The Sacred Heart University women’s wrestling team heads to the Northeast Regional on Sunday, looking to secure berths to the national championships. (Photo courtesy Sacred Heart athletics)
The Sacred Heart women’s wrestling team enters the post-season for the first time this weekend when they compete at Sunday’s Northeast Regional championship meet at Gannon University in Erie, Pa., with the top five finishers in each weight class advancing to the national championship meet on March 4-5.
The Pioneers don’t have a full squad of 10 wrestlers but Sacred Heart still went 6-4 in the dual meet portion of their schedule and are ranked No. 14 in the country in the latest National Wrestling Coaches Association’s (NWCA) tournament rankings for NCAA Division squads.
Twelve teams will be in Sunday’s tournament at Gannon, including No. 8 Tiffin University (Ohio), last year’s regional champion, No. 9 Adrian College (Michigan) and No. 10 Gannon.
Sacred Heart has two nationally-ranked wrestlers. Freshman Madison Sandquist (Humble, Texas) is ranked eighth in the country at 143 pounds while freshman Ashley Reed from Southington is ranked No. 6 at 191 pounds.
Sandquist is 18-5 on the year with six pins while Reed is 12-3 with six pins. Sandquist won the Adrian Open and Lindenwood Open in November. Reed won the East Stroudsburg Tournament in November.
Other Sacred Heart wrestlers with multiple wins include Savannah Vanase (136), the freshman from NRA, who is 12-10 with six pins, Bridgeport’s Jacklyn Smith, who is 10-7 with six pins at 170 pounds and Temi Sanusi (155), who is 10-7 with six pins.
The national championship meet, sponsored by the National Collegiate Women’s Wrestling Coalition (NCWWC), will be held at Adrian College in Michigan on March 4-5.
2022 Northeast Regional
At Erie, Pa.
Northeast Regional website
Live video
Live stats (FloArena)
2021 Northeast Regional results
At Erie, Pa.
Team results — 1. Tiffin University (Ohio) 190½, 2. Adrian College (MI) 159½, 3. Gannon (Erie, Pa) 131½, 4. New Jersey City 61, 5. Delaware Valley 22, 6. Davenport 14½, 7. Trine 11½
2021 Northeast Regional champions
101 lbs. – Shanna Morris, Tiffin (x)
109: Emily Mendez, Adrian (x)
116: Sugey Ceja, Tiffin (x)
123: Trinity Berry, Tiffin (x)
130: Lana Perez, Gannon (x)
136: Elisa Cox, Adrian
143: Zoe Nowicki, Adrian (x)
155: Marta Ojeda, Tiffin
170: Jasmine Hale, Adrian (x)
191: Jessie Lee, Tiffin
(x) – returning regional champions
