From left, Sacred Heart Paulina Biega, Josephine Larson and Love Daley. (Photo courtesy Sacred Heart Athletics)
Eleven women with ties to Connecticut participated at the first NCAA women’s wrestling championships on Saturday in Coraville, Iowa.
Sacred Heart junior Love Daley from Baltimore and freshman Josephine Larson from Lindenhurst, Illinois earned All-American honors as they helped the Pioneers finish 15th in the tournament.
Daley (160 pounds) finished sixth while Larson (207 pounds) finished eighth in her first collegiate campaign.
With three champions and 10 All-American wrestlers (finishing in the top eight of the respective weight class), McKendree University from Illinois held off Iowa for the championship, 171 to 166.
McKendree clinched the championship with a victory at 117 pounds with just two weight classes remaining. The championship round began at 138 pounds and McKendree and Iowa spent the tournament swapping the lead.
Daley, who won the NCAA Region I title, began her tournament with a loss to No. 4 seed Stella Steigler of King, 11-4 but Daley ripped off three straight wins in the consolation bracket to earn All-American honors for the second time.
In 2024, she finished fifth at the National Collegiate Women’s Wrestling Championship (NCWWC), which was the national championship tournament before the NCAA stepped in this season.
Daley (33-11) had two pins and a technical fall to earn a rematch with Steigler in the consolation semifinals. But Steigler picked up a 12-2 win to advance. Daley was pinned dropped by May Cuyler of Presbyterian in the fifth place bout in 4:09.
Larson (32-7) went 2-3 in the tournament with a pin and a technical fall. She dropped a 4-1 decision to Presbyterian’s Maria Aiono to finish eighth.
Sacred Heart’s Madline Hodges (180) went 1-2 in the tournament while Pioneer teammates Aaliyah Payne Parris (103), Nohea Moniz (117), Lauren Nguyen (124) and Selena Sifuentes Shaffer (145) each went 0-2.
Eight wrestlers from Sacred Heart finished in the top three at the Region I tournament to qualify for the NCAA women’s championship tournament. Ahsia Torres (110) qualified but did not wrestle in Iowa.
Stratford’s Lindsay Rywolt (131) qualified to represent Bridgeport’s first-year program and went 0-2. She finished the season at 23-7. Norwalk’s Lina Rodriguez (138) earned a berth competing for Felician of New Jersey and went 0-2, finishing the year at 21-7.
Ledyard’s Linda Holeman (26-6) of Western New England (124) earned her second national championship bid and went 0-2.
2026 NCAA Women’s Wrestling Championships
At Coralville, Iowa
Team results – 1. McKendree University (Illinois) 171, 2. Iowa 166, 2. North Central College Ill.) 123½, 4. Grand Valley State (Mich) 110½, 5. Presbyterian (SC) 83½, 6. Lehigh 54½, 7. King University (Tenn.) 45½, 8. Colorado Mesa University 41½, 9. Quincy (Ill.) 41, 10. East Stroudsburg University (PA) 40, 11. Wartburg College (IA) 39½, 12. Simon Fraser University (British Columbia) 37½, 13. Aurora (Ill.) 33½, 14. Emmanuel University (GA) 29½ , 15. Sacred Heart 21½ , 16. Adrian College (Mich.) 21, 17. Simpson (Iowa) 20½, 18. Eastern (PA) 20, 19. Fort Hays State (Ky) 19½, 20. West Liberty (WV) 18
Other regional schools: 26. Western New England 9, 30. Felician (NJ) 5, 35. University of Bridgeport 3, Norwich University (VT) 3, 39. New England College 2½, 44. D’Youville (NY) 2, Elmira College (NY) 2, 46. New Jersey City 0, Alfred State (NY) 0
Individual results
103, Final — Valarie Solorio (Iowa) tech fall Rayana Sahagun (Grand Valley St.) 13-1, 5:06
3. Genesis Ramirez (Aurora) dec. Madison Avila (North Central) 6-5
5. Trinity Pendergrass (Quincy) dec. Heather Crull (McKendree) 11-10
7. Alexis Winecke (Wis.-Stevens Point) dec. Mia Zuniga (Colorado Mesa) 11-9
110, Final — Audrey Jimenez (Lehigh) pin Sage Mortimer (Grand Valley St.) 1:50
3. Gabriele Tedesco (McKendree) medical forfeit over Nyla Valencia (Iowa)
5. Teegan Sibble (East Stroudsburg) injury forfeit Chloe Dearwester (Presbyterian)
7. Avery Kibelbek (King Univ.) tech fall Adriana Gomez (Colorado Mesa) 10-0, 3:38
117, Final — Yu Sakamoto (McKendree) dec. Riley Rayome (North Central) 4-3
3. Brianna Gonzalez (Iowa) dec. Karissa Turnwall (Emmanuel) 4-2
5. Carleigh Czerneski (Adrian) dec. Jenna Anderson (Presbyterian) 7-4
7. Abigail Cooper (Lehigh) dec. Gable Hemann (Wartburg) 7-1
124, Final — Xochitl Mota-Pettis (Quincy) tech fall Shelby Moore (McKendree) 10-0, 5:49
3. Sara Sterner (North Central) dec. Lorianna Piestewa (Colorado Mesa) 10-5
5. Aspen Blasko (Grand Valley St.) tech fall Virginia Foard (King Univ.) 10-0, 2:29
7. Savannah Witt (Eastern) dec. Alyssa Mahan (Presbyterian) 11-4
131, Final — Cameron Guerin (McKendree) dec. Alexis Janiak (Aurora) 5-5, criteria
3. Aubre Krazer (Lehigh) 26-1, Fr. over Cassia Zammit (West Liberty) 34-8, Jr. (Fall 2:48)
5. Abigail Mozden (Mount Union) pin Janida Garcia (Emmanuel) 0:19
7. Karlee Brooks (Iowa) tech fall Makayla Paclib (Pitt.-Johnstown) 10-0, 3:28
138, Final — Katerina Lange (Grand Valley St.) dec. Claire DiCugno (North Central) 4-1
3. Haylie Jaffe (McKendree) dec. Lilly Luft (Iowa) 5-3
5. Kylie Rule (Wartburg) dec. Jacinda Espinosa (Lindenwood) 7-2
7. Aine Moffit (Augustana) dec. Ruby Julien-Newsom (King Univ.) 8-1
145, Final — Bella Mir (North Central) pin Reese Larramendy (Iowa) 2:26
3. Liv Wieber (Simon Fraser) pin Madeline Kubicki (Presbyterian) 1:45
5. Annelise Obermark (Simpson) dec. Alexandra Szkotnicki (McKendree) 11-10
7. Margaret Buurma (Grand Valley St.) dec. Zoey Haines (Eastern) 15-7
160, Final — Kennedy Blades (Iowa) pin Tiffani Baublitz (East Stroudsburg) 1:19
3. Stella Steigler (King Univ.) dec. Savannah Gomez (McKendree) 5-0
5. May Cuyler (Presbyterian) pin Love Daley (Sacred Heart) 4:09
7. Keeley Kehrli (Simpson) pin Noelle Gaffney (Grand Valley St.) 2:44
180, Final — Kylie Welker (Iowa) tech fall Destiny Rodriguez (McKendree) 11-0, 3:00
3. Shenita Lawson (North Central) dec. Isabella Renfro (Fort Hays St.) 7-2
5. Isabella Phillips (Gannon) dec. Azariah Moore (Lock Haven) 7-2
7. Paige Maher (Simon Fraser) pin Mia Gaetjens (Adrian) 1:24
207, Final — Tristan Kelly (McKendree) tech fall Sabrina Nauss (Grand Valley St.) 11-0, 3:43
3. Rewa Chababo (Wartburg) dec. Katja Osteen (Iowa) 2-1
5. Jayleen Sekona (Colorado Mesa) pin Caroline Ward (North Central) 2:52
7. Maria Aiono (Presbyterian) dec. Josephine Larson (Sacred Heart) 4-1
Of note: Championship matches began at 138 pounds. Guerin (131) won her fifth national championship.
2026 NCAA Women’s National Championships brackets and results (TrackWrestling.com)
