NAIA Dual of the Week: #2 Life vs. #10 Indiana Tech

Life’s Riley Dalrymple in the tie. Photo courtesy of Life University Athletics.

by Derek Levendusky
@AWWderek

FORT WAYNE, INDIANA - It was a rematch of NAIA powerhouses and Mid-South Conference rivals as #2 Life University faced off with #10 Indiana Tech at the Warrior Duals. Though the Warriors took two of the first three matches, it was Life who prevailed in the end, winning five of the last seven weights to earn a 26-18 victory. The event was held in the Doug Edgar Indoor Track & Field Complex on the campus of Indiana Tech last Friday.

There were some dominating wins to help Life gain the lead, with 123-pound Estefany Garcia, 130-pound Sarah Savidge, 136-pound Riley Dalrymple, and 155-pound Latifah McBryde all gaining early termination wins and bonus points for the Running Eagles. That being noted, there were several highly competitive matchups, as #1 109-pound ranked returning national champion Peyton Prussin scrapped to a 7-3 win over #3 ranked Tehani Soares. At 143, Life freshman #4 ranked Jamilah McBryde picked up an important win in a swing match over #9 ranked All-American Samantha Snow 13-9.

In another entertaining match, Indiana Tech’s Catherine McNulty edged Life’s Stephanie Villalobos 10-7 in the 170-pound matchup. At 191, Indiana Tech freshman, #14 ranked Riley Dempewolf, pulled an upset over Life’s #8 ranked Catherine Palmieri 6-1.

Both Savidge and Dalrymple went a perfect 3-0 at the event.

Earlier this month in Louisville, Kentucky, Life finished ahead of Indiana Tech at NAIA National Duals with a 3rd place showing while the Warriors finished in 6th place. The last time they faced each other, it was 30-16 Life at the end of the 2021-2022 season. Life had also beaten them earlier in the same season 30-20.

With the win, Life went 3-0 in the duals and clinched the regular season Mid-South Conference title, finishing 7-0 in the conference, and moving to 16-1 on the season. With the loss, Indiana Tech falls to an impressive 22-6 duals record.

Life will compete at the Grand View Open this weekend. The MSC Conference Championships will be held February 23-24 in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

BOX SCORE: Life 26, Indiana Tech 18
101 Makayla Young (Indiana Tech) over Devyn Gomez (Life University) (TF 10-0 1:38)    
109 Peyton Prussin (Life University) over Tehani Soares (Indiana Tech) (Dec 7-3)
116 Emma Jones (Indiana Tech) over Kory Phillips (Life University) (Fall 5:09)
123 Estefany Garcia (Life University) over Andrea Hernandez (Indiana Tech) (Fall 2:06)
130 Sarah Savidge (Life University) over Charmayne Delong (Indiana Tech) (TF 10-0 2:04)
136 Riley Dalrymple (Life University) over Allyssa Pirro (Indiana Tech) (TF 12-1 3:59)
143 Jamilah McBryde (Life University) over Samantha Snow (Indiana Tech) (Dec 13-9)
155 Latifah McBryde (Life University) over Grace Doering (Indiana Tech) (Fall 1:05)
170 Catherine McNulty (Indiana Tech) over Stephanie Villalobos (Life University) (Dec 10-7)
191 Riley Dempewolf (Indiana Tech) over Catherine Palmieri (Life University) (Dec 6-1)