In only their fifth season as a program, the 2017-18 Lady Tiger Wrestling team completed the trifecta winning the Mid-South Conference Championship, NWCA National Duals Championship, and the WCWA National Championship. 
 
Pre-season rankings came out on October 4^th, 2017 and the team came in ranked at No. 2 in the WCWA polls. This was the story the entire season as they would remain behind the team to beat from Simon Frasier University.
 
"This was the first year we had an assistant coach," said Shelby Hall. "It really helped change the dynamic of the team being able to have that extra pair of eyes besides Coach Miracle which he appreciated too because it brought more to the table."
 
The start of the season was a statement for what was to come. In a two-day span on October 21-22 in 2017 the team started off the season with a big note. They defeated six teams scoring a total of 233 points and only conceding 37 points. They defeated No. 6 King University 37-8, No. 10 University of the Cumberlands 35-11, No. 11 Life University 36-9, and No. 12 Lindenwood 45-4. Campbellsville's most impressive stat line of the year was going 15-0 in duals while scoring 543 points and only conceding 130.  
 
"We obviously had our main training partners, but we did not want to get stagnant" Kaitlyn Pizzo said. "A lot of us were used to wrestling folk-style because most of us did not have a girls wrestling team in high school, we competed with the boys. We had to get used to the fact we were only wrestling women now."
 
In the middle of the season, Miracle picked up one of the key pieces of the puzzle in Grace Bullen at 130 lbs. She made her debut for the Lady Tigers at the NWCA National Duals Championship. At the time the team had a tough road to get to the finals. Their first match came against No. 10 University of the Cumberlands in which they defeated them 37-9. 
 
Campbellsville found themselves in the championship match against McKendree the next day with the same story of being behind early. Head Coach Lee Miracle considered this match a game of chess. "I had certain pieces on the board still in the middle and heavy weight matches. It was all about where to place them and figure out my opponents position as well," Miracle said.
 
Kayla Miracle wrestled up two weight classes from her usual 136 lbs. to 155 lbs. in this dual. She went on to have a 10-0 tech fall over No. 7 Andrea Sennett and gave Campbellsville the lead the first time on the day at 18-17. The final match came down to Kaitlyn Hill. A 13-13 tie ended in Hills favor as she was able to defeat Sestane Garrick in criteria.
 
"After the McKendree match I felt it was our turning point," said Morgan Becker. "We really felt like we were going do something special at the National Championship. It wasn't given but we had a collective group to do something big."
Winning the NWCA National Duals title was part of the journey, but not the end. A month later the Lady Tigers found themselves out in Oklahoma City for the WCWA National Championship. Lady Tigers sent 13 different wrestlers to the championships in hopes of producing a team title. 
 
"One thing that needs to be noted, when I removed Bullen from the seeding board that immediately put Shelby Hall as the No. 2 seed at the bottom side of the bracket. By rule, you couldn't have two seeded teammates be on the same side of the bracket which made for a strategic advantage for us to have Grace and Hall on different sides of the bracket" Miracle said.
 
King University had won the previous four championships and had dominated the WCWA scene since 2014. Simon Frasier was the team to beat coming into the championships. "Those opening round matches you're trying to find a balance of cheering on your team and also getting ready for you match" said Koral Sugiyama. 
 
Miracle and Bullen put on a clinic in the opening rounds. The duo never had their matches go beyond the first round and outscoring their opponents by a combined 64-0 after day one. Campbellsville sent three wrestlers to the national's finals with Mariah Harris joining Miracle and Bullen. 
 
Simon Frasier already had an advantage with five athletes making it to the championship round. Campbellsville had to pick up critical points in the All-American rounds. Charlotte Fowler was able to bring in key points in winning the third place 109 lbs. matchup, McKayla Campbell and Alexia Foca both placed fourth in their weight classes, Shelby Hall won her bout at 130 lbs. placing fifth, and Kaitlyn Hill won by injury default giving her the seventh-place position.
 
Going into the national finals Campbellsville was still trailing Simon Frasier in the team score. Mariah Harris was the first Lady Tiger to wrestle in the finals. Her match came down to the final three seconds to decide a winner. Her opponent Brittany Marshal pulled a two-point reversal with 1.7 seconds left to give her the 5-4 win.
 
Bullen defeated three-time finalist Nicole Depa at 130 lbs. Bullen finished off the tournament not conceding a single point while scoring 42 points in her matches. This set up the story book ending for one of the greatest athletes to put on a Campbellsville jersey.

"I had a sheet with what we needed to do and who we needed to beat in day two" said Kayla. "It was a God given team and we had certain things we needed to happen in our favor as well as things we had to take care of and we did just that."
 
After the Bullen victory, Campbellsville was behind by 1.5 points with 190 points while Simon Frasier had 191.5. Kayla Miracle only had to win to match to get her fourth individual title as well as the team title. Desiree Zavala scored first early in the first period and was up on Miracle 2-0, which was the first points scored against her the entire tournament. Miracle answered with a pin before the end of the first period to push the team score to 196 over Simon Frasiers 191.5. The Lady Tigers won the championship and Kayla Miracle became the fourth woman ever to win in a WCWA Championship in all four years of school. 
 
The following day the Lady Tigers returned home to a surprise that even they did not expect. Faculty, athletes, fellow classmates, community members were all gathered in Powell to welcome the team back. "Returning to campus we had a big welcome back party," said Fowler. "You don't aim for to feel appreciated but when the whole community and university is waiting for you all and supports a sport in which not a lot of people know that women do was something that we all took in."


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