Women's Wrestling 3/18/2019 12:15:00 PM Jordan Alves

Rivera claims first NAIA National Championship, Lady Tiger wrestling places fourth

JAMESTOWN, N.D. — Campbellsville University's Andribeth Rivera won the inaugural NAIA Women's Wrestling Invitational over the weekend at 130 pounds.

Rivera, a junior from Puerto Rico, swept her way through four matches and took down two-seeded Cara Romeike from University of Jamestown in the finals.

She picked up a pair of pins and tech fall through the first-three rounds before pinning Romeike in 1:47. The title is the first NAIA Women's Wrestling championship for CU.

McKayla Campbell and Koral Sugiyama both came up one win short of a title at 109 and 123 pounds, respectively.

Campbell swept her way with a pin over Diana Leyca of Waldorf University and tech fall over Raven Guidry of Oklahoma City (12-2). That setup a finals bout with No. 1-seeded Alledia Martinez of Menlo College but Campbell was pinned in 3:22 to finish runner-up.

Sugiyama earned two straight pins in the Round of 16 and quarterfinal before winning 5-2 in the semifinal. She lost 5-2 to No. 4-seeded Tiana Jackson on Menlo College and finished runner-up.

Mariah Harris finished in fourth place at 170 lbs. Rivera, Campbell, Sugiyama and Harris all earn First-Team All-American honors by placing in the Top 4.

Alexandra Castillo was in fifth place at 191, Kenya Sloan finished in sixth place at 170, while Sophia Carson placed eighth at 136. All three earned Honorable Mention All-American honors.

As a team, the Lady Tigers finished in fourth place with 126.5 points. Menlo College won the team title with 230.5 points and five individual national championships. Oklahoma City placed second and Jamestown was third.

The NAIA Championships conclude the 2018-19 season for Campbellsville. The Lady Tigers will have multiple wrestlers compete for their national teams and representing Team USA and Team Peurto Rico for the USA World Team Trials on March 30-31 and USA Senior National Championships in late April.

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Players Mentioned

McKayla Campbell: Sophomore; Wauseon, Ohio

Sophia Carson: Junior; Maxfield, Maine

Mariah Harris: Junior; Johnstown, Pa.

Andribeth Rivera: Junior; Carolina, Puerto Rico

Koral Sugiyama: Senior; Pocatello, Idaho

Alexandra Castillo: Freshman; Arleta, Calif.

Kenya Sloan: Freshman; Knoxville, Tenn.

Players Mentioned

McKayla Campbell
: Sophomore; Wauseon, Ohio

Sophia Carson
: Junior; Maxfield, Maine

Mariah Harris
: Junior; Johnstown, Pa.

Andribeth Rivera
: Junior; Carolina, Puerto Rico

Koral Sugiyama
: Senior; Pocatello, Idaho

Alexandra Castillo
: Freshman; Arleta, Calif.

Kenya Sloan
: Freshman; Knoxville, Tenn.