Contact: Matthew Eaker, Sports Information Graduate Assistant,
mreaker@noctrl.edu
Team Scores
Brackets
Results
NAPERVILLE, Ill. (Jan. 29, 2023) - Competing in the first NCAA Women's Wrestling Conference Championship in history, the North Central College women's wrestling team's historic performance propelled them past four College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) teams on their way to the inaugural CCIW crown.
The Cardinals scored a staggering 112.5 team points, outsourcing runner-up Aurora University by 71 points. Aurora finished with 41.5 points while Augustana College took third with 25.5 points. Carthage College fell one point short of Augustana to take fourth while Lakeland rounded out the top-five with 22.5 points.
Maddie Avila was the only wrestler competing in the 101-pound weight class, making her the first CCIW Champion in Conference and North Central College history. In the 109-pound weight class, Angelina Graff received a bye in the first round before pinning Camila Neuman of Aurora in 35 seconds to move into the Championship bout. Graff would face teammate Elizah Leonard and would defeat Leonard by 2-0 decision to take home the 109-pound crown. Leonard kicked off the tournament by pinning Neuman but would fall to Graff in the Championship bout to take home second place and All-CCIW Honors.
Second-ranked Jaslynn Gallegos received a bye in the first round of the 116-pound weight class before pinning Natalie Majer of Carthage to claim All-CCIW honors and the 116-pound crown. Third-ranked Amani Jones kicked off the tournament with a 50 second win by fall over Karla Topete of Carthage College before defeating Hannah Suboni-Kaufman of Augustana by a 10-0 technical fall. Jones picked up another technical fall win over teammate Dakota Drew before winning by injury default, claiming the 123-pound crown. Drew won her first match via injury default before defeating Topete by a 15-4 technical fall. Drew would fall to Jones in her third match but would defeat Suboni-Kaufman via 12-1 technical fall to earn second place and All-CCIW honors.
Emma Grimm kicked off the tournament by pinning Nadia Flores of Carthage College before pinning second-seed Bethany Regione of Aurora to put her into the championship bout. Grimm would face fifth-ranked Alexis Janiak in the championship but would fall by a 14-2 technical fall to take home second place and All-CCIW honors. Halle White kicked off her tournament with a technical fall win over Alicia Felker of Augustana before falling to Janiak in the semifinals. White would bounce back with a 10-0 technical fall win over Flores and would claim third place with a 12-2 technical fall win over Regione.
Second-ranked Yele Aycock kicked off the tournament with a 10-0 technical fall win over Emily Landolf of Lakeland in the 136-pound weight class before pinning Kara Rohlf of Augustana in the second round. Aycock stayed perfect on the day, defeating teammate Sydney Park via 10-0 technical fall and would face Natasha Markoutsis in the championship match. Markoutsis found Aycock in an awkward position and was able to get the pin giving Aycock a second place finish and All-CCIW honors. Park started the tournament off with a 12-2 technical fall win over Markoutsis before getting her second technical fall of the day, defeating Landolf 10-0. Park would fall to Aycock but would bounce back with a 10-0 technical fall win over Rohlf to secure third place and All-CCIW honors.
Sixth-ranked Kendall Bostelman only needed two matches to claim the 143-pound CCIW Crown, she defeated Adele Senzig of Carthage via 10-0 technical fall before picking up another technical fall win, defeating Olga Turiy 12-2.
Top-ranked Tiera Jimerson won her first match of the day via injury default before defeating Sierra Pienkowski of Carthage by a 12-2 technical fall. In the third round, Jimerson would pick up her third pin of the year, defeating Abbey Ellis. Jimerson would go head to head with teammate Shelby Ottum for the 155-pound crown and would defeat Ottum via 6-0 decision to claim the 155-pound title. Ottum only needed 29 seconds to pin Ellis in the first round and would defeat Pienkowski via 10-0 technical fall in the second round. Ottum would head into the championship bout after winning her third match by injury default but would fall to Jimerson to take home second place and All-CCIW honors.
Top-ranked Yelena Makoyed only needed 11 seconds in her first match to pin Meara Hayes of Lakeland and after receiving a bye in the second round, she would only need 50 seconds to take home the 170-pound crown, pinning Niyasia McCampbell of Lakeland. Fifth-ranked Traeh Haynes kicked off the tournament by pinning Khalila Corry of Lakeland in 38 seconds. In the second round, Haynes picked up another pin, defeating Evelyn Adekunle of Lakeland before defeating Angie Guy via 10-0 technical fall to claim the 191-pound title.
All 15 Cardinal wrestlers placed within the top-three to earn All-CCIW honors while eight wrestlers were crowned Champions in their respective weight classes. Shelby Ottum was named the CCIW's Elite 26 Award Winner. The Elite 26 is modeled after the NCAA's Elite 90 program and is given to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative GPA among all-conference recipients. Head coach Joe Norton was named the CCIW's Coach of the Year, his third time overall and first time as the women's head coach.
The top-ranked Cardinals head to Lebanon, Ill. on Sunday, Feb. 5 to compete in the Bearcat Open. The action is set to start at 9 am inside the Melvin Price Convocation Center on the campus of McKendree University.
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