Statesmen Back in Top 10 in Fifth Rating
Oskaloosa–The William Penn women’s wrestling team is getting close to full strength as the regular season winds down and the raters have taken notice as the NAIA released its fifth set of polls this week.
As a team, WPU is seventh nationally with 113 points. Menlo (Calif.) is first with 206 points, while Life (Ga.) (195), Grand View (164), Southern Oregon (158), and Providence (Mont.) (153) round out the top five.
The trio of 109-pounder Mia Palumbo (Jr., Oak Lawn, Ill., Exercise Science), 136-pounder Adaugo Nwachukwu (Jr., San Jose, Calif., Exercise Science), and 170-pounder Ashley Lekas (So., Plano, Texas, Business Management) are all #1 at their respective weight classes. The three top-ranked grapplers are the most for any school.
It does not stop there, though, as the navy and gold are flush at 130 pounds with Devin Patton (So., Plano, Texas, Business Management) at #7 and Joanna Vanderwood (Jr., Graham, Wash., Nursing) at #8.
143-pounder Isabelle Hawley (So., Winchester, Calif., Sociology) comes in at #12, while 101-pounder Teya Garner (Fr., San Antonio, Texas, Biology) is 16th and 116-pounder Catherine Steinkamp (Jr., Quincy, Ill., Exercise Science) is 17th.
The navy and gold have put pressure on Grand View in the Heart of America Athletic Conference standings, sitting second out of eight programs with 190 points, a mere eight points behind the Vikings (198).
The quartet of Palumbo, Patton, Nwachukwu, and Lekas all headline their weights. Garner and Vanderwood are both second, while Steinkamp and Hawley are third.
Alexis Montes (Fr., El Paso, Texas, Exercise Science) is directly behind Steinkamp at 116 in fourth, while Grecia Martinez (So., Horizon City, Texas, Engineering) is fifth at 123 pounds.
143-pounder Naida Abdijanovic (So., St. Louis, Mo., Biology), in fifth, and 191-pounder Andrea Smith (Jr., Rochester, N.Y., Sociology), in eighth, complete WPU’s league-rated wrestlers.
