Stock Report: The Rising Stars of Women’s College Wrestling

King’s Ana Luciano had an outstanding regular season at 136 for the King Tornados. She took 2nd at U23 Nationals in November. Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo / WrestlersAreWarriors.com

by Emma Bruntil, AWW freelance writer
Twitter & IG: @Emaaabruntil

NCAA DIVISION

101 Jaclyn “Jackie” McNichols - King
You’d be hard pressed to find any wrestler having a better 2021 than King’s Jackie McNichols. During King’s quad dual meet with McKendree, Colorado Mesa, and Emmanuel, the King junior avenged a loss from the national tournament last year with a 5-2 win over Jennesis Martinez. She then took out previous WCWA national finalist Angelina Gomez of Emmanuel with a nail-biting 3-2 decision. To cap off her magical day, McNichols took out 2020 NCWWC champ Pauline Granados of McKendree. With the likes of McNichols, Pauline Granados, Angie Gomez, Jennesis Martinez, and McKendree super freshman Lizette Rodriguez, expect 101 pounds at the NCWWC tournament this year—the NCAA national championship—to be nothing short of spectacular.

101 Lizette Rodriguez - McKendree
Speaking of 101 pounds, now would be a good time to mention McKendree’s freshman phenom Lizette Rodriguez. The California native has been an absolute showstopper this year, taking out several ranked opponents and finishing the regular season undefeated. In the first match of her college career, Rodriguez scored a 10-0 technical fall over NCWWC All-American Jennesis Martinez of Colorado Mesa, and just this past weekend she dominated 2019 WCWA finalist Angie Gomez of Emmanuel by a score of 8-0. The real question here is how will the true freshman fare against the likes of Brooke Thurber of UWSP, King’s Jackie McNichols, and her national champion teammate Pauline Granados?

116/123 Sophia Mirabella - King
Sophia Mirabella had never been ranked nationally or earned All-American honors at any high school tournaments before entering the college scene this year. The New York native grew up in the world of MMA and boxing, and was somewhat under the radar in the wrestling world. It’s safe to say that Sophia’s days of being unranked are over, as the King freshman has had arguably one of the best freshman campaigns this season. Mirabella started this year off by taking 6th at 53 kg at Junior Nationals, and followed it up with a 4th place finish in the 55 kg division. At King’s quad dual on January 17th the super freshman took out 2020 NCWWC 3rd place finisher Marissa Gallegos 5-2. At the Emmanuel Open later that month, Mirabella bested the NAIA #6 Jasmine Hernandez of Lyon the semifinals before capping off her successful day with a 6-4 win over 2020 WCWA champion Julia Vidallon of Life 6-4. Mirabella’s biggest test this year will be none other than her own teammate, King junior and 2020 NCWWC runner-up Cheyenne Sisenstein.

136 Ana Luciano - King
Ana Luciano finished 4th place at 136 pounds at last year’s NCWWC tournament, but the King junior has seriously stepped her game up since returning to the mats this winter. Luciano started off the year by making the 62kg U23 national finals against Macey Kilty in Omaha, and boasts several wins over highly-ranked opponents. On January 17th Luciano took out Emmanuel’s previous WCWA finalist Felicity Bryant 5-2. In a heated dual between McKendree and King with the team ranking on the line, Luciano shocked the crowd with a 12-2 tech-fall over Junior world teamer Brenda Reyna of McKendree. To get to the top of the podium in March, Luciano will have to get past Dalia Garibay of Colorado Mesa and 2020 NCWWC champion Emma Bruntil of McKendree.


NAIA DIVISION

109 Rayana Sahagun - Jamestown
The Jamestown freshman and 2-time Michigan state champion showed no mercy on Saturday with some major upsets at the Grand View Open. Sahagun took out 2019 WCWA champ Asia Ray of Wayland Baptist via pin in 2:55. She then defeated NAIA #7 Chloe Krebsbach of Grand View in the finals with a solid 5-3 win. Sahagun does have a loss to Emily Fergeson of York College back in January, but the freshman’s trajectory seems to be going nowhere but up. Keep an eye out for this young stud at the NAIA national tournament.

123 Nichole Moore - Baker (Kansas)
Try to name someone who had a better showing at the Grand View Open than Nicole Moore of Baker. I’ll wait… The 123-pound freshman beat NAIA #5 Rebekah Cordova of Wayland Baptist 11-0 in the finals last Saturday en route to outscoring her opponents 44-1 on the day. To get a shot at the NAIA title in March, Moore will have to get through 2020 WCWA champion Julia Vidallion of Life University, Mia Rodriguez of Campbellsville, and NCWWC All-American Theresa Rankin of Lourdes.

130 Riley Dalrymple - Life University
Remember back in December when Dalrymple went 5-0 in her first weekend of college wrestling and secured NAIA Wrestler of the Week honors? Oh yeah, we do too! The 130-pound freshman standout finished 3rd at the always tough Emmanuel Open, as well as securing two pins over ranked NAIA opponents. Dalrymple’s NAIA Wrestler of the Week honor was the first in Life University women’s wrestling history. Although 130 pounds at the NAIA national tournament will be deep, expect this young freshman to be in the conversation for a title.

155 Cierra Foster - Oklahoma City University
Cierra Foster was an age group level star on the Cadet and Junior level, making multiple Pan Am teams and earning All-American honors at just about every major tournament. However, the OCU senior’s college career has been marked by several injuries that required some serious time out of the lineup. Foster didn’t look as though she missed a beat last Saturday, though, as she blew through the competition en route to a Grand View Open title at 155 pounds. Foster breezed past Tiyahna Askew of Missouri Baptist (Askew had just upset NAIA #1 Alexis Gomez of Grand View earlier in the tournament) in the semi-finals before beating Morgan Mayginnes of Baker (Kansas) for the tournament crown.