Four Champs, School Record for National Qualifiers at Heart Champ

Oskaloosa--The William Penn women's wrestling team set a new school record for national qualifiers Saturday as it battled the rest of the league at the Heart of America Athletic Conference Championship.

The Statesmen placed second out of seven teams with 173 points, while Grand View took the team crown with 192 points.

WPU was able to go toe to toe with the Vikings (Missouri Valley was in the mix as well with 169 points) as it produced finalists at six of the 10 weight classes.  The navy and gold came away with four champions and eventually earned nine automatic national qualifications along with one conference at-large bid.  They are waiting to see if they will receive additional national at-large bids when they are announced in a few days.

Headlining Saturday's big day were titles from 117-pounder Christianah Ogunsanya (Fr., Akure, Nigeria, Kinesiology), 124-pounder Joanna Vanderwood (Sr., Graham, Wash., Nursing), 138-pounder Kendall Bostelman (Jr., Napoleon, Ohio, Exercise Science), and 145-pounder Esther Kolawole (Fr., Akure, Nigeria, Kinesiology).

Ogunsanya, who was named Co-Tournament Outstanding Wrestler with Xochitl Mota-Pettis of Missouri Valley, rolled through her bracket.  She was 3-0 with three technical falls that saw the freshman outscore her opposition 34-1.  Ogunsanya took care of Cailin Campbell of Grand View 10-0 in the finals.

Kolawole did her freshman teammate one better as she was not scored upon in her three victories, posting a 30-0 edge in points en route to her gold.  She dropped Krista Warren (GVU) by a 10-0 technical fall for the title.

Bostelman's bracket was a bit larger, needing four wins to top the podium.  She won by technical fall and by fall prior to a pair of decisions for her crown.  The junior defeated Serenity De La Garza of Missouri Valley 10-5 in the title bout.

Vanderwood, now a two-time Heart champion, had to come from the No. 2 seed to take her championship.  Following a technical fall and a fall, the senior slipped past a pair of foes 4-3, including Jasmina Immaeva (MVC) in the first-place matchup, to again earn the title.

The quartet of crowns match last year's total.

Lily Zapata (Fr., Lewisville, Texas, Sociology), at 103 pounds, and America Lopez (So., Val Verde, Calif., Psychology), at 180 pounds, both came up just shy of their own gold placings.  Zapata entered as the No. 3 seed and dispatched the No. 2 wrestler in the semifinals, but could not defeat No. 1-seeded Judy Sandoval (GVU), falling 13-3 in the first-place match.

Lopez was the second seed and won her first two bouts by lopsided amounts (technical fall and 7-0 decision), but was denied the crown in an 11-2 loss to MVC's Kelani Corbett.

William Penn's other automatic qualifiers included 138-pounder Isabelle Hawley (Jr., Winchester, Calif., Sociology), 131-pounder Devin Patton (Jr., Plano, Texas, Business Management), and 103-pounder Olivia Atkins (So., St. Peters, Mo., Nursing).

Hawley garnered a podium spot as she was third with a 3-1 record (one fall, one technical fall), while Patton notched a pair of victories (one fall, one technical fall) to finish fourth.  Atkins also locked down fourth place with a pair of technical falls.

Catherine Steinkamp (Sr., Quincy, Ill., Exercise Science) just missed her own automatic-qualifying spot at 124 pounds, going 3-2 with one fall and one technical fall to place fifth.  She advances to the final site via one of the league's five at-large bids that were voted on by the coaches after the Championship.

160-pounder Alexa Wolf (Fr., Rogers, Ark., Business Management), who finished third, and 145-pounder Naida Abdijanovic (Jr., St. Louis, Mo., Biology), who was seventh, will now both wait to hear about their postseason fates.  Wolf won three of her four bouts, including two by technical fall, but the league only earned two allocations at the weight class.

Abdijanovic won twice by technical fall Saturday.

"I am really proud of our team and how we competed," Head Coach Jake Kadel said.  "There are some little things we need to fix moving forward, but the exciting part is we will be making those adjustments for the national tournament.  We had amazing team energy that helped support these ladies.  I want to thank everyone involved for providing an incredible environment in which the women were able to compete."

Next Up: WPU's qualifiers will travel to Wichita, Kan. on March 14-15 to compete in the third annual NAIA National Championship.