2019-20 NAIA Conference Championships preview: KCAC, SAC & CCC
There are four conference championships for women’s wrestling this season—two are new, and three are happening this weekend. The NAIA released the final coaches’ poll today, and action starts Saturday at 9AM CT.
KCAC
When: Saturday, February 29, 2020
Where: Ottawa, KS
Watch: KCAC Livestream
The Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) sponsored women’s wrestling the same year as the Mid-South Conference, with its inaugural championship during the 2017-18 season.
Schools in the KCAC include NAIA ranked #5 Jamestown, #12 Midland, #13 York, #15 Missouri Valley, #16 Saint Mary and #19 Ottawa.
Jamestown won the KCAC title during the 2018-19 season, and are the favorite to make it happen again. The Jimmies placed 3rd at the 2020 WCWA National Championships, with 7 individual All-Americans. Agatha Andrews was a top performer as runner-up at 191. Andrews is ranked #1 at 191 pounds, followed by a pair of #3 ranked teammates, Junnette Caldera (101) and Jacqueline Parks (136).
Midland’s Ashley Gooman is ranked #3 at 116 pounds.
SAC
When: Saturday, February 29, 2020
Where: Plainview, TX
Watch: WBU Athletics
The Sooner Athletic Conference announced just two months ago, December 2019, that they would sponsor a championship event for women’s wrestling this spring.
Participating schools include NAIA #7 Wayland Baptist, #8 Lyon, #10 Oklahoma City, #17 Waldorf College, #18 Texas Wesleyan, Missouri Baptist and Central Christian.
Host school Wayland Baptist is going into the weekend with 3 wrestlers ranked #1: Nina Pham (101), Desiree Zavala 136 and Kaylynn Albrecht (155). Asia Ray, a 2019 NAIA individual champion at 101, is using a redshirt season. In total, there are 5 Pioneers ranked in the top 10 of the latest coaches’ poll.
#8 Lyon College has 6 wrestlers ranked in the top 10. 123 pound Jasmine Hernandez is ranked the highest at #2, followed by #4 Kelani Corbett (170), #5 Brianna Rubican Leon, #5 Ashley Whetzal (123), #7 Elissa Douglas (143) and #10 Emma De Brum (116).
Oklahoma City’s Rachel Watters is ranked #2 at 170, and she’s fresh off a WCWA individual national title at 155. We can expect to see her vying for the top spot against Wayland’s #1 Albrecht. The Stars have 4 other wrestlers ranked in the latest top 10, including #2 Nkexhinyere Nwanko (191), #4 Sydney Freund (143), #5 Destiny Lyng (136) and #9 Mariah Lomas.
Missouri Baptist freshman Aliyah Rollins is ranked #4 at 116 pounds, and is coming off a 5th place finish at the WCWA National Championships.
Waldorf’s 3 ranked wrestlers are #6 Joanna Hendricks (191), #7 Diana Dzasezeva (136) and #10 Makyla Black (136).
CCC
When: Sunday, March 1, 2020
Where: Ashland, OR
Watch: Track Wrestling
The Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) announced sponsorship of women’s wrestling for this season late May, 2019. Participating programs include NAIA ranked #2 Menlo, #3 Southern Oregon, #9 Providence, #14 Eastern Oregon, Simpson, Warner Pacific, Life Pacific and Corban (2021).
Menlo is the hands-down favorite to win the tournament, having dualed, and beat, Southern Oregon—once at home and once on the road. The Oaks are the returning NAIA national team champions. In 2019, they collected 5 individual NAIA national titles and placed 12 All-Americans.
Menlo has 6 wrestlers ranked top 3 in the final coaches’ poll: #1 Alleida Martinez (109), #1 Tiana Jackson (123), #2 Gracie Figueroa (130), #3 Alana Vivas (130), #1 Solin Piearcy (143) and #1 Precious Bell (170).
Since the last ranking, Gracie Figueroa has moved up from 116 to 130 pounds, where she took out then #2 Anesia Ramirez with a tech (16-4) under 2 minutes.
#3 Southern Oregon has been an exciting program to watch develop and battle this season. The team is solid and has a handful of wrestlers that can compete with anyone on the right day. The Raider’s top ranked wrestlers are #3 Sienna Ramirez (143), #4 Anesia Ramirez (130), #4 Julissa Taitano (136) and #5 Tara Othman (116).
The University of Providence’s Iverly Navarro is ranked #2 at 101 pounds, and is joined by a pair of teammates at #3: Yurie Yoneoka (109) and Tatum Sparks (155). Eastern Oregon’s Jessica Dehart is ranked #4 at 109 pounds.
These conference championships are the final events leading up to the 2020 NAIA National Invitational hosted by Jamestown in North Dakota, March 13-14.
Learn more about the NAIA’s movement toward championship status, here.
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