BOSSIER CITY, La. – Tarleton State, the defending NCWA Women's champion, is in the driver's seat yet again as the finals match approach on Saturday at the NCWA Championships. The Texans are far ahead of the field with 182.5 points, just over 50 points ahead of second-place Menlo College's 132. Utah Tech is in third at 129.5 points.
Tarleton State brought an army of entrants to this 17th version of the NCWA Women's Tournament. It won last year with 126.0 points but has already far surpassed that total. The Texans have seven wrestlers in the finals and six more in the other placing matches. Menlo and Utah Tech have two each in the finals and six (Menlo) or five (UTU) in the consolations.
Tarleton State's Rachel Corley and Utah Tech's Abbey West will start off the NCWA Championships on Saturday at 1 p.m. wrestling in the 110-pound final. Tarleton State's Fiona Smith faces The Apprentice School's Janyla Anderson in the 117 final soon after.
Anna DiCugno and Piper Pike of Tarleton State begin a string of three straight national title matches involving Texans with their intra-squad 131-pound match. Jennifer Soto takes on Alexa Pax of Florida State in the 138 final followed by Aine Drury facing Central Florida's Katherine Stewart in the 145 final.
It's been a banner season for both Central Florida and UNLV, who each have three wrestlers in the finals, actually out-pacing Menlo and Utah Tech to that end. Both of those programs will face other when Katrina Wangen of UCF takes on UNLV's Jordan Hunter in the 207 final, and both programs have three wrestlers alive in consolations as well.
An NCWA-record nine different women's programs have wrestlers competing in the national title matches, a tribute to the growth of the NCWA's women's division and its continued support of its female student-athletes. For the first time, the NCWA will be awarding All-America status to the top eight finishers in the women's division.
Complete results from the tournament and video coverage can be found at https://go.flo.zone/r0XDZJTi
Here are the women's team scores going into finals rounds (current top 10):
1. Tarleton State – 182.5
2. Menlo College – 132
3. Utah Tech – 129.5
4. Ottawa Arizona – 112
5. Central Florida – 103.5
6. Washington State – 99.5
7. UNLV – 97
8. Apprentice – 72
9. Treasure Valley CC (Wash.) – 63.5
10. Fresno State – 41.5
