Pair Just Shy of Podium Placing at Season-Ending NAIA Invitational
Jamestown, N.D.–The William Penn women’s wrestling team ended its inaugural campaign Friday and Saturday as it competed at the NAIA Invitational.
As a team, WPU placed 24th out of 31 programs with 10.5 points, while Campbellsville (Ky.) claimed the team crown with 185 points. Life (Ga.) was a distant second with 134.5 points.
101-pounder Chalimar Rodriguez (Fr., Keller, Texas) and 123-pounder Mami Selemani (Fr., Iowa City, Iowa) both had strong showings that ended with both finishing one win shy of getting on the All-America podium.
Rodriguez started her Invitational run by upsetting #5 seed Unity Cordova of Life 11-6. She failed to stay in the championship bracket, though, with a second-round loss, but battled on the consolation side with back-to-back wins. First, the freshman defeated Angelique Cervantes of Life Pacific (Calif.) 10-5 and then she slipped past Destiny Shelton of Indiana Tech 6-2.
Unfortunately, Rodriguez could not pick up the most crucial win of the weekend, falling 9-0 to Devyn Gomez of Life.
Selemani had a similar road to the All-America round. The freshman dropped her opening bout, but then rattled off three straight victories, beginning with a 14-2 technical fall over Maria Lopez-Garcia of Simpson (Calif.). She then dominated Olivia Branson of Baker via a 14-3 technical fall and eclipsed Geneva Winston of Brewton-Parker (Ga.) by another technical fall (16-6).
Selemani’s weekend came to a close, however, with a 10-0 technical fall setback to Theresa Rankin of Lourdes (Ohio).
143-pounder Joylynn Wegman (Fr., Keller, Texas, Psychology and Sociology), 155-pounder Salima Omari (Fr., Iowa City, Iowa), and 191-pounder Samantha Ruano (Fr., Romeoville, Ill., Business Management) were all unfortunately unable to post a win at the Invitational.
“The national tournament was a great measuring stick, showing us how far we came in one year and how far we have to go in the future,” Head Coach Tucker Black said. “I am proud of our ladies for what they accomplished. Now it is time to get better.”
