WOMEN'S WRESTLING: Success at national tournament.
HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. – On a landmark day for the sport that signified the return of one of collegiate wrestling’s most celebrated events, the 58th edition of the acclaimed Ken Kraft Midlands Championships made its triumphant return on Friday afternoon just outside the Chicago sector, including a women’s field for the first time in the tournament’s storied history. One of the standouts across what will go down as perhaps the most top-heavy bracket over the entire 2022-23 campaign, the Presbyterian women’s team garnered a top-four placement or better from all six competitors on the grand stage, continuing the group’s trend of excellent performances in a multi-team structure.
Of the 12 schools submitted throughout the women’s lineup, nine of them currently rank inside the NWCA’s top 20, including six listed in the top ten. The Blue Hose approached the tourney as one of those highly-publicized programs (checking in at #7 in the latest national poll), proving their stripes by gathering three 3rd-place nods and three more 4th-place earnings at the NOW Arena in Hoffman Estates.
The Northwestern Wildcats served as the hosting party for the Midlands Championships’ reemergence into the national spotlight after back-to-back health-related cancellations, seeing Samantha Miller (101), Ainslie Lane (116), and Paige Wehrmeister (136) climb to a podium spot by posting six victories between them. Cassandra Lopez (109), Catherine “CG” Bertrand (123), and Sierra Marie Miller (130) rounded out PC’s impressive day by all grabbing 4th-place honors.
Over the course of four tournament appearances, head coach Zach Sheaffer’s squad has measured up to 16 top-three efforts after bringing home three more such awards from Illinois. That number increased to 23 when taking into account Presbyterian’s seven 4th-place feats since November, concluding the calendar year with another stellar showing amidst elite opposition.
NOTABLES
- In all four bracket-style events on PC’s schedule, true freshman sensation Paige Wehrmeister has ended on the podium, with Friday denoting the first time that the rookie didn’t take home the top prize. Instead, the Missouri native published a bronze outing behind a pair of decision wins that totaled a 14-3 score. Wehrmeister saw her flawless start to the year finally take an L after having her hand raised 15 consecutive times, one of six Blue Hose grapplers with a double-digit win count to her resume.
- Sam Miller and Lane mirrored the newbie with 3rd-place callings of their own in the Windy City, the latter doing so on three pinfall wins (two of them lasting less than 120 seconds). Lane, ranked fourth in the country among 116-pounders, improves to 12-3 on her senior stint while Miller (another nationally-ranked wrestler in 101), finished her afternoon with that exact same record once disposing of North Central’s Amanda Turner, a pin that the junior was able to provide in only 46 seconds.
- Lopez, Bertrand, and Sierra Marie Miller went an even .500 at 2-2 during their difficult series of matches, all good enough to secure 4th with five combined pinfall W’s between them. Lopez secured back-to-back pins in 1:57 for her fourth finish inside the top four on the year, while Bertrand recorded a season-record 17-second victory in her first triumph of the day in the 123-lb. class. Miller tied Wehrmeister for most wins on the roster with her 16th of the campaign, registering two straight pins over Aurora and McKendree opponents that each blew by in under one minute.
RESULTS
101 – Samantha Miller (1-1), 3rd Place
Madison Avila (North Central) def. Samantha Miller (PC) by Dec., 2-2
Samantha Miller (PC) def. Amanda Turner (North Central) by Fall, 0:46
109 – Cassandra Lopez (2-2), 4th Place
Kendra Ryan (North Central) def. Cassandra Lopez (PC) by TF, 10-0
Cassandra Lopez (PC) def. Angelina Graff (North Central) by Fall, 0:20
Cassandra Lopez (PC) def. Clare Booe (Wyoming Seminary) by Fall, 1:37
Kendra Ryan (North Central) def. Cassandra Lopez (PC) by TF, 10-0
116 – Ainslie Lane (3-1), 3rd Place
Ainslie Lane (PC) def. Elvie Villa (McKendree) by Fall, 1:50
Chloe Ayres (Unattached) def. Ainslie Lane (PC) by Dec., 6-0
Ainslie Lane (PC) def. Tateum Park (Augsburg) by Fall, 1:45
Ainslie Lane (PC) def. Amaya Yoshizumi (North Central) by Fall, 3:21
123 – Catherine “CG” Bertrand (2-2), 4th Place
Catherine “CG” Bertrand (PC) def. Megan Stutsman (McKendree) by Fall, 0:17
Gabby Skidmore (Augsburg) def. Catherine “CG” Bertrand (PC) by Dec., 8-0
Catherine “CG” Bertrand (PC) def. Cecilia Williams (Unattached) by Dec., 9-8
Amani Jones (North Central) def. Catherine “CG” Bertrand (PC) by TF, 10-0
130 – Sierra Marie Miller (2-2), 4th Place
Sierra Marie Miller (PC) def. Natasha Markoutsis (Aurora) by Fall, 0:51
Sara Sterner (North Central) def. Sierra Marie Miller (PC) by Fall, 1:36
Sierra Marie Miller (PC) def. Shainia Murray (McKendree) by Fall, 0:35
Autumn Flanigan (Augsburg) def. Sierra Marie Miller (PC) by Dec., 11-2
136 – Paige Wehrmeister (2-1), 3rd Place
Paige Wehrmeister (PC) def. JoLynn Harris (McKendree) by Dec., 9-0
Yele Aycock (North Central) def. Paige Wehrmeister (PC) by Dec., 2-0
Paige Wehrmeister (PC) def. JoLynn Harris (McKendree) by Dec., 5-3
UP NEXT
The third straight tournament on PC’s schedule kicks off a very important January stretch for coach Shaeffer and co., transitioning from one distinguished event to another by setting their sights on the NWCA National Duals in Louisville, Kentucky next weekend. Festivities will run from the 6th-7th in what will be the team’s first multi-day event of the season.
Following that Friday/Saturday bracket, the Blue Hose will progress back toward dual competition with a head-to-head against Brewton-Parker on the 13th and Ferrum in the Templeton Center exactly seven days later.
