2024 NAIA Women's National Championship Preview

This weekend will be the 2nd annual NAIA Women’s Freestyle Championships. Here are some previews for each weight.

101 lbs:

Top seed - Erin Hikiji, Providence

Erin Hikiji is hoping to cap off a tremendous season with a redemption finals result to end up on top. Standing in her way will be a few tough wrestlers that Hikiji has previously beaten on that side of the bracket with Alyssa Quezaire of Missouri Baptist, whom Hikiji teched at the Warrior Open, and Esther Walker of Midland, whom Hikiji teched at the North Central Open. However, 2-seed Stefana Jalacic of Lourdes will certainly press Hikiji in the finals, if she can make it past a tough Kayla McKinley-Johnson of Menlo. There is also an unseeded but tough Devyn Gomez here who could certainly shake things up.

109 lbs:

Top seed - Mia Palumbo, William Penn

Mia Palumbo has already teched the 2-seed Alexsys Jacquez of St. Mary earlier this season, but there are plenty of ways this finals match could shape up. I would keep an eye on Providence’s Paige Morales at the 4 seed and Tehani Soares of Indiana Tech to make things interesting in their respective halves of the bracket. Regardless, I think Palumbo is on her way to an individual championship here as a leader on this William Penn team.

116 lbs:

Top seed - Juliana Diaz, Missouri Baptist

Diaz got the win over Avery Ashley of Oklahoma City at conferences to claim the top spot, but I wouldn’t guarantee you’d see the same result if they were to meet up again. Ashley is a tough competitor who’s seen a lot of action this season only dropping three matches including the one to Diaz, and thrives in a tournament setting. After finishing in 5th last season, look for Ashley to solidify a much higher All-American finish. Also bound to make waves at 116 will be Camille Fournier of Texas Wesleyan and Icart Galumette of Campbellsville. Galumette was the individual champ at Mid South Conferences after two quick pins and a big decision over Ariana Martinez of Life, seeded 7th at this tournament.  If I had to pick a weight I was least confident in predicting the finals, it would be this one.

123 lbs:

Top seed - Cristelle Rodriguez, Doane

Cristelle Rodriguez battled to a 3rd place finish at 130 lbs last season, but has been even more dominant at 123 lbs. While there is a lot of tough competition, she should hold her own here. Look for a possible semis matchup between her and Anna Krejsa of Life, given that Krejsa gets past a tough Sophia Smith of Oklahoma City. Maya Davis, the 3-seed, of Grand View poses a real threat to Vanderwood making it to the finals as well. 

130 lbs:

Top seed - Carolina Moreno, Southern Oregon

This should be a good one, and while the top two seeds are talented, so are their competitors. Moreno could see Alyssa Randles of Providence, whom Moreno recently teched at the dual. On the other side, two-seed Sarah Savidge of Life will likely meet up with Louisa Schwab of Menlo, whom Savidge pinned in the first period at National Duals this year. There is a lot of talent from the four top teams here, so keep an eye on those semifinal matches, in particular, and don’t count anyone out.

136 lbs:

Top seed - Adaugo Nwachuckwu, William Penn

Nwachuckwu is arguably the top pound-for-pound wrestler, and I don’t think anyone stops her from another title here. Her biggest competition should be two-seed Andrea Schlabach, but Nwachuckwu got the tech fall against her recently at conference finals. With that, Schlabach has earlier problems to worry about with a tough Zaynah McBryde of Life likely to find her in the semis. You also can’t count out former champ Waipuilani Estrella-Beauchamp of Providence; however in their previous meetings, she has not had much to stop Nwachuckwu from dominating.   

143 lbs:

Top seed - Jamilah McBryde, Life

McBryde is Life’s only top seed in this tournament, and she’ll need to wrestle hard here to claim the title for the team. At the two seed you have Mea Mohler of Texas Wesleyan, who is a two-time All-American at 136 lbs, who has a strong, technical style that could put McBryde on notice. While I’d love to see these two in the finals, they’ve got a tough seven seed Bella Amaro of Southern Oregon who could go for a run, and an unseeded Madison Diaz of Grand View who gets a bye in the first. I would also keep an eye on Serenity De La Garza of Missouri Valley who will have McBryde in her first match, but I like her chances to wrestle back tough on the backside.

155 lbs:

Top seed - Caitlyn Davis, Southern Oregon

I really hope this one goes according to seeding, at least with the one and two to give us a Caitlyn Davis vs Latifah McBryde (Life) finals. McBryde was the only one to keep it close with Davis at the Menlo Open, losing 3-1, and with the team title on the line possibly between these two teams, Life could use an upset win here for another championship placement. I also think the first-round match between 4-seed Flor Parker-Borreo of Evergreen and Kendra Thompson of Campbellsville could make for a potential early upset for this bracket.

170 lbs:

Top seed - Abby McIntyre, Grand View

This finals match is seeded to be between Abby McIntyre and two-seed Ashley Lekas of William Penn. So far, the two are 1-1 this season with McIntyre getting the most recent win of the two at conference finals. It is hard to pick out a clear favorite based on their previous matches, so I am excited for the opportunity for them to settle it on the mat. Also, look for Shenita Lawson to wrestle to her seed and make it to the 3rd place match to score some pivotal team points for Southern Oregon.

191 lbs:

Top seed - Tavia Heidelberg-Tillitson, Menlo

Similar to Life as I mentioned above, Menlo only has one top-seeded wrestler in Heidelberg-Tillitson. She beat this year’s 2-seed Joanna Hendricks of Waldorf in the quarterfinals last year, but both have had success in the regular season this year that could mix things up if they make it to a finals face-off. I think the potential quarterfinals match between Madeline Welch of Life and Maquoia Bernabe of Cumberlands could be fireworks. At the dual between the two teams, Bernabe got off to an early lead before she got shut down by a flurry of offense from Welch.

This top team placement really seems like a toss-up at this point. As you can see by the top seeds, there are no clear front runners. As far as qualifiers, Menlo will be sending the most wrestlers to compete with 12; Grand View, Southern Oregon, Life, and Texas Wesleyan will be sending 11; and the University of Providence is sending 10. Each team will need points from wrestlers on the back end and bonus points from techs and pins. As a reminder, unlike the NCWWC, all wrestlers from the team can score points for the team, even if there are more than one at the same weight. However, in teammate matchups, bonus points are not awarded.

Please see my graphic for how team scoring will work at this tournament: