Women's Wrestling 3/21/2018 10:44:00 AM Brett Pierce

National Champion Lady Tigers add five so far in 2018-19 signing class

CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. — Coach Lee Miracle added five more wrestlers for the 2018-2019 season, as Kaitlin Barnett, Rory Coscia, Lilly Binion-Ferrell, Mia Rodriguez, and Kenya Sloan will join the Lady Tigers looking to defend their national title from this year.

Kaitlin Barnett is coming out of William Blount High School in Maryville, Tennessee. She was the state champion at 105 lbs. and volunteers in her free time for the AAU Wrestling Club. Her intended major coming into Campbellsville is physical therapy.

Rory Coscia is coming out of James Enochs High School in Modesto, California. She is coming to Campbellsville with a high school record of 129-8 and a two-time California state champion and four-time placer in the state. Cosica finished her high school career being ranked fourth in the country at 117 lbs.

"The variety in areas of study was a big factor as was the clean and well-organized campus and facilities," Coscia said. "The friendly and personable staff during the visit, academic and athletic scholarships, and an incredible women's wrestling program made CU the top choice."

Lilly Binion-Ferrell is coming out of Bishop Waterson High School in Dublin, Ohio. Ferrell has competed and trained all around the world in places such as Moscow, Russia, St. Petersburg, and Belarus and will attend Fargo Nationals in summer of 2018.

Ferrell has spent her free time volunteering at The Forum at Knightbridge working with the elderly and disabled.

"I fell in love with the campus immediately once I visited," said Ferrell. "Not only does Campbellsville have the best women's wrestling program in the nation, they also have an excellent special education program."

Mia Rodriguez is from Belvidere North High School in Poplar Grove, Illinois. Rodriguez comes in being a four-time state champion in folkstyle and two-time state champion in freestyle. Earning three Folkstyle All-American honors as well as two Fargo National All-American honors during high school.

Rodriguez was also a cross country athlete in high school where she qualified for the state championship all four years of high school and will continue to run for CU.

"Once I started narrowing down my options I kept in mind my degree and talked with my parents about where we should visit. Campbellsville was actually my first visit and I knew I wanted to take my time choosing the right school," said Rodriguez. "The warm welcome, team atmosphere and family lifestyle during my visit at Campbellsville was the best. The coaches and teammates in both wrestling and cross country made me feel right at home and that was the feeling I didn't get anywhere else. That's when I knew that Campbellsville was where I wanted to be."

Lastly, Kenya Sloan is coming out of Hardin Valley Academy in Knoxville, Tennessee. She is a three-time state champion at 168 lbs. and had an undefeated record of 79-0 in high school. Her intended major at Campbellsville will be biology.

In her free time, she has been volunteering at Faith Promise Church Student Ministry, Second Harvest, and Shoes for Schools.

"Obviously, after winning a National Championship, recruiting gets a little easier," said Coach Miracle. "Many talented student-athletes are attracted to CU because of our success. We have an extremely high signing rate for recruits that visit the campus. Of course, this speaks volumes for our wrestling program but I think it is important to understand and recognize that the administration, professors, grounds keepers, janitors, security, cafeteria personnel, and admissions counselors are doing a fantastic job making CU such an awesome place to be. We have a beautiful campus. We have clean facilities. We have great academic programs. We have friendly competent people in positions that assist the student athletes during the application process. The cafeteria is the best in the WCWA. In addition, we have one of the safest campuses in the country. With all of those things going for CU, it makes my job as a recruiter much easier. I am very thankful for that.

"This recruiting class is loaded with talent," continued Miracle. "They all have proven themselves on the mat. They have also proven themselves academically. I have high expectations for every student athlete that we have recruited. They have all expressed their desires to be the best that they can be in the sport. Even more importantly, they have all demonstrated the work ethic that is required to accomplish those goals. It is easy for someone to say that they want to be a National Champion. We are looking for the recruits that actually want to do the work required to be National Champions. These young women, along with the recruits that we will sign in the coming weeks, will have a tremendous impact on our program. The only thing harder than getting to the top and winning a National Championship, is staying on top and repeating as a National Champions. We have set the standard. Now it is time to improve and set an even higher standard. If you are not improving then you are falling behind. This year's recruiting class has the potential to be the best ever for CU!"

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National Champion Lady Tigers add five so far in 2018-19 signing class