Twelve Statesmen Traveling to Kansas for NAIA Nationals

Oskaloosa–The William Penn women’s wrestling program will be vying for team and individual hardware as it competes at the Fourth Annual NAIA Women’s Wrestling National Championship Friday and Saturday.

The Championship, which will be in Heartland Credit Union Arena in Park City, Kan., will include four sessions. Friday’s first session of the double-elimination Championship will start at 10 a.m., including two rounds of both championship and consolation bracket action.

The preliminary brackets were released Thursday and the following are the initial matchups for the navy and gold:

At 110 pounds, Mia Palumbo (Grad., Oak Lawn, Ill., Master’s of Sports Management) owns an 11-1 record and is the No. 1 overall seed. She will face De’yton Young of Missouri Baptist in the first round.

Also at 110 pounds, Avy Perez (Fr., Mission Hills, Calif., Nursing) is seeded No. 6. The freshman, who has a 15-9 record, will open against Makenzie Smith of Indiana Tech in the first round.

At 117 pounds, Christianah Ogunsanya (So., Akure, Nigeria, Kinesiology) is the NAIA’s No. 1 seed with a 10-0 mark. She is receiving a first-round bye before facing Callie Payton of Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) in the second round.

At 124 pounds, Victoria Baez Dilone (Grad., Madrid, Spain, Master’s of Sports Management) is the No. 4 seed. The graduate student will take her 21-3 record into a first-round matchup with Ellabelle Taylor of Evergreen State (Wash.).

Also at 124 pounds, Tatiana Paragas (Fr., Honolulu, Hawaii, Exercise Science) is 27-8 overall and will enter the Championship unseeded. After a first-round bye, she will meet either No. 7 Berlin Kiddoo of Central Methodist (Mo.) or Daniela Espinal of Montreat (N.C.) in the second round.

At 131 pounds, Kendall Bostelman (Sr., Napoleon, Ohio, Exercise Science) holds the No. 7 seed with a 47-10 record. The senior has a first-round bye before taking on Andrea Hernandez of Indiana Tech in the second round.

Also at 131 pounds, Bronwyn Brenneman (Sr., Parnell, Iowa, Biology) is unseeded and has a first-round bye. The senior, who is 21-17 on the year, will wrestle either No. 4 seed Olivia Mottley of Life (Ga.) or Jill High of York (Neb.) in the second round.

At 138 pounds, Esther Kolawole (So., Akure, Nigeria, Kinesiology) is 16-0 overall and is the No. 1 seed. After a first-round bye, the sophomore is set to battle with either Emily Neumann of Central Methodist or Teani Medeiros-Maielu of William Woods (Mo.) in the second round.

At 145 pounds, Naida Abdijanovic (Sr., St. Louis, Mo., Biology), who is 10-15 on the season, is unseeded. The senior has drawn a first-round bye, and will then face No. 4 seed Genesis Gilmore of Cumberlands (Ky.).

At 180 pounds, Piper Fowler (Fr., Cleveland, Tenn., Psychology) enters nationals as the No. 4 seed and at 27-4 overall. Following a first-round bye, the freshman will meet Bailee Nelson of Missouri Baptist in the second round.

Also at 180 pounds, Diara Pomares (Fr., Hemet, Calif., Fine Arts) owns a 15-13 record and is unseeded. She has a bye in the first round, followed by a matchup with either No. 2 seed Kathryn Hingano of Southern Oregon or Yazmin Belk of Doane (Neb.).

At 207 pounds, Phoebe Burt (Sr., Coralville, Iowa, Sociology) has an 18-14 overall record and is unseeded. Her first-round bye will set her up for a second-round meeting with either No. 8 seed Destiny Marquez of Cumberlands or Leilani Sanchez of Wayland Baptist (Texas).