Two Champs, Six Total All-Americans Lead William Penn to Fourth at Nationals
Park City, Kan.--A school-record six All-Americans, including two national champions, propelled the William Penn women's wrestling team to a high placing at the Third Annual NAIA National Championship Friday and Saturday.
As a team, WPU placed fourth with 114 points, while Life (Ga.) won the crown with 190.5 points. The Statesmen were just 6.5 points shy of second place.
Headlining the efforts were six All-Americans, one better than last year's previous best of five on the podium. Topping this season's list were national champions Christianah Ogunsanya (Fr., Akure, Nigeria, Kinesiology) and Esther Kolawole (Fr., Akure, Nigeria, Kinesiology) who become the fourth and fifth title holders in program history.
Saturday's finals began at 131 pounds, so Kolawole was the first of the freshmen to hit the mat. Entering as the No. 3 seed at 145 pounds, the freshman took care of No. 1 and defending national champion Jamilah McBryde by a 12-5 decision. She finished the weekend 5-0 (23-0 for the year), including claiming four technical falls prior to the championship bout.
Ogunsanya matched her teammate by also defeating a Life wrestler in the final, shutting out No. 3 Salyna Shotwell by an 8-0 decision for the 117-pound crown. She won four times during the weekend (two by technical fall) to cap a perfect 23-0 campaign. The decision victories in the semifinals and finals marked the first time all year where she did not win by either technical fall or fall.
124-pounder Joanna Vanderwood (Sr., Graham, Wash., Nursing) was the next-highest Statesmen placer, finishing third with a 5-1 record. She won three times by technical fall and once by fall to claim her second All-America laurel at WPU.
The duo of 131-pounder Devin Patton (Jr., Plano, Texas, Business Management) and 138-pounder Isabelle Hawley (Jr., Winchester, Calif., Sociology) both placed seventh, while America Lopez (So., Val Verde, Calif., Psychology) was eighth.
Patton, who is now a two-time All-American at William Penn, won on three occasions (two technical falls), while Hawley went from unseeded to standing on the podium with a 4-2 record (three falls).
Lopez also won four times (4-3 record), headlined by two technical falls and two falls.
WPU now has 11 All-Americans in school history, all occurring in the last two seasons.
138-pounder Kendall Bostelman (Jr., Napoleon, Ohio, Exercise Science) and 160-pounder Alexa Wolf (Fr., Rogers, Ark., Business Management) just missed A-A recognition with two wins each. Bostelman had one fall and one technical fall to her credit, while Wolf pinned one foe.
Catherine Steinkamp (Sr., Quincy, Ill., Exercise Science) notched one technical fall triumph at 124 pounds as well.
103-pounders Olivia Atkins (So., St. Peters, Mo., Nursing) and Lily Zapata (Fr., Lewisville, Texas, Sociology) as well as 145-pounder Naida Abdijanovic (Jr., St. Louis, Mo., Biology) also competed at the Championship, but were unfortunately winless at 0-2.
"This year's national tournament was an amazing event," Head Coach Jake Kadel said. "Our ladies wrestled well this weekend and I am super proud of them. We had a lot of heartbreak as well as joy. I think a lot of them now have an idea of what they are capable of achieving. We return a great team next year and have a lot to be excited about. I want to give a big shout-out to our amazing coaching staff, incredible administration, athletic trainer, spiritual coach, and strength coach for all the work they pour into this program."
