2020-21 Women's Multi-Division College Rankings

116 Pounds

This ranking was produced by a team working with AmericanWomensWrestling.com for FloWrestling & AWW. The team includes AWW staff and several coaches representing both NAIA & NCAA programs.

What is a “multi-division ranking?” It’s a ranking that combines all divisions of women’s college wrestling—the NAIA, NCAA, NJCAA & NCWA. With the emergence of 86 college programs, along with dozens of clubs, making this Top 25 list is getting harder and harder. There were a lot of very good wrestlers left off the list this round, especially at 109, 123, 130, and 143. Ranking spots 16-25 is the hardest as there’s so many you could make a case for.

These multi-division rankings take into account all women’s college national championships—the WCWA, NAIA, NCWA, and the event launched last year for NCAA programs, the National Women’s Collegiate Wrestling Championships. It also takes duals into account when information is available, and this round includes results from the Junior & U23 Nationals held in November. With the pandemic limiting the college competitive schedule, these two USAW events provided great info for college rankings as there were plenty of matchups between ranked women. Many college programs participated in this event as part of their fall college schedule.

A few more notes:

1. Canadian perennial powerhouse Simon Fraser has been taken out of the rankings as their season has been cancelled due to Covid-19. As many of their women were in the Top 25, removing them caused a lot of movement, including in some of the top spots.

2. There are six new #1’s! You’ll see the following new names in the #1 spots: Wayland Baptist’s Nina Pham at 101, McKendree’s Felicity Taylor at 116, King’s Cheyenne Sisenstein at 123, McKendree’s Alara Boyd at 143, Emmanuel’s Kayla Marano at 155, and McKendree’s Joye Levendusky at 170.

3. Returning NCAA national champion McKendree continues to show their depth and muscle, as 5 of the 10 weight classes have Bearcats in the #1 spot. 116 NCAA finalist Felicity Taylor, 136 NCAA national champ Emma Bruntil, 143 NCAA finalist Alara Boyd, 170 Junior national finalist & 2x All-American Joye Levendusky, and 191 NCAA national champion Sydnee Kimber all hold the top spot. McKendree also has several other women in the top 5, with returning national champion Pauline Granados at #2 at 101, 2020 Junior national champion Cameron Guerin #3 at 123, 2019 WCWA national finalist Brenda Reyna #4 at 136, and U23 bronze winner Kori Bullock #4 at 170.

4. This is the first ranking in this 2020-2021 season where freshmen have entered the scene. In fact, it’s loaded with new names, and some of them debuted high. Lourde’s Stefana Jelacic came in at #6 at 116. King’s Melanie Mendoza also hit the top 10 at #9 at 116 after her performance at Junior & U23 Nationals. McKendree’s Guerin, as mentioned, is #3 at 123, while Menlo freshman Nanea Estrella is #5 at the same weight. At 130, Wayland Baptist freshman Jordan Suarez is at #6 after her 3^rd place finish at Junior Nationals which included a win over top-10 college wrestler Phoenix Dubose of King, while Midland freshman Waipuilani Estrella-Beauchamp debuts at #8. King’s Viktorya Torres hit the top 10 at 136 in the #10 spot, while young Colorado Mesa star Tristan Kelly, who won a Junior national title in November, comes in at #2 at 170, winning two of three matches over the previous #1 Yelena Makoyed at Junior & U23 Nationals. Expect to see more freshmen women hit the Top 25 as the season progresses, and expect to see some continue their climb closer to the top.

5. For the first time, we added wrestlers in D1 clubs or on D1 rosters into the fray. Columbia’s Bri Csontos is #8 at 136, while Arizona State’s Marlee Smith is #23 at 143.

Please note: Rankings are not predictive. They are based on results. While we know there are many other incoming freshmen that are rank-worthy, we do not rank them until they have college results. Think we blundered something? Let us know! Email: info@americanwomenswrestling.com