNichols prevailed 5-2 over third-ranked Jennesis Martinez. Last season, Martinez defeated McNichols 2-1 for third place at the WCWC’s. McNichols saved her best for last as she upset the defending national champion and top-ranked Pauline Granados of McKendree, 4-1. Remarkably, McNichols downed the three wrestlers ahead of her in the rankings over the course of a day! … rest of story at _{^{https://news.theopenmat.com/womens-wrestling/toms-college-wrestler-of-the-week-january-18th-2021/79841?mc_cid=0d6ab523a2&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}}

8 } – (Indiana) MCMURRY: Is it time for the IHSAA to sanction girls wrestling?
Jared McMurry | jmcmurry@jrpress.com
The parents of Penn’s girls wrestling team were screaming, cheering and high-fiving. They were giving their kids the same pointers and words of encouragement any other parent would. And in the background legendary wrestler and current varsity coach Brad Harper was there for support of his team.
This all took place last Friday night at the Indiana Girls’ Wrestling State Finals at Hamilton Heights where there were only two differences from the boys’ state finals that will take place in February. The noticeable one was the wrestlers had to put their hair back before each match — the quality of wrestling on the mat though? Much closer to boys than you might think.
The one that many don’t realize is who was running the tournament. And hats off to Gary Myers at Hamilton Heights. He helped start this tournament five years ago and its success means one thing: It’s time for the Indiana High School Athletic Association to adopt girls wrestling as a varsity sanctioned sport. … rest of story at _{^{https://www.journalreview.com/stories/mcmurry-is-it-time-for-the-ihsaa-to-sanction-girls-wrestling,142919?mc_cid=0d6ab523a2&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}}

9} – Mensah-Stock downs Gray, Cox makes return in Flo event
AUSTIN, Texas — It’s an exciting time in the sport of wrestling with the high school and college seasons underway, and the Olympic Games less than 200 days away. A number of American standouts with their sights set on Olympic gold were on display during a Flo Wrestling event Saturday night in Austin, Texas. That star-studded list included five-time world champion Adeline Gray, two-time world champion J’den Cox, world champion Tamyra Mensah-Stock and two-time world medalist James Green. The card was altered after the scheduled feature bout between Olympic gold medalist Jordan Burroughs and world champion David Taylor was postponed. The 10-match card Saturday still featured its share of top-notch competition. Kudos to Flo for putting it together. … rest of story at _{^{https://intermatwrestle.com/articles/24096?mc_cid=a7ee94d0b8&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}}

10 } – (Indiana) Women’s Wrestling Makes History Notching Their First Victory
FORT WAYNE, Ind. ­– Indiana Tech women’s wrestling earns their first win in program history today with a 30-18 win over Mid-South Conference opponent Brewton-Parker.
Whitley Blake started the match for the Warriors at 101 against Gabriela Garcia. Whitley started the match strong for the Warriors with a hard fought 3-2 decision win to give Tech three points while Garcia earned one for the Barons. At 109, Tehani Soares earned a tech fall win 12-2 over Alexandra Martinez to give the Warriors a 7-2 lead. Korigan Wilkey took the mat for Indiana Tech at 116 to face Shawnylle Sutton of Brewton-Parker. Just 19 seconds in there was an injury where Wilkey scored five points for the Warriors in an injury default for Tech to lead 12-2.
Alyssa Schuller wrestled up a weight class for Indiana Tech at 123 and earned a victory via pin in just 1:33 for five more points to the Warriors. Korissa VanOver also wrestled up a weight class to 130 where she faced Geneva Winston. Winston took advantage of the weight difference and scored five points for the Barons with a win via fall in 1:41. At 136, Charmayne DeLong also wrestled up to take on Paige Kalish. DeLong held her own and besides giving up two takedowns, controlled the match to win via decision 7-4 and get three points for Tech. Indiana Tech now led Brewton-Parker 20-8. … rest of story at _{^{https://indianatechwarriors.com/news/2021/1/23/womens-wrestling-makes-history-notching-their-first-victory.aspx?fbclid=IwAR3XEo8ZEAeOnUPMc3ZtLsuMG2WGBRHm8B9ibGYCdZmfANqBpOuwRXK3D4w}}

11 } – CAPTAINS CONFIRMED FOR WOMEN’S FREESTYLE CAPTAINS’ CUP
By Taylor Miller, USA Wrestling | Jan. 20, 2021
All six captains have confirmed their participation for the Captains’ Cup presented by Titan Mercury Wrestling Club, which will be held Feb. 13-14 on FloWrestling. Captains for the event are Sarah Hildebrandt, Jacarra Winchester, Jenna Burkert, Kayla Miracle, Tamyra Mensah-Stock and Victoria Francis.
Athletes that qualified the USA for the Tokyo Olympics either through a medal-performance at the 2019 World Championships or a finalist finish at the 2020 Pan American Olympic Qualifier were given the first priority to become captains.  The next group to be offered were other World Team members that didn’t meet the above criteria. With 2016 Olympic champion Helen Maroulis and five-time World champion Adeline Gray out, Burkert and Francis were selected as captains at 57 kg and 76 kg, respectively. … rest of story at _{^{https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2021/January/20/Captains-confirmed-for-Captains-Cup?mc_cid=36a2e0aa41&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}}

12 } – THIS WEEK’S WOMEN’S COLLEGE SCHEDULE, LISTED BY DAY, WITH NATIONAL RANKINGS NOTED
It will be a busy weekend for women’s college programs, as teams from the NCAA and NAIA are active in a variety of tournaments and dual meet events. One of the interesting things about the women’s college schedule this year is that there are numerous dual meets during the week, where the men’s college programs mostly compete on weekends. Most of the dual meets this week are during the work week, with only a few weekend bouts.Another aspect of the women’s schedule is the inclusion of tournaments. On the men’s side, almost all of the events are dual meets, tri-meets or quad-meets.
There are two tournaments this weekend, the Robert Horton Memorial Open at Emmanuel, as well as the Adrian’s Women’s Invitational at Adrian. There will be numerous ranked athletes and teams at these big events. The No. 1 NAIA school is in action this week, as Wayland Baptist travels to No. 12 Texas Wesleyan tonight for the battle of Texas. … rest of story at _{^{https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2021/January/20/This-weeks-womens-college-schedule?mc_cid=36a2e0aa41&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b}}

February 12, 2021 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized