Eleven women with state ties to compete at first NCAA women’s wrestling nationals

Eleven wrestlers with ties to Connecticut will be competing in the first NCAA women’s wrestling championships on Friday and Saturday in Coralville, Iowa.

Eight wrestlers from Region 1 champion Sacred Heart, the only Division I women’s team in New England, qualified for the meet along with Ledyard’s Linda Holeman of Western New England University, Norwalk’s Lina Rodriguez of Felician College in New Jersey and Lindsay Rywolt from the University of Bridgeport’s first-year program.

The tournament will feature programs from the Division I, II and III levels with the women competing in freestyle. In freestyle, there are just wins by decision, technical fall (10 points or more) or a pin.

The double-elimination tournament begins on Friday and concludes on Saturday. The championship finals are set for 8 p.m. The tournament will be streamed on ESPN+ and available through FloWrestling.com.

Brackets have been released and only one state wrestler got seeded – Sacred Heart’s Josephine Larson is the No. 7 seed at 207 pounds.

In the past several years, national-level tournaments were held and called the National College Women’s Wrestling Championships (NCWWC).

At the recent Region I championships in Elmira, New York, Sacred Heart (17-5) had eight wrestlers finish in the top three of their respective weight class to earn a bid to the nationals.

Senior Aaliyah Payne-Parris (103), junior Love Daley (160) and Larson each won regional championships while Ahsia Torres (110), Nohea Moniz (117), Selena Sifuentes Shaffer (145) and Madeline Hodges (180) each finished second. Lauren Nguyen (125) finished third for the Pioneers.

It was the third regional championship for Payne-Parris (24-10), who earned All-American honors as a freshman in 2023 and has wrestled in three NCWWC national tournaments. Daley (30-8) is a three-time qualifier and a three-time regional champion.

Torres (13-3) and Hodges (22-16) are making their third national tournament appearances. Moniz (11-6) is making her fourth national tournament appearance.

The initial matches for the Sacred Heart wrestlers will be challenging. Eight Pioneers will be facing a seeded wrestler with Torres facing No. 1 seed Audrey Jiminez of Lehigh (18-0) and Nguyen facing No. 2 seed Virginia Foard (28-4) of King University.

Payne-Parris will face No. 3 Mia Zungia (21-6) of Colorado Mesa in the first round while Moniz will battle with No. 3 Riley Rayone (24-5) of North Central.

Daley will face No. 4 seed Stella Steigler King (29-2) of King University while Hodges will battle No. 4 seed Cloe Charles (25-5) of Ursinus. Daley is in the same bracket as 2024 U.S. Olympic silver medalist Kennedy Blades of Iowa.

Shaffer (16-13) will be competing in a qualifying match at 145 pounds and will face the No. 8 seed if she prevails. Larson (30-4) will also face the winner of a qualifying bout at 207 pounds.

The best finish for a Sacred Heart wrestler in a national tournament is second place by Madison Sandquist in the 2022 NCWWC national championship meet.

Holeman, who won a NCWWC Region I title a year ago, comes into the tournament with a 26-4 record and will face No. 5 Aspen Blasko of Grand Valley State (23-10) in their first round match.

Rywolt (23-5) finished third at the Region I tournament. She will face No. 6 Yele Aycock (19-9) of North Central in her first round bout.

Rodriguez (21-5), a freshman, finished third at the Region I tournament at 138. She will face Aime Moffit (33-10) of Augustina in a rattail bout. The winner faces No. 8 Carina Giageruso of Presbyterian in the first round.

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Norwalk’s Calli Gilchrist of Brown will be one of four wrestlers with state ties at USA Wrestling’s Women’s Collegiate Club Nationals on Thursday in North Liberty, Iowa.

USA Wrestling is hosting the competition to provide a national championship opportunity for club programs who can’t compete in NCAA or NAIA championship events.

Gilchrist will wrestle at 124 pounds in a field of eight. Coast Guard’s Mia Carabajal (160), Sierra Wangen (160) and Mali Richardson (180) are also scheduled to compete.

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What to know

2026 NCAA women’s wrestling national championships
At Coralville, Iowa
Date: Friday, March 6 and Saturday, March 7
How to watch: Stream at ESPN+
Results: FloWrestling
Field: There are 18 wrestlers in 10 weight classes. Schools are limited to one entrant per weight class. Wrestlers from NCAA Div. I, II and III schools are competing.
Qualifying: Wrestlers finished in the top three of their weight class as one of six NCAA regional tournaments on Feb. 21.
Of note: Tournament will run through quarterfinals on Friday. Action begins at 11 a.m. on both days. Finals are set for 8 p.m. on Saturday.

Wrester, Connecticut tie	Rec.	Wt.
Aaliyah Payne Parris, Sacred Heart	24-10	103
Ahsia Torres, Sacred Heart	13-3	110
Nohea Moniz, Sacred Heart	11-6	117
Linda Holeman, Western New England (Ledyard)	26-4	124
Lauren Nguyen, Sacred Heart	20-14	124
Lindsay Rywolt, Bridgeport (Stratford)	23-5	131
Lina Rodriguez, Felician College (Norwalk)	21-5	138
Selena Sifuentes Shaffer, Sacred Heart	16-13	145
Love Daley, Sacred Heart	30-8	160
Madeline Hodges, Sacred Heart	22-16	180
(7) Josephine Larson, Sacred Heart	30-4	207

 

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2026 NCAA Region I women’s championships
At Elmira, N.Y. (Feb. 21)
Team results – 1. Sacred Heart 170, 2. Western New England 159½, 3. Elmira College 115½, 4. Felcian (NJ) 111, 5. D’Youville (NY) 88½, 6. New England College (NH) 82, 7. New Jersey City University 70, 8. Norwich University (VT) 53, 9. University of Bridgeport 41½, 10. Wilkes College (PA) 40½, 11. Alfred State (NY) 25½, 12. Ithaca College (NY) 8½, 13. Centenary University (NJ) 7, 14. Maine Maritime 5½, 15. Kean (NJ) 4, 16. Utica College (NY) 3, 17. Misericordia (PA) 0
Of note: Top three finishers in each weight class advance to the NCAA women’s wrestling national championship meet in Coralville, Iowa on March 6-7
Individual results
103, Final: Aaliyah Payne-Parris (Sacred Heart) medical forfeit over Alyssa Sedillo (D`Youville); 3. Emily Doolittle (Felician) tech fall Lilie Normanie (New England College) 16-5 in 3:38; 5. Jocelyn Sanchez (Bridgeport) tech fall Joycedeliz Rodriguez Santia (Elmira College) 12-0, 3:00
110, Final: Theresa Zeppetelli (Felician) pin Ahsia Torres (Sacred Heart) 3:00; 3. Victoria Orender (Western New England) pin Abby Duke (Elmira College) 1:07; 5. Dyanne Pelaez (New Jersey City University) dec. Fenna Van Der Velden (New England College) 7-1
117, Final: Maddie Ripley (Western New England) dec. Nohea Moniz (Sacred Heart) 6-1; 3. Dianna Pineda (Alfred State) dec. Addisyn Herdic (Norwich) 9-8; 5. Madeline Li (New England College) dec. Grace Riley (Wilkes) 15-9
124, Final: Megan Edwards (Elmira College) tech fall Linda Holeman (Western New England) 10-0, 0:35; 3. Lauren Nguyen (Sacred Heart) pin Liliana Zaku-Ramos (Felician) 5:16; 5. Gianna Silva (Norwich) medical forfeit over Alexis Brua (D`Youville)
131, Final: Christina Borgmann (Felician) dec. Jazmene Molina (Western New England) 4-2; 3. Lindsey Rywolt (Bridgeport) pin Madison Wellen (D`Youville) 2:06; 5. Kali Bailey (Elmira College) dec. Bella Sowards (Sacred Heart) 11-5
138, Final: Jaclyn Dehney (New England College) pin Tanya Teneva (Western New England) 1:54; 3. Lina Rodriguez (Felician) tech fall Madison Canales (Sacred Heart) 13-2, 3:35; 5. Gabby Bradigan (Elmira College) pin Milly Hughes (Wilkes) 2:05
145, Final: Zoey Lints (Elmira College) dec. Selena Sifuentes Shaffer (Sacred Heart) 4-1; 3. Sanyah Queen (Western New England) dec. Gabrielle Miller (New Jersey City University) 7-2; 5. Alessandra Elliott (D`Youville) tech fall Ashley Dehney (New England College) 13-2 in 5:16
160, Final: Love Daley (Sacred Heart) pin Sky De Leon (Western New England) 0:49; 3. Tehana Savory (New Jersey City University) dec. Talia Robles (Elmira College) 6-4; 5. Karime Carmarena-Tejeda (New England College) pin Jelene Lainez (Bridgeport) 4:36
180, Final: Atiyana Williams (Western New England) pin Madeline Hodges (Sacred Heart) 4:58; 3. Ay`Seante Ross (Norwich) pin Fabiana Josa (New Jersey City University) 1:33; 5. Riley Wentlent (D`Youville) tech fall Carina Rivera (Wilkes) 12-2, 6:00
207. Final: Josephine Larson (Sacred Heart) tech fall Talisha Lewis (Felician) 11-0, 5:13; 3. Elizabeth Stricklin (D`Youville) pin Samantha Rabkin (Western New England) 2:13; 5. Alexis Bilka-Durdon (Elmira College) pin Izabella Luna (New Jersey City University) 4:47
Outstanding wrestler:
2026 NCAA Women’s Region 1 brackets and results (TrackWrestling.com)