LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The No. 11-ranked Indiana Tech women's wrestling team finished seventh in their first appearance at the NWCA National Duals inside the Kentucky International Convention Center, defeating No. 11-ranked Missouri Baptist University, 31-16, #13-ranked University of Providence, 29-15, and No. 7-ranked University of the Cumberlands, 29-17, while falling to No. 1-ranked Campbellsville University, 45-2 and No. 4-ranked Texas Wesleyan University, 28-18. The team also had six wrestlers place at the NUWAY Combat College Open that took place Thursday.
The Warriors and Spartans split the first five matches of the opening dual, with Tech holding a 16-8 lead thanks to pins from
Sydney Kutzke,
Alyssa Schuller and
Charmayne DeLong, but was able to put the match away with pins from
Elly Kuzma and
Cat McNulty.
The top-ranked Tigers wasted no time in putting the Warriors away as they recorded seven straight pins, with five of them coming in under a minute, as Tech was sent to the consolation bracket.
The Warriors benefited from five wins, including three forfeits, that included bonus points against Providence as DeLong got a 10-0 tech fall while
Tehani Soares was the beneficiary of an injury at 109-lbs. to send Tech into day two and guaranteed their spot in the top-eight.
Texas Wesleyan proved too much to overcome as they raced out to a 25-2 lead through the first six matches of the duals and were never threatened as the Warriors were sent to the seventh-place match.
Matching up against their conference foes for the third time in the program's young history, the Warriors got their first-ever win against Cumberlands as they overcame a 7-2 deficit and rattled off seven straight wins, all coming via tech fall, pin or forfeit, to build a 29-8 lead and secure seventh place.
Emma Jones,
Carley Anderson and
Alicia Pieper all got tech falls while Kuzma notched the pin.
Riley Horvath was the top Warrior finisher in the NUWAY College Open as she took third place in the 101/109-lbs. division while
Destiny Shelton was sixth.
Lindsey Weaver finished fifth at 116-lbs.,
Lita Chowning was sixth at 116-lbs.,
Sharon Leon finished fifth at 123-lbs. and Kelsi Miller was fifth at 191-lbs.
Tech now sits at 6-5 in dual action and returns to the mats January 14-15 as they travel to York College for a duals and open tournament.
