WOMEN'S WRESTLING - PC among the teams in Chicago event.
HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. – After a two-year absence due to public health and safety concerns, the long-awaited return of one of the most prestigious tournaments in collegiate wrestling is finally back on track, involving the Presbyterian College women's wrestling team in the Windy City. On Friday afternoon, the 58th annual Ken Kraft Midlands Championships will take place just outside Chicago, harboring some of the nation's best programs and individual competitors. Brackets will officially get underway at 11:00 a.m.
Rolling into their final outing of 2022 as the seventh-ranked team in America according to the National Collegiate Wrestling Association (NWCA), the Blue Hose will join the likes of Augsburg, Aurora, Brewton-Parker, Colorado Mesa, Emmanuel, King, Life, Lock Haven, McKendree, North Central, and UW-Stevens Point as fellow entries into the esteemed field. Altogether, nine nationally-ranked schools will be represented on Friday, including six squads inside the country's top 10 (Presbyterian among them).
Known for its distinguished history involving men's wrestling – evident by the whopping 41 men's teams that will compete on Thursday and Friday – the 2022 edition of the Midlands Championships will include a women's field for the first time ever. PC and head coach Zach Shaeffer know a thing or two about making history, claiming three 1st-place crowns at the Princeton Open back in November, the first time an NCAA Division I institution has ever hosted a women's open competition.
Since that point, the Blue Hose have done nothing but excel in the multi-team format, living up to their lofty moniker by publishing 17 top-four placements in only three tourneys. Nearly half of that figure was obtained the last time that Presbyterian was in action, collecting six top-three finishes at the WASP Open in Virginia on December 18, eight in total within the top four of their respective weight class.
With each time that coach Shaeffer's unit has hit the mat, the list of accomplishments keeps growing in swift fashion. Not only do the Blue Hose possess four nationally-ranked grapplers (Samantha Miller in 101, Ainslie Lane in 116, Sierra Marie Miller in 130, and Paige Wehrmeister in 136), but the entire squad as a whole has accumulated 80 victories since the start of the season nearly two months back, ensuring that the remainder of the campaign holds even more success.
Led by a perfect 14-0 mark from true freshman phenom Wehrmeister, PC boasts six wrestlers either already at or one win away from double digits to their personal records. The trio of Wehrmeister, Samantha Miller, and Lane have added up for a combined win/loss resume of 34-4, not to mention 26 extra wins from Sierra Marie Miller and Lopez with 13 each.
Well-established as doing their best work when in a tournament setting, Presbyterian looks to add the most impressive piece of hardware to their expanding trophy cabinet tomorrow afternoon and grab another first in the women's wrestling record books. Each class' 1st, 3rd, and 5th-place bouts will begin at approximately 6:05 at the NOW Arena in Hoffman Estates.
