NCWWC Day 1 Recap

Yelena Makoyed at the World Cup. Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo / WrestlersAreWarriors.com

by Jeremy Eusterwiemann

CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA - Many of us thought coming in this was a three-team race and it is exactly that. McKendree is still hanging in there, but there is little-to-no-room for error. North Central saw both of their 155 pounders take losses in the quarters. Could that be a factor here? Only time will tell.

Last year's returning individual national champions have been dominant early. Emily Shilson, Cameron Guerin, Ashlynn Ortega, Yelena Makoyed and Sydnee Kimber have yet to surrender a single point. The five of them have accumulated five pins and five tech falls. Will they be able to sustain the pace?

Generally, seeds hold true. There were not a lot of stunning upsets through the quarterfinals. That is not to say the day did not bring excitement. The second session started off with a bang as #6 seed Jenavi Alejandro of Tiffin beat #3 seed Jennesis Martinez of Colorado Mesa. The upset of the tournament so far belongs to Nyla Burgess of Adrian as she took down #2 seed Jimerson of North Central at 155 pounds.

Must watch semifinal matches:

1. Sage Mortimer vs. Sydney Petzinger (109). Mortimer is expected to be in the finals, but she has a tough opponent in Petzinger. King vs North Central will have big team title implications as well.

2. Jaslynn Gallegos vs. Payton Stroud (116). Stroud has looked very solid all year and this tournament has been no different. She looks as healthy as she has been in some time. Gallegos is always exciting; any time she is in a top matchup you will want to watch. McKendree has little margin for error to stay in the team race, so this is all but a must-win. If Gallegos and Petzinger both lose early, the team race could get far more exciting.

3. Vayle Baker vs. Amani Jones (123). Jones pinned Baker earlier in the year, but Baker has wrestled well as of late I expect this one to be close, and again we have a King vs. North Central matchup.

4. Nina Makem vs. Yele Aycock (136). These are always exciting. They’ve wrestled five times this year, and Makem holds the 3-2 series lead. Three of the matches have been decided by one point, with Makem winning two of them. Makem also had a fall over Aycock. This is by far one of the best rivalries in women’s college wrestling.

Stay tuned as action continues tomorrow on FloWrestling at 11am CST.