Top 10 Upsets at NWCA National Duals

King’s Samara Chavez last summer in Fargo. Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo / WrestlersAreWarriors.com

Top 10 Upsets at NWCA National Duals

by Derek Levendusky
AWW Staff Writer
Twitter: @AWWderek

LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY - The NWCA National Duals in Louisville on January 6-7 were worth the price of admission. Besides the headlines made by Life University and King University for winning their divisions, the event was full of exciting matches and notable upsets.

Regarding upsets, some were surprises, where an unranked wrestler beat a ranked one; some were battles between two top ranked women, where the lower ranked wrestler beat the higher ranked one.

We inevitably have people look at a list of upsets like this one and say, “See? Rankings don’t mean anything.” Not true. Our rankings that we work on with FloWrestling, USAW, and the National Wrestling Hall of Fame for high school and the Senior level are pretty dang good (though not without flaws as no ranking is perfect). That said, even though we don’t do the NCAA or NAIA rankings, they’re pretty solid too. So when a ranked or higher ranked athlete loses, it’s not because we got it wrong, it’s because someone leveled up or performed out of their mind. Rankings provide context for big matches and upsets, so let’s appreciate what happened here. These are not results between two random wrestlers. They are UPSETS. Certainly the unranked winners here put their names in the ranking hopper and it may not be an “upset” next time around, but take a look at what happened in Louisville.

In all, between the NCAA and NAIA, six number ones went down at the event. Here’s our top 10 upsets from National Duals. Worthy of note: Four of the ten upsets listed were by King wrestlers.

#10
116 - Gabriela Ramos Diaz (Limestone University) over #3 Sugey Ceja (Tiffin University) TF 10-0
No one who has seen unranked junior Ramos Diaz wrestle will be surprised at all by this result. She’s been tough for a long time. Maybe this will finally get her the ranking attention she deserves. She also had a close one against freshman star Sage Mortimer from King University, a match she only lost 6-3.

#9
130 - Solana Mottola (Tiffin University) over #7 Autumn Flanigan (Augsburg University) Dec 11-2
Freshman Mottola scored a convincing win over a top wrestler from a top program like Augsburg. Welcome to the college map, Mottola.

#8
143 - #2 Ashlynn Ortega (King) over #1 Katie Lange (Augsburg) Dec 4-2
I know it’s a stretch to call this one an “upset” but let’s go with it. Ortega entered the year ranked #1 but that was taken away when Lange pinned her at the North Central Open. With this win, Ortega reclaims the #1 spot and creates a potentially dramatic third match should they hit in the postseason. Adding Boyd to this weight class certainly makes it interesting, so we’ll see how all that pans out.

#7
170 - #2 Abby McIntyre (Grand View) over #1 Brittyn Corbishley (Texas Wesleyan) TF 10-0
Abby McIntyre is having a fantastic freshman season, already getting big wins at events like the Missouri Valley Open, where she upset returning NAIA champ Jordan Nelson. This time she took out #1 ranked Brittyn Corbishley from Texas Wesleyan in the team quarters, a statement win for her.

#6
109 - #5 (at 116) Samara Chavez (King University) over #2 Pauline Granados (McKendree University) by fall 2:46
This one happened in the NCAA team final and was huge for the King squad. Granados was a 2020 national champion and for the freshman to not only win, but get the 5 team points (in freestyle team scoring) was tremendous.

#5
136 – Olivia Mottley (Life University) over #7 Randi Robison (Campbellsville University) Dec 4-3
Big win at a big moment as this one happened in the NAIA team finals. Unranked sophomore Mottley went 5-2 at the always tough Missouri Valley Open, and it would be shocking if she were not in the top 10 next round. She also took out the #8 from Southern Oregon, Julissa Taitano by fall 5:29.

#4
191 - #8 Gabrielle Hamilton (Life University) over #3 Liliana Vergara (Campbellsville University) Fall 5:35
Had to mention this one on the list. Lightning struck when Hamilton earned the fall over Vergara in the final match of the NAIA team finals. Down 6-4, she threw Vergara for the fall, securing Life University’s first-ever national title. It was also an upset, as #8 Hamilton took down #3 Vergara.

#3
170 - #3 Cheyenne Bowman (King) over #1 Yelena Makoyed (North Central) Dec 9-6
Wow. Bowman is the real thing. Makoyed is no joke, winning Junior Pan Am gold this year, getting big wins at the Senior level, earning a #3 Senior ranking, and of course, winning a college national title last season. Bowman getting a win over Makoyed is significant. She almost did it at the MoVal, losing 5-5 by criteria but flipped the script this time. She was a powerhouse in high school, winning three California state titles and at one point earning “USA Today’s Girls Wrestler of the Year.” She’s already #5 at the Senior level and is making a big mark on the college scene.

#2
136 - #5 Nina Makem (Augsburg) over #1 Ana Luciano (King) Dec 6-0
I’ve been hearing about Makem for years. As a matter of fact, we did an article on her a few years ago when she was still in high school as she moved here from Cameroon. Now she’s on the college scene making noise, and it doesn’t get much noisier than taking down a #1 like Ana Luciano of King. One friend of mine from Minnesota told me in 2019 that she’s “the female Jordan Burroughs.”

#1
130 - #3 Montana Delawder (King University) over #1 Cameron Guerin (McKendree University) Dec 9-6
This was an enormous win at an enormous moment for the freshman, again in the team finals. In winning the match, Delawder handed returning national champ Cam Guerin her first college loss. Delawder also had an upset win in the semis over #3 (at 123) Asia Nguyen-Smith from North Central by fall at 4:10.

Honorable mentions:
101 - Lizette Rodriguez (McKendree University) over #3 Samantha Miller (Presbyterian University) Dec 4-2
116* - #2 Sage Mortimer (King University) over #3 Sugey Ceja (Tiffin University) Fall 4:57
143 - #6 Emma Walker (Campbellsville University) over #3 Alexis Gomez (Grand View) Dec 8-8
155 - Tiera Jimerson (North Central College) over #5 Tiffani Baublitz (King University) Fall 3:50
155 - Tiera Jimerson (North Central College) over All-American Taylor Hites (Tiffin University) Dec 6-1
170 - #5 Jade Herzer (Wisconsin Stevens Point) over #4 (at 155) Marlynne Deede (Augsburg University) Dec 6-5

* Not officially an “upset” as a #2 beat a #3 but still feels like one. A freshmen pinned a national runner-up. Still shocking, especially if you saw the video of how it ended.