McKendree Wins Five Weights in Wisconsin, North Central Freshmen Shine

Alara Boyd won the 155-pound class Saturday in Wisconsin. Photo courtesy of Jim Thrall/MatFocus.com (from 2020)

by Derek Levendusky
Twitter: AWWderek

STEVENS POINT, WI - Back-to-back NCAA national champion McKendree returned to the mat this weekend at the Pointer Women’s Open in Wisconsin, winning five weights at the event. The tournament, hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point at the MAC, featured 11 NCAA college programs and three clubs as NCAA women got to compete for the first time in an open tournament format since the 2019-2020 season.

The tournament featured three of the top ten NCAA teams with #1 McKendree present, along with #3 Augsburg and #7 North Central. In the end, the Bearcats won five weights, North Central had two champs, and Augsburg, Wisconsin-Stevens Point, and Victory Wrestling Club each had one. North Central also brought the most competitors with 27, with McKendree entering 15, and Augsburg 13. Host Wisconsin-Stevens Point entered ten.

McKendree won the 109 class, as teammates Pauline Granados (ranked #2 at 101) and Natalie Reyna (ranked #2 at 109) made the final but did not wrestle the match; returning national champion Cameron Guerin won 136 with a 10-0 tech fall over North Central’s Niya Teresita Gaines; returning national champ Alara Boyd took 155 with a fall over #4 ranked Marlynne Deede of Augsburg; returning national finalist Joye Levendusky won it at 170 with a 9-2 win over Wisconsin-Stevens Point’s Jade Herzer; while All-American Grace Kristoff and highly touted freshman Jaycee Foeller of McKendree University both made the final for the Bearcats but did not wrestle the match.

North Central had champions at 116 as #7 ranked Mateah Roehl defeated teammate Kendra Ryan, a freshman, 8-5; and the Cardinals also won it at 136, as Sara Sulejmani beat McKendree’s Skye Realin 5-2 in a battle of freshmen.

At 101, host Wisconsin-Stevens Point’s #7 ranked Brooke Thurber won it in dominant fashion with a 10-0 tech fall over North Central’s Kate Cacho. Freshman Katerina Lange, though listed on TrackWrestling as competing for the Twin Cities RTC, the club associated with Augsburg, is on the Augsburg roster this season, and won the Open at 143 with a fall over North Central’s Riley Aamold in another all-freshmen final. Victory Wrestling Club’s Alisha Howk, ranked #8 in FloWrestling’s Senior Women’s Freestyle Rankings, took the title at 123 with a win over North Central star freshman Amani Jones with a 10-0 tech fall.

Freshmen Shine
Many freshmen made their mark at the Pointer Women’s Open, and a good number of them from the North Central program. Besides the aforementioned Illinois freshman Sara Sulejmani who won the 136-pound class, the Cardinal program had three make the finals and four others land in third place. Michigan recruit Kendra Ryan (116), Georgia’s Amani Jones (123), and Riley Aamold (143) out of Washington all took second, while teammates Flora Vizi (130), a Hungarian, New Jersey’s Sydney Petzinger (109), Oregon’s Fiona McConnell (170), and Texas freshman Traeh Haynes (191) all took third. Jones made a big splash, as her day included wins over McKendree’s Shaina Murray and #2 ranked Gabby Skidmore.

Other freshmen who put their names on the college map were Augsburg’s Katie Lange (a Minnesota native), the champ at 143 as previously mentioned; McKendree’s Skye Realin, recruited out of Hawaii, who took second at 136; Wisconsin-Stevens-Point’s Jade Herzer, a three-time Wisconsin state champ in high school, took second at 170; and Northern Michigan University’s Kaitlyn Bryant, a Texan, who took third at 155.

All placers:

101
1st Place - Brooke Thurber of Wisconsin Stevens Point
2nd Place - Kate Cacho of North Central College
3rd Place - Sarah Frost of North Central College
4th Place - Amber Turner of North Central College

Final: Brooke Thurber (Wisconsin Stevens Point) won by tech fall over Kate Cacho (North Central College) (TF 10-0)

109
1st Place - Forfeit Forfeit of Unattached
2nd Place - Pauline Granados of McKendree University
2nd Place - Natalie Reyna of McKendree University
3rd Place - Sydney Petzinger of North Central College
4th Place - Angelina Graff of North Central College
5th Place - Elizah Leonard of North Central College

Final: Natalie Reyna (McKendree University) and Pauline Granados (McKendree University) (DFF)

116
1st Place - Mateah Roehl of North Central College
2nd Place - Kendra Ryan of North Central College
3rd Place - Forfeit Forfeit of Unattached
4th Place - Victoria Nunez of McKendree University
4th Place - Aliyah Rollins of McKendree University
5th Place - Abby Nelson of Wisconsin Stevens Point
6th Place - Carly Valleroy of McKendree University

Final: Mateah Roehl (North Central College) won by decision over Kendra Ryan (North Central College) (Dec 8-5)

123
1st Place - Alisha Howk of Victory Wrestling
2nd Place - Amani Jones of North Central College
3rd Place - Gabby Skidmore of Augsburg University
4th Place - Katelynn Gunderson of Lakeland University
5th Place - Jordan Johnston of North Central College
6th Place - Tateum Park of Augsburg University

Final: Alisha Howk (Victory Wrestling) won by tech fall over Amani Jones (North Central College) (TF 10-0)

130
1st Place - Cameron Guerin of McKendree University
2nd Place - Niya Teresita Gaines of North Central College
3rd Place - Flora Vizi of North Central College
4th Place - Savannah Vold of Augsburg University
5th Place - Yele Aycock of North Central College
6th Place - Charlotte Kouyoumtjian of Augsburg University

Final: Cameron Guerin (McKendree University) won by tech fall over Niya Teresita Gaines (North Central College) (TF 10-0)

136
1st Place - Sara Sulejmani of North Central College
2nd Place - Skye Realin of McKendree University
3rd Place - Autumn Flanigan of TCRTC
4th Place - Abigail Denney of North Central College
5th Place - Blanche `Nina` Kemu Makem of Augsburg University
6th Place - Kya Rybachek of Augsburg University

Final: Sara Sulejmani (North Central College) won by decision over Skye Realin (McKendree University) (Dec 5-2)


143
1st Place - Katie Lange of TCRTC
2nd Place - Riley Aamold of North Central College
3rd Place - Michelle Camacho of McKendree University
4th Place - Megan Struble of Wisconsin Stevens Point
5th Place - Kim Nunez of North Central College
6th Place - Danielle Lopez of Northern Michigan University

Final: Katie Lange (TCRTC) won by fall over Riley Aamold (North Central College) (Fall 3:30)

155
1st Place - Alara Boyd of McKendree University
2nd Place - Marlynne Deede of Augsburg University
3rd Place - Kaitlyn Bryant of Northern Michigan University
4th Place - Kahlea Jolly of Augsburg University
5th Place - Shelby Ottum of North Central College
6th Place - Sawyer Graham of Augustana (IL)

Final: Alara Boyd (McKendree University) won by fall over Marlynne Deede (Augsburg University) (Fall 4:34)

170
1st Place - Joye Levendusky of McKendree University
2nd Place - Jade Herzer of Wisconsin Stevens Point
3rd Place - Fiona McConnell of North Central College
4th Place - Madison Horn of Augsburg University
5th Place - Destynie Pacheco of Augsburg University
6th Place - Sadie Hill of North Central College

Final: Joye Levendusky (McKendree University) won by decision over Jade Herzer (Wisconsin Stevens Point) (Dec 9-2)

191
1st Place - Forfeit Forfeit of Unattached
2nd Place - Grace Kristoff of McKendree University
2nd Place - Jaycee Foeller of McKendree University
3rd Place - Traeh Haynes of North Central College (TX freshman)
4th Place - Alicia Mena-Chaves of TCRTC
5th Place - Amber Latta of North Central College
6th Place - Tabitha Breitrick of Wisconsin Stevens Point

Final: Jaycee Foeller (McKendree University) and Grace Kristoff (McKendree University) (DFF)