Gilchrist, Sandquist earn spots on national teams at women’s nationals

Brown’s Calli Gilchrist finished third at the Women’s National Tournament in U20 in Washington state.

Norwalk’s Calli Gilchrist earned a spot on the U.S. U20 national team with a third place finish at the recent USA Wrestling Women’s National Championship tournament in Spokane, Washington.

Gilchrist, who just completed her freshman year at Brown, finished third at 53 kilograms (116.8 pounds) in the U20 tournament. The top three finishers earned a spot on the national team.

Sacred Heart’s Love Daley finished eighth at 72 kilograms (158.7 pounds) in the U23 tournament while former Sacred Heart wrestler Madison Sandquist finished third at 76 kilograms (167.5 pounds).

Thousands of girls and women competed in the tournament in eight age groups (8U, 10U, 12U, 14U, U15, U17, U20 and U23). The tournament was held April 9-12.

Gilchrist went 7-1 in the tournament with four pins and two technical falls – winning by 10 points or more in freestyle. She gave up just one point with a pin and two tech falls in her first three bouts before dropping a 10-0 decision in 2:41 to eventual tournament champion Taylor Whiting from Wisconsin in the quarterfinals.

Gilchrist went right back to work in the consolation bracket with four consecutive wins to finish third with a 1:35 pin of Libby Roberts from Spokane, Washington. In the consolation semifinals, Gilchrist pinned 2025 U20 world championship team member Abbi Cooper of California in 4:48.

She outlasted California’s Isabella Marie Gonzales, 14-7, to advance to the consolation semifinals. Outside of her 10-0 shutout loss to Whiting, it was the most points that Gilchrist gave up in a single match in the tournament.

In two USA Wrestling tournaments this spring, Gilchrist is 19-4 with nine pins and eight technical falls.

Daley, a junior from Baltimore, earned All-American honors for the second time this season with the Pioneers at 160 pounds. She won her third regional championship at the NCAA Region I championship meet and finished sixth at the first NCAA women’s wrestling championship meet. She went 33-11 and led Sacred Heart in pins (18) and technical falls (11). She was named the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA)’s Region I wrestler of the year.

At the U23 meet, Daley won her first three bouts at 72 kg with a pin and two technical falls before dropping an 8-0 decision to Rebecca Strong of Missouri in the quarterfinals. She won one of her final three bouts to finish eighth.

Daley was 4-3 in the tournament with two pins and a technical fall.

Sandquist, a four-time All-American who graduated from Sacred Heart in 2025, went 5-1 with three pins and two technical falls to finish third at 76 kg.

Sandquist won her opening bout in 54 seconds with a 10-0 technical fall before getting pinned by Alexandria Alli of Ashley, Ohio, in 4:53. But Sandquist rebounded with four straight wins to finish third.

She pinned Teagan McGuiness of Endwell, N.Y., in 1:47 in the consolation semifinals and won 10-0 in 1:39 to earn a win by technical fall over Caitlyn Davis of Illinois (member of the U.S. U20 world team in 2024) in the consolation final to win a spot on the U-23 national team.

Rookie of the Year: Sacred Heart freshman Josephine Larson was named the NCAA Region I rookie of the year. Larson (207) earned All-American honors with her eighth place finish at the NCAA women’s championships. She won the Region 1 title at 207 to earn a spot