FORT WAYNE, Ind. — Trailing 17-0 midway through the dual, No. 2 Campbellsville rallied to out-score No. 6 Emmanuel College 25-1 in the final six matches to seal a spot in the NWCA National Duals Championship.
The Lady Tigers pulled the come-from-behind victory over Emmanuel, 26-18. CU will now face McKendree University at 2 p.m. ET in the finals. Fans can follow on Track Wrestling.
Emmanuel dominated the first four matches with a pair of pins, a tech-fall and a regular decision. The Lions have four grapplers ranked in the Top 8 of their respective weight classes.
No. 1 Cody Pfau pinned No. 2
McKayla Campbell at 109 lbs., while Maria Vidales, who ranks No. 3 at 109, moved up to 116 and earned a 10-0 tech fall over CU's
Charlotte Fowler.
At 123, No. 7 Victoria Gutierrez earned a pin in 1:40 over CU's
Steffanie Hampton.
But that was all Emmanuel would get outside of a bonus point later in the dual. It was newcomer
Grace Bullen starting the rally of six consecutive wins for the Lady Tigers.
Bullen, wrestling at 130 lbs., earned a pin over No. 6 Abigail Nette in 4:47 cutting the Emmanuel lead to 17-5.
Koral Sugiyama followed suit with a 6-2 decision over Astrid Silva at 136 lbs. and
Alexia Foca earned another pin in 2:22 over Sadie Tackett at 143.
Moving to the 155lb. weight class, the Lady Tigers trailed 18-13 but three-time WCWA National Champion
Kayla Miracle pulled that deficit to one point. Miracle, wrestling up two weight-classes, picked up bonus points with a 10-0 tech fall over No. 4 Kayla Marano at 155 lbs. to pull CU within one point, 18-17
Mariah Harris and
Kaitlyn Hill also earned key bonus points. At 170, Harris pinned Felicity Bryant in 1:58 putting CU ahead, 22-18. With the dual coming down the final match, Hill dominated Briana Jordan at 191 lbs. to earn four team points and give the Lady Tigers a 26-18 win.
Third-ranked McKendree University, which earned the No. 2-seed in the championship, picked up a 43-1 victory over Eastern Oregon and 43-4 win over Wayland Baptist to move into the finals.
The Bearcats match Campbellsville with 11 ranked grapplers competing this weekend.
