IRVING, Texas — Freshman
Mariah Harris and incoming freshman Mckayla Campbell both made history as the second and third Lady Tigers to win Body Bar UWW Junior National Championship at the Irving Convention Center this weekend.
Harris, who was competing in a non-world weight class of 79.5kg, received a bye and won three matches to claim the Body Bar title. She was joined by Campbell at 48 kg, who also won her three matches in impressive style.
"I am really proud of how (McKayla) Campbell and (Mariah) Harris wrestled this weekend," said coach
Lee Miracle. "These two are young and are only going to get better. Campbell is a great young lady who never stops attacking. She is tough to slow down and is driven to be a World Champion. Harris has incredible athleticism and potential. She can be as good as she wants to be if she is willing to put in the hard work. It will be fun watching both of these young ladies develop over the next few years."
Harris, one of the eight current Lady Tigers representing Campbellsville University this weekend, allowed only one point the entire tournament. After the first-round bye, Harris defeated Nicole Diaz with a 10-0 tech fall and advanced to the championship match after Nkeckinyere Nwankwo had to retire due to an injury after 2:40. That setup the final match with Dymond Guiliford and Harris dominated with another tech fall, 11-1.
Campbell has already made two age-group World Teams, representing the U.S. in the 2015 Cadet World Championships in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzogovina, and 2016 Junior World Championships in Macon, France. In 2015, she finished fifth in the World.
To make her third World Team, she needed to go through Kateri Rowell who had a solid day with three tech falls and a decision but Campbell did just that
Campbell received a bye in the first round before winning via tech fall, 12-0, over Mario Soto, pinned Leah Olsen in 5:05 and picked up another tech fall win over Katlyn Pizzo, 10-0. Those wins set up the final match with Rowell, where Campbell won via tech fall in both of the best-of-three championship bouts, 10-0.
With Campbell competing at a world championship weight class of 48kg, she will now represent Campbellsville and the USA at the World Championship in Tampere, Finland on Aug. 1-6.
Seven other Lady Tigers were representing Campbellsville this weekend,
Charlotte Fowler and
Morgan Becker both finishing in the Top 4 of their respective weights.
Fowler competed at 51kg and won her way into the semifinal round before Vayle Baker won a nail-biting decision, 4-3. The loss moved Fowler into the consolation bracket, where she dominated Autumn Gordon with a 10-0 tech fall victory, finishing in third place.
Becker also won two championship bracket matches before falling 10-2 to top-seeded Rachel Watters. Becker then faced Alyvia Fiske in the third-place match but was pinned in 1:29 to finish fourth.
Two other Lady Tigers placed, as
Koral Sugiyama finished sixth in the 59kg weight class and
Katie Brock was eighth at 48kg. Sugiyama has now finished in the Top 6 the previous two seasons, as the placed fourth last season.
Mckenzie Bacich competed at 48kg and won her first round match over Brooke Richards with a 10-0 tech fall but her weekend ended with a pin by Alice Todryk in 1:49.
Lindsey Prozanski, who finished fourth last year, wrestled at 55kg but lost her first round match to Madison Seales by criteria, 6-6, and fell to Hailey Schiemeyer in 1:32.
Lastly,
Sophia Carson competed at 63kg and received a bye into the second round but lost 11-6 to Brooke Pagan. In the consolation bracket, Carson earned two byes before Erin Redford won via tech fall, 13-2, to end her weekend.
