Weekend Preview: Oct. 30-Nov. 2

The college wrestling season kicks off this weekend. There are 16 events on the NCAA, NAIA and NJCAA schedules from Friday, Oct. 30 through Sunday, Nov. 1, including 13 on Sunday alone, and a ranked NCAA dual meet follows on Monday, Nov. 2. Several of them bring together ranked teams from more than one division, setting the stage for some of the most intriguing cross-division matchups of the early season.

Rankings cited below are from this week’s HerMat rankings. Tournament rankings are used for open tournaments, and dual meet rankings are used for dual meets.

Note: Attending teams are based on posted team schedules and are subject to change. Ranked wrestlers listed may not all compete. Some of the open tournaments this weekend have multiple divisions based on age and experience, so it’s not uncommon for NJCAA wrestlers to compete in different brackets than NCAA and NAIA wrestlers.

Here are eight events with multiple ranked teams to watch from Friday through Monday.

Falcon Open (Friday)

The Falcon Open is set for Friday, Oct. 30 at Hartman Arena in Park City, Kansas, the home of the NAIA Women’s Wrestling National Championships. Friends University hosts a field that is loaded with talent, featuring 10 teams ranked in the NAIA tournament rankings: No. 5 Wayland Baptist, No. 6 Ottawa, No. 8 Missouri Valley, No. 10 Bellevue, No. 12 Texas Wesleyan, No. 14 Oklahoma City, No. 15 Saint Mary, No. 16 Doane, No. 19 Central Methodist and No. 23 Baker. Three ranked NJCAA programs are also entered: No. 5 Murray State, No. 6 Colby and No. 12 Carl Albert State. The best weight class on paper is 160 pounds, where Wayland Baptist’s Mercy Adekuoroye, No. 1 in the NAIA pound-for-pound rankings, could face No. 4 Skylar Hattendorf of Doane, No. 5 Hailey Sutton of Bellevue, No. 6 Hannah Jackson of Ottawa and NJCAA No. 3 Kaylen McAtee of Colby. At 117 pounds, NAIA No. 1 Zao Estrada of Missouri Valley, No. 3 Belen Rios of Texas Wesleyan and No. 4 Joely Slyter of Bellevue could meet, along with NJCAA No. 2 Abigail Rivero of Murray State. Wayland Baptist’s Jordan Suarez, the NAIA No. 1 at 145 pounds, could see No. 5 Maggie Ortmann of Ottawa and No. 7 Elise Twait of Bellevue. At 180 pounds, No. 3 Carla Campos of Texas Wesleyan, No. 4 Siara Arrington of Ottawa and No. 6 Keyahna Phillips of Bellevue could meet. Keep an eye on 103 pounds, where Saint Mary’s Alexsys Jacquez (No. 3) and Destiny Jones (No. 5) could run into Murray State’s Vivian Hayes and Dixie Holliday, ranked second and third in the NJCAA.

Luther Hill Open (Sunday)

No event this weekend packs a bigger punch than the Luther Hill Open, set for Sunday, Nov. 1 at Blake Fieldhouse in Indianola, Iowa. Host Simpson College welcomes the top-ranked teams in two divisions: NCAA No. 1 Iowa and NJCAA No. 1 Indian Hills. Simpson (No. 9), Fort Hays State (No. 14) and Lindenwood (No. 20) are also ranked in the NCAA tournament rankings, along with NAIA No. 17 Bismarck State and NJCAA No. 4 Iowa Central, No. 8 Iowa Lakes and No. 9 Iowa Western. Iowa’s Kylie Welker, the NCAA pound-for-pound No. 1 and a three-time U23 world champion, could see No. 3 Isabella Renfro of Fort Hays State and NJCAA No. 1 Alexa Karch of Iowa Lakes at 180 pounds. At 103 pounds, Iowa’s Val Solorio, the NCAA No. 1, could face Iowa Central’s Erica Pastoriza, the NJCAA pound-for-pound No. 1. NCAA No. 1 Everest Leydecker of Iowa competed at the Senior World Championships this week and is not expected to wrestle this weekend, but NAIA No. 2 Rei Ogden of Bismarck State and NJCAA No. 1 Gabriela Avila Diaz of Indian Hills could meet at 124 pounds. At 138 pounds, Iowa’s Lilly Luft (No. 2), Lindenwood’s Jacinda Espinosa (No. 4), Bismarck State’s Alexis Schneider (NAIA No. 4) and Indian Hills’ Jasmine Wolfe (NJCAA No. 1) could make for a strong bracket. Reese Larramendy of Iowa, the NCAA No. 2 at 145 pounds, could see No. 4 Annelise Obermark of Simpson and NJCAA No. 1 Valerie Hamilton of Iowa Central. Among the junior colleges, Indian Hills’ Kaylea Beauchamp and Iowa Lakes’ Janiah Jones, ranked first and second at 131 pounds, could meet, as could Indian Hills’ Azreal Smith and Iowa Western’s Faith Tarrant, ranked first and second at 235 pounds.

Tiffin Open (Sunday)

The Tiffin Open, set for Sunday, Nov. 1 at the Heminger Center in Tiffin, Ohio, is the largest event of the weekend with 27 teams. NCAA No. 2 McKendree and No. 5 Grand Valley State lead the way, along with No. 15 West Liberty, No. 18 Wheeling and No. 25 Mercyhurst. NAIA No. 2 Indiana Tech, No. 7 Lindsey Wilson and No. 9 Cumberlands are also entered. The marquee matchup could come at 207 pounds, where NCAA No. 1 Sabrina Nauss of Grand Valley State and No. 2 Savannah Isaac of Wheeling could meet. Interestingly, Isaac wrestled for Tiffin before transferring to Wheeling. At 124 pounds, NAIA No. 1 Rose Kaplan of Indiana Tech could see NCAA No. 3 Aspen Blasko of Grand Valley State. At 103 pounds, NAIA No. 1 Zoey Haney of Indiana Tech could face NCAA No. 2 Gabriele Tedesco of McKendree and No. 4 Katey Valdez of Grand Valley State. McKendree’s Alexandra Szkotnicki and West Liberty’s Cassia Zammit, ranked second and third in the NCAA at 131 pounds, could meet, with NAIA No. 1 Jeila Ramos of Lindsey Wilson also a possible opponent. McKendree’s Adaugo Nwachukwu, the NCAA No. 1-ranked wrestler at 145 pounds, competed at the Senior World Championships this week and won a world title. She is not expected to wrestle this weekend. NCAA No. 5 Margaret Buurma of Grand Valley State could still face NAIA No. 2 Kori Campbell of Lindsey Wilson and No. 4 Hayden Newberg of Indiana Tech at 145 pounds. McKendree also has NCAA No. 1 Yu Sakamoto (117) and No. 1 Haylie Jaffe (138).

No. 6 (NCAA) King at No. 3 (NAIA) Life U (Sunday)

The weekend’s best dual meet takes place on Sunday, Nov. 1 in the Upper Gym in Marietta, Georgia, where NAIA No. 3 Life University hosts NCAA No. 6 King in the dual meet rankings. Life U is the two-time defending NAIA national champion, while King is a top-10 team in NCAA women’s wrestling. Ranked wrestlers could square off in eight of 10 weight classes. The best matchup on paper is at 131 pounds, where NAIA No. 2 Janida Garcia, a transfer from Emmanuel, could face NCAA No. 7 Ruby Julien-Newsom. At 180 pounds, Life U’s Reka Busa, the NAIA No. 2, could take on King’s Kat Hingano, the NCAA No. 6. At 124 pounds, NCAA No. 4 Virginia Foard of King could see NAIA No. 5 Ariana Martinez. King’s Eliana Bommarito, ranked No. 3 in the NCAA at 207 pounds, could face NAIA No. 6 Madeline Welch. NCAA No. 2 Stella Steigler of King leads the way at 160 pounds against NAIA No. 13 Zayla Vann, while 145 pounds features NCAA No. 8 Zoey Lints against Life U true freshman Faith Bane, ranked No. 10 in the NAIA. Expect a close dual.

East Stroudsburg Open (Sunday)

The East Stroudsburg Open is set for Sunday, Nov. 1 at Koehler Fieldhouse in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. NCAA No. 6 Lehigh headlines the field, joined by No. 19 Sacred Heart, No. 21 Gannon and No. 24 Western New England. The Mountain Hawks have two No. 1-ranked wrestlers in Audrey Jimenez (110), the NCAA pound-for-pound No. 3, and Aubre Krazer (131). Krazer could see No. 9 Jazmene Molina of Western New England and No. 11 Lindsey Rywolt of Bridgeport. The deepest weight class is 124 pounds, where Lehigh’s Stevie Joyce Martin (No. 5) could face No. 8 Megan Edwards of Elmira, No. 14 Linda Holeman of Western New England, No. 15 Brianna Holcomb of Frostburg State and No. 20 Lauren Nguyen of Sacred Heart. At 160 pounds, No. 4 Alex Alli of Lehigh and No. 7 Love Daley of Sacred Heart could meet. No. 5 Bella Phillips of Gannon, No. 12 Genevieve An of Lehigh and No. 18 Madeline Hodges of Sacred Heart could give 180 pounds three ranked wrestlers. At 117 pounds, Lehigh’s Abbi Cooper (No. 6) could meet Western New England’s Maddie Ripley (No. 8). At 103 pounds, host East Stroudsburg’s Olivia Klein (No. 9) could face No. 8 Lillian Prendergast of Mount Olive and NAIA No. 10 Morgan Repasky of Montreat.

Princeton Open (Sunday)

The Princeton Open takes place on Sunday, Nov. 1 at Jadwin Gymnasium in Princeton, New Jersey. NCAA No. 4 Presbyterian is the highest-ranked team in the field, with No. 13 Eastern and No. 23 Lock Haven also ranked in the NCAA tournament rankings. Felician and Ursinus have ranked wrestlers as well. Presbyterian has a ranked wrestler in all 10 weight classes, led by No. 3 Chloe Dearwester (110) and No. 3 Maddie Kubicki (145). Kubicki could see No. 7 Zoey Haines of Eastern, No. 13 Cloe Charlesworth of Ursinus and No. 16 Marissa Rumsey of Lock Haven. The best matchup on paper is at 124 pounds, where Eastern’s Savannah Witt and Presbyterian’s Alyssa Mahan are ranked sixth and seventh, respectively. Dearwester could face No. 11 Ellie Underwood of Felician and No. 13 Olivia Guy of Ursinus at 110 pounds. At 207 pounds, No. 5 Maria Aiono of Presbyterian could face No. 11 Talisha Lewis of Felician and No. 12 Lindsay Laws of Lock Haven. Presbyterian’s May Cuyler (No. 6) and Lock Haven’s Presley McCandlish (No. 12) could meet at 160 pounds. At 103 pounds, four ranked wrestlers could compete: No. 10 Mandy Gavares of Ursinus, No. 11 Jesenia Camargo of Eastern, No. 13 Emily Doolittle of Felician and No. 19 Annalise Maralit of Presbyterian.

No. 22 (NAIA) Evergreen State at No. 21 (NCAA) Simon Fraser (Sunday)

Simon Fraser, the only NCAA program located outside the United States, hosts Evergreen State on Sunday, Nov. 1 at the West Gym in Burnaby, British Columbia. The Red Leafs are ranked No. 21 in the NCAA dual meet rankings, while Evergreen State is ranked No. 22 in the NAIA dual meet rankings. Ranked wrestlers could meet in three weight classes. The headliner is at 138 pounds, where Evergreen State’s Haley Le, the NAIA No. 1, could face Simon Fraser’s Laura Alcantar Soto, ranked No. 20 in the NCAA. At 124 pounds, NCAA No. 10 Agnia Krakovska of Simon Fraser and NAIA No. 8 Ellabelle Taylor of Evergreen State make for an evenly matched bout. At 131 pounds, Simon Fraser’s Ella Finding (NCAA No. 12) could take on Evergreen State’s Erica Grant (NAIA No. 14). This one has the makings of a close dual.

No. 3 North Central at No. 18 Northern Michigan (Monday)

The weekend wraps up a day late on Monday, Nov. 2, when Northern Michigan hosts North Central in Marquette, Michigan. North Central is ranked No. 3 in the NCAA dual meet rankings, while Northern Michigan is ranked No. 18. The Cardinals have a ranked wrestler in all 10 weight classes, led by No. 2 Riley Rayome at 124 pounds. Ranked wrestlers could square off in four weight classes. The best matchup on paper is at 180 pounds, where North Central’s Jael Miller (No. 4) could face Northern Michigan’s Abbie Miles (No. 10). At 138 pounds, Northern Michigan’s Alissa Caltagirone (No. 7) could take on North Central’s Taylor Miess (No. 16). At 160 pounds, Sophia Bassino of Northern Michigan (No. 8) could see Elizabeth Rosenstiel of North Central (No. 13). At 103 pounds, North Central’s Brianne Graves (No. 5) could meet Northern Michigan’s Lillee Denson (No. 14). On paper, the Cardinals are the favorite, but the Wildcats have enough ranked firepower to make this one interesting.