NAIA Preview Series: #18 Brewton-Parker
Brewton-Parker’s first-ever All-American India Page. Photo courtesy of Brewton-Parker Athletics.
by Derek Levendusky
@AWWderek
Seventh year program Brewton Parker started the season ranked #13 in NAIA polls. In the third season under head coach Devane Dodgens, they finished in the top 15 last year and brought home their first All-American in India Page. Though the Barons fell to #18 in the second poll, they are getting better in the room and looking to make improvements throughout the season, eyeing a top 10 finish at Nationals.
Here’s an interview with Coach Devane Dodgens.
1. What are your reflections on last season?
We truly shocked the nation last year and I was truly happy with how we did. We went from winning no duals our first year to 10 duals our second year. We also beat the #6, #9 and #14 ranked team from the NAIA last year as well in dual meets while giving up 2-3 voids. We beat a couple of good NCAA teams and placed higher at every tournament we wrestled at. Despite the fact we had some bad injuries at the end of the year we still placed 15th as a team at nationals. Every lady we brought won a match out at Nationals and we had the program's first All-American (India Page) who took 7th.
2. Talk about your returning class. Who are some of the women you have high expectations for this year?
We bring back a solid group. Gaby Galvez returns from injury and we are excited about her progress throughout the year so far. Alyssa Valdivia ran into a brutal backside at Nationals but getting her back healthy is a huge plus. Alesandra Burgos has become the unquestioned leader of the team and gets better with every match. Kate Neal and Sydney Allman are young and scrappy and both should provide a nice 1-2 punch at 123/130. Jori Richardson Improved throughout the season and has done well early. We are expecting big things from her. Sierra Hartfelder is our other team leader and has progressed well this year. Leidaly Rivera was a round of 12 last year and is sneaky. She finally got some looks at Missouri Valley while recovering from injuries and we expect her to be healthy and a force come December. India Page comes back as a returning All-American and this year has already improved a lot. She's a title contender right away. Mel Mercado is wrapping up her career after this year and is looking to go out with a bang. She's hungry as she won three matches at the national tournament last year and is looking to go out on the podium.
3. Talk about your incoming freshmen class and/or transfers. Who are you excited about and what are some of the names that you expect an immediate contribution from?
Katelyn Lewis would be the headline of this class. Taking 3rd at Fargo and seeing how much room she has to grow should be scary for other teams. She’s an absolute worker who is game to wrestle anyone, which we love here at BPC. Two sneaky ladies we have that also signed with us are Migdalys Ramos and Madisyn Blackburn. Both are close to being nationally ranked as Migs have done great so far (7-1 at friends, 4-2 at Missouri valley). Madisyn brings a calm, cool, and collected approach to wrestling and she is further along than we had pictured (5-1 at Friends). Dej-ann Angus is homegrown and beat the #9 ranked female in her weight class a couple of weeks ago. She will be dangerous when she puts it all together. Nicole Chandler is young and scrappy and Jamesa Robison, Elora Waterman, Dakota Smith, and Avry Warren are going to get a lot of matches and get a chance to prove themselves. They all should be names you look out for. Savannah Pitts, Skyy Hargrove, Taniyah Ford, Raven Waterman and Ali Rodgers will get a lot of mat time and development and should grow and be the next wave of hammers for our program. Kaylee Easter, Naomi Bullis, and Karla Roman are all spending time on medical redshirts and are adjusting well. We are excited to get this group back healthy and happy towards the end of the year. The last big transfer we got is Josselinne Campos who is a big-time transfer from East Stroudsburg and a Guatemala world team member. This class should help us reset and elevate our team to new heights.
4. How do you feel about your preseason?
We went more so into heavy lifting with one of our other team leaders, Kate Neal. The team is the strongest and healthiest it's been since I got here. Our mindset from preseason and into the regular season can use a lot of work. Part of it is trying to prepare our ladies for competing in one of the toughest conferences in NAIA. I honestly think the Life U Open and Week 4 (when we started cutting down the roster for one reason or another) were key for us. We had a “what can go wrong did go wrong tournament” and had a couple of key injuries and mental setbacks. Our ladies hopefully with the break can come back and respond like I expect them to do. Some of our ladies stepped up and went to the Missouri Valley Open off of short rest and with a lot of adversity. Part of being the coach is tempering expectations but most of our ladies stepped up. I was very proud of that and would consider that a huge moment because it showed where some of our team's mindset was at. It also showed we have a long way to go if we are going to be competitive with the best teams like Indiana Tech, Life, the University of the Cumberlands, Montreat, and others.
5. Talk about some of your team's goals this season. Are there any specific events you're excited about?
To be honest, the viewpoint and mindset went from all about wins to being competitive and consistent in that aspect. Everything is just practice until the conference meet and we can’t be afraid to chase the best. As long as we are consistent with our approach and we have a competitive mindset, everything else will fall into place. We want hard workers first and foremost because those ladies will be All-Americans and national champions when everything is said and done. We want to be in the top 10 for team GPA and have more Scholar All-Americans than last year (we had six at nationals and nine from Mid-South Conference). Clearly, for us the Friends tournament was awesome and we did well; Missouri Valley was an amazing tournament. We host our first-ever dual tournament with 12 teams coming, which we are pumped about. We also get to have fun at the first Midlands Tournament for females and regardless of the result, we are excited that we get to do that. We are hoping to have a better result than last year at National Duals. Grand View should be fun and then we have a bunch of competitive duals in January. The conference will be interesting as it has been adjusted to run like the men’s structure. The best and hardest working 12 ladies will get entered and you have to earn your way out. I love this and being in one of the toughest conferences around will give us a challenge unlike ever before.
6. What are some things you've built into your program that you credit for the success you've had so far?
I have had a great support system at BPC and ladies who want to work hard and get better. I try to take the mental toughness approach that I was brought up with from coaches like Omi Ascota and Nate Ethridge while having the relatable approach, which I learned from coaches like Jameel Bryant and Jeff Bedard. We try to have fun and make it feel like it isn’t all work and business all the time. Some of our ladies have bought into the approach of if you try in the classroom as hard as you try in wrestling you can’t fail and it is working out great for them. Trying to instill the right culture and bring in ladies who fit/elevate that culture has been tough at times, but is starting to slowly pay off. We truly treat each other as a small team like family and work hard to give everyone mat time and development.
7. Who are some of the personalities in the room that are providing leadership and shaping your culture?
Alesandra Burgos has become a great leader and sets the tone day in and day out. We couldn’t shock the nation without her guidance and the way she stays involved. Sierra Hartfelder came from basically nothing when she came into our program to a 4.0 student who wins matches. Gaby Galvez and Kate Neal are direct with their approaches and when they talk people listen. Elora Waterman and Jori Richardson would be the other two that have stepped in and provided guidance and worked hard. Elora is the biggest surprise as we haven't had a freshman ever in the program step up and make such an impact by her actions and taking accountability, not just her words. We have that walk it don't talk it approach and our ladies are doing just that.
8. Anything else you'd like to mention?
We are young and talented, but hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard. I believe we have the support from up top and coaches/student-athletes who want to reach the goals we have in place. We will see how the season goes but I am excited about this group. Shoutout to you guys who go above and beyond at AWW. You all do a great job at promoting the sport and it’s always awesome to see!