It’s that time of year again. College wrestling postseason. With the NCAA still in emerging status, the Women’s Collegiate Wrestling Coalition will host its fourth annual National Collegiate Women’s Wrestling Championships, a national invite for NCAA programs, until women’s wrestling reaches full championship status. This year, the event moves to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on March 3-4.

One of the main storylines heading into the weekend is whether McKendree, the only team to have won the event in the first three years, can find a way to make it four in a row. It seemed far more unlikely earlier in the season with several All-Americans transferring out of the program in the offseason and several of their top women inactive, but the narrative has changed as first-year McKendree coach Alexio Garcia has opened the door to several top transfers, including four-time national champion Emily Shilson, and returning elites are back in the lineup. That being said, the Bearcats don’t have a 155-pounder competing and 2021 national champion Alara Boyd is out due to injury. Even without Boyd, as Kyle Klingman points out in his article, McKendree could still win five weight classes.

There’s three other teams in McKendree’s way — #1 King, #2 North Central and #5 Augsburg. The #2 Cardinals believe it’s their time. And why not? Their lineup is stacked from top to bottom, anchored by the best pound-for-pound wrestler in college — 170-pounder Yelena Makoyed. North Central outpaced McKendree at their regional, scoring 187.5 to the second-place Bearcats’ 150.0. That said, there were some upsets at the regional and 101 wasn’t scored. It’s hard to tell how the scores might be different once the entire NCAA field is in play. 

While North Central is looking like a real contender for their first team title, it was #1 King that won the NCAA division at NWCA National Duals in January. It took their star 170-pounder Cheyenne Bowman bumping up to 191, where she defeated Traeh Haynes 5-1 to give the Tornado a 23-21 win. That’s how close these two teams are. There’s no disputing that King has a powerhouse lineup in a peak year with three of their squad ranked #1 at their weight — Jessica Corredor at 101, Ana Luciano at 136, and Ashlynn Ortega at 143. Until Shilson returned, Sage Mortimer was #1 at 109. McKendree has two ranked #1 — Shilson at 109 and three-time national champion Sydnee Kimber at 191. 

While the winner will likely come from these three programs, don’t forget about #5 Augsburg, who took third at the regional behind McKendree by only half a point, and only lost to the returning champs 23-22 at National Duals.

Here’s a weigh-by-weight preview of the event:

101

King’s Jessica Corredor has had a year, beating #2 Lizette Rodriguez (McKendree) and #4 Maddie Avila (North Central) at National Duals. Watch out for the potential semi on the top side between Corredor and Avila, as there’s a lot of team implications riding on that one. No pressure, ladies.

Prediction: Rodriguez — it’s actually Bernardo now after getting married last summer — is a vet who has been in big matches before, taking third last year. She has beaten every one of the other top four women in the past, and only lost 3-2 to Corredor in January. She can do it.

Dark horse: #6 seed Jenavi Alejandro from Tiffin, a talented freshman who has nothing to lose and has had some big wins this year. We’ve actually got her ranked #3 in our new NCAA rankings.

109

There was a lot of talk about other contenders at this weight, but now that Emily Shilson has re-entered the college scene as a McKendree Bearcat, it seems like Shilson and everyone else. The undefeated four-time college national champion looks to win her fifth national title this weekend. Though #2 seed Sage Mortimer will be a tough out if they hit in the finals, Shilson is the heavy favorite, having dominated their two previous matches.

Prediction: Shilson.

Dark horse: Look for a deep run from unseeded Presbyterian senior Cassy Lopez. She was fourth in 2021, but had an absurd draw last year, losing to current #6 seed Moccia on the frontside and then exiting in the consis to New Jersey City’s Izabella Frezzo, who is currently ranked #7 in our NCAA rankings. Expect Lopez to have a better tournament this year.

116

2020 WCWA champion Jaslynn Gallegos has been a contender every year. She’s gone fourth, third, and fourth at the National Collegiate Women’s Wrestling Championships since its conception in 2020, and looks to earn her first NCAA title this weekend. She’s seeded third behind Simon Fraser’s #1-seeded Victoria Seal and McKendree’s #2-seeded Payton Stroud. It was Seal over Stroud 10-0 at the Missouri Valley Open last fall, but Gallegos didn’t hit either of them this year. Stroud and Gallegos would have wrestled in the regional final two weekends ago, but Gallegos injury defaulted, presumably to save the potential matchup for this weekend. 

Prediction: Gallegos breaks through and gets her first title.

Dark horse: University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point’s Rose Ann Marshall is compelling and could do damage on the backside.

123

Marissa Gallegos is one of the most exciting competitors to watch in women’s college wrestling. She took third last year after getting upset coming out of the #2 seed spot by King’s Melanie Mendoza. Gallegos has done so much on the USA Wrestling circuit and is ranked #7 in our women’s pound-for-pound ranking, she seems due for a big moment in college. After placing second in 2021 and third last year, and with some of her biggest obstacles out of the way (Hedrick and Sisenstein both graduated), she looks like the favorite to win her first national title at this weight. That being said, North Central’s #2 seeded Amani Jones will be a problem, and has proven she is capable of winning big matches. The Macaluso sisters are also in this group, and they’re always contenders for the podium.  

Prediction: Gallegos.

Dark horse: Though it’s hard to pick a #8 seed as a dark horse, look for #8 seeded Jennifer Soto from McKendree to outperform her seed. She’s just too good.

130

Here we go. Top seed Alexis Janiak out of Aurora has had Cameron Guerin’s number this year, handing the two-time national champion two losses. If this bracket goes chalk, it will be a don’t-miss matchup in the finals between the freshman breakout star and the returning national champ. That being said, don’t sleep on #3 seed Montana Delawder (King) or #4 Sara Sterner (North Central), who have both proven they can beat anyone. Sterner had a win over Janiak this year and Delawder handed Cameron Guerin her first college loss last season. So it’s conceivable to think that the final could be Sterner-Delawder instead of Janiak-Guerin. Stay tuned!

Prediction: Guerin cracks the code and flips the script against Janiak.

Dark horse: Colorado Mesa freshman Hailey Chapman. Yes, she’s seeded #5, but she could pull an upset and crack the top 4. Keep an eye on her. Even if she doesn’t, becoming a freshman All-American would be quite an accomplishment.

136

Read Klingman’s analysis of the Makem-Aycock rivalry. That’s a major storyline at this weight, especially since it’s likely they hit in the bottom side semi. If the top goes chalk, it would be #1 seed Ana Luciano in the finals against the Makem-Aycock winner. As good as Luciano has been, last year Makem was her kryptonite, taking her out twice, including in the semis of Nationals, 8-7. I’m sure Luciano would love to set the record straight, and the finals would be a big stage to do it.

Prediction: Luciano finally beats Makem for her first national title. She’s gone fourth, second, third and now…first?

Dark horse: Gannon junior Lana Perez is pretty dang good and always seems to be in the shadows. She could pull some surprises. Keep an eye on her.

143

This weight could have the storyline of wily veteran against upstart rookie as you have returning King national champion Ashlynn Ortega seeded #1 and Lock Haven freshman Grace Stem seeded #2. Stem is 22-4 on the season with all “good losses” as she fell to All-Americans Zoe Gress, Skylah Chakouian, and Alexis Gomez, and dropped one to freshman #5 seed at 136 Paige Wehrmeister. And don’t sleep on Augsburg #3 seed Katie Lange, who can beat anybody.

Prediction: Katie Lange pulls the upset and wins it all. As noted, she can beat anybody.

Dark horse: Chadron’s Kayley Garcia all day! She has a win this year over Texas Wesleyan’s Mea Mohler, who, you might remember, upset Alara Boyd at the Missouri Valley Open. This isn’t a stretch.

155

If you were to give out a “Most Improved” award for an entire college career, you’d have to give it to #1-seeded Augsburg senior Marlynne Deede. She’s become a force at 155, dominating the field this season. She took one loss to North Central’s Tiera Jimerson in the Midlands finals 4-4, but then she flipped the script the next time they met, earning a one-sided 10-0 win in the regional final a few weekends ago. Colorado Mesa’s Dalia Garibay is a compelling #3 seed, who can always boast that she handed two-time national champion Emma Bruntil her only college loss. She’ll have to wrestle like that to get through the bottom side to reach the final potentially against Deede, who is ranked #14 in our P4P college rankings.

Prediction: Deede gets her first national title.

Dark horse: UWSP’s Jade Herzer is unseeded and was an All-American last year. She’s a problem and look for her to not only steal a podium spot, but crack the top six. She could pull some upsets on the front side and it’s not out of the question that she makes the finals.

170

Of course, Yelena Makoyed is the heavy favorite to win her third national title. Why would anyone question it? Well, because Cheyenne Bowman, that’s why. They wrestled twice last year, and it was Makoyed 5-5 at the MoVal and then Bowman beat her 9-6 at National Duals. Bowman was upset in the semis last year by Joye Levendusky and the match against Makoyed didn’t happen again, but it could this weekend. It seems like Makoyed has leveled up even since then, but Bowman has too. Both are undefeated this season and if they hit, it could be the marquis match of the tournament. All that being said, #2 seeded Bowman would have to get through #3 seeded Emily Cue, who had only one loss this year, falling to Augsburg’s Ashley Lekas in the MoVal finals, an opponent whose season was cut short by an injury. A Cue-Bowman semi is must-see TV, as Cue is ranked behind Bowman in NWCA rankings, but ahead of her in our FloWrestling rankings and in the P4P (Cue #20, Bowman #22). Fun weight class. Don’t miss this one.

Prediction: Bowman gets by Cue in the semi, but falls to Makoyed in the finals.  

Dark horse: University of Wisconsin Stevens-Point’s Tabitha Breitrick won her regional in dominant fashion. She could upset the apple cart at this weight.

191

McKendree three-time national champion Sydnee Kimber lost her regional final against North Central’s Traeh Haynes by cautioning out. That was her first college loss since 2019. It was a great win for Haynes, but is it replicable? It promises to be a dramatic match if it happens again, as Kimber wants to finish her career in rare air as a four-time national champion. Haynes not only wants the title, but this match could have huge bearing on the team race if she makes the final. It’s likely that North Central has a finalist at this weight, as the Cardinals also own the #3 seed in sophomore Brittyn Corbishley, which means teammates could hit in the semis on the bottom side. If they do, it was Haynes 13-4 at the regional two weekends ago, so Corbishley would have to make some significant adjustments. Simon Fraser’s Katja Osteen is seeded #4, though she has no results this season against any of the others in the top 4, likely due to her geography. Simon Fraser primarily wrestles on the West Coast as their campus is in Burnaby, Canada, north of Seattle. Osteen took sixth last year.

Prediction: Kimber joins the ranks of the four-time national champions. 

Dark horse: Ozark freshman Rewa Chababo has been pretty tough this year. She could outperform her seed. She’s at #7.

The National Collegiate Women’s Wrestling Championships will stream live on FloWrestling starting at 9 a.m. (CT) Friday morning.