Missouri Valley Open Preview: A Multi-Division Test For Top Programs

McKendree’s Joye Levendusky last April at Olympic Team Trials. Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo / WrestlersAreWarriors.com

by Derek Levendusky
Twitter: @AWWderek

MARSHALL, MISSOURI – This weekend the best teams in the NCAA and NAIA will converge on Marshall, Missouri, for the annual (after a Covid pause last year, of course) Missouri Valley Open. With the advent of multi-division wrestling in women’s college wrestling separating the NCAA and NAIA, and the old WCWA going away, this event has become the new functional multi-division nationals (though Midlands will certainly give us another look in December). It will all go down in the Burns Athletic Center starting Friday.

In our NCAA and NAIA team previews, we asked the question, “Which events are you excited about?” A pretty consistent answer was: The Missouri Valley Open, or as it’s affectionately called, “The MoVal.” Historically, top teams from both the NCAA and NAIA have participated in the event, and this year promises to be the same as the top two teams in the NCAA and top three teams in the NAIA all have it on their schedule. NCAA #1 McKendree, NCAA #2 King, NAIA #1 Life University, NAIA #2 Campbellsville, and NAIA #3 Southern Oregon are all headed to Missouri Valley College. Add to those teams some of the individual stars like North Central’s Yelena Makoyed or Wayland Baptist’s Asia Ray. Oh, and keep in mind, this is an “Open,” meaning anyone can come, like a few years ago, when Senior level wrestler Maya Nelson entered and won it. The MoVal promises to deliver some of the best action women’s college wrestling can deliver.

This year’s MoVal will also be a good test for incoming freshmen looking to make their mark, like Tiffin’s Olivia Shore or Taryn Martin, Life University’s Salyna Shotwell, North Central’s Sara Sulejmani and Amani Jones, McKendree’s Hannah Hall and Jaycee Foeller, or King’s gaggle of star freshmen like Sage Mortimer, Samara Chavez, Montana Delawder, London Houston, or Tiffani Baublitz. The event will be a two-day event for the first time this year, starting on Friday November 19th and finishing on Saturday, November 20th.

The NCAA #1 McKendree Bearcats, who landed six national champions at the National Collegiate Women’s Wrestling Championships last March, are bringing their firepower to the event, with twelve wrestlers ranked in the top 3 in the NCAA rankings.

Ranked McKendree women:
101 Pauline Granados #2, Lizette Rodriguez #3
109 Natalie Reyna #2, Carly Valleroy #5
116 Felicity Taylor #2
123 Payton Stroud #6
130 Cameron Guerin #1
136 Brenda Reyna #1, Michelle Camacho #4
143 Emma Bruntil #1
155 Alara Boyd #1, Kayla Marano #2
170 Joye Levendusky #3
191 Sydnee Kimber #1, Grace Kristoff #2

NCAA #2 King is on their way, too. They have four women in the top three, including returning national champ Cheyenne Sisenstein, and ten ranked in the top 6.

Ranked King women:
101 Jaclyn McNichols #5
116 Sophia Mirabella #5, Melanie Mendoza #6
123 Cheyenne Sisenstein #3, Makayla Welch #5
130 Phoenix Dubose #3
136 Ana Luciano #2
143 Ashlynn Ortega #2
155 Tory Torres #5
170 Nia Crosdale #4

#1 NAIA program Life University has twelve of their women ranked in the top 10, including #1 Peyton Prussin at 116 and #1 Jordan Nelson at 170. They’re coming off a 2nd place team finish at the NAIA National Invite last year.

Here’s the ranked Life women in the top 10 of NAIA rankings:
101 Devyn Gomez #6
109 Katalina Bartelt #8, Kory Phillips #9
116 Peyton Prussin #1, Salyna Shotwell #9
123 Julia Vidallon #2
130 Briana Kellin #5
136 Angie Prado #6
155 Destinee Rivera #4
170 Jordan Nelson #1
191 Catherine Palmieri #5, Gabby Hamilton #7

#2 Campbellsville still has the swagger of a #1, and rightly so, as they are the defending NAIA champions. They’ll bring their powerhouse roster of eight All-Americans to the scrap, including returning national champ McKayla Campbell (109) and #1 ranked Angela Vitiritti (130).

All ranked Campbellsville women in the top 10:
109 McKayla Campbell #1
123 Katlyn Pizzo #3, Jacqueline Ghent #4
130 Angela Vitiritti #1
136 Randi Robison #2
143 Emma Walker #2
155 Kendra Thompson #3
191 Brianna Staebler #4

#3 ranked Southern Oregon is also bringing a loaded squad, including #2 Esthela Trevino (101) and returning national champ #1 Sienna Ramirez (155). And these programs won’t be the only tough teams, as programs like North Central, Texas Wesleyan, Menlo, and Tiffin are all bringing their best.

If you’re a fan of women’s wrestling, keep your eyes on Marshall, Missouri, this weekend. You can follow along with the MoVal on TrackWrestling. Action begins Friday morning.