College wrestlers to watch at Senior Nationals
College programs are well known for bringing their highly trained athletes to senior-level events. Brackets at the 2019 US Open and 2019 Senior Nationals were laden with full or near-full rosters from programs like McKendree, Menlo, King, Campbellsville, OCU, Emmanuel and then one-offs or pairs from programs across the US.
This weekend’s Senior Nationals is likely the last major senior-level event in 2020, and there are far fewer college wrestlers entered than we would generally see in the brackets. But these are abnormal times. Covid has college programs on strict rules about contact and quarantine. Some programs aren’t able to have their athletes compete until January. Some programs have wrestlers in specific pods, some have limited access to training and some are taking classes online, off-campus.
Additionally, Women’s Nationals—Junior and U23—is scheduled for the second weekend in November and that feels like the actual most relevant event for college-age wrestlers. The risk of exposure to the coronavirus a month out from women’s nationals might be too high, and maybe even illogical, for some of those wrestlers.
That being said, there are a number of strong competitors registered that are also on college rosters.
At 50kg, Emily Shilson (Augsburg) and Charlotte Fowler (Campbellsville) most recently met head-to-head at the Beat The Streets fundraiser in September when Fowler stepped up to the card last minute. Shilson won the match by technical superiority. Shilson also dominated the field en route to the title at the inaugural National Collegiate Women’s Wrestling Championships (NCAA-specific nationals) in March, only a week before lockdown. Fowler was ranked #2 in the NAIA at 116 pounds coming into championship weekend before the event was cancelled. Jamestown’s Junnette Caldera, Wayland’s Caryssa Aguirre and Lourdes Stafana Jelacic are also registered at the weight. Texas Wesleyan freshman Camille Fournier is in at 53kg.
Returning for the 2020-21 season at 57kg are Vayle-Rae Baker (Augsburg) and Isabella Gonzalez (Grand View). Baker, a graduate of Wyoming Sem, was runner up at the 2020 WCWA National tournament and placed 6th at the inaugural NCWWC. At 62kg, Bridgette Duty was ranked #2 coming into the 2020 NAIA National Invitational at 136 pounds. She’s a 2019 NAIA All-American and 2x WCWA All-American.
At 76kg, Alex Castillo most recently won the 2020 WCWA’s. She was ranked #4 coming into the NAIA National invitational at 191 pounds, which was a weight to watch at the tournament. Tristan Kelly is also registered and is a freshman at Colorado Mesa.
Last but not least, there are a few 2020 college graduates registered that dealt with an abrupt end to their college wrestling careers. NCAA wrestlers capped their season a week before most of the States went on lockdown, but the NAIA programs were on-site when their nationals were canceled. An NAIA duo that graduated from Menlo—Marilyn Garcia (68kg) and Precious Bell (76kg)—got their championships swiped from under their feet in March. Garcia was a 2019 NAIA National Champion at 143 pounds. Bell was crowned champion at both the US Open and Senior Nationals in 2019. She’s seeded #2 to Adeline Gray this weekend. Rachel Watters, an OCU graduate, was fresh off a WCWA title and the SAC championships before the NAIA Invitational cancelation. She’ll compete at 68kg on home-turf this weekend—she’s an Iowa native and now graduate assistant wrestling coach at William Penn University.
View the updated schedule and full list of pre-registrants on our hub for the 2020 Senior Nationals.
Wrestling starts Friday morning at 10 am CT and can be streamed live on Flowrestling.
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