Iowa women's wrestling NCWWC preview
Alright, so I’m pretty freaking pumped.
Championship wrestling season has been going on around the country for over a month at the high school level. Of late, the college scene has finally joined the fray – and now the stage is set for the sport’s most recognizable brand to lay it all on the line.
Now it’s the Iowa Hawkeyes’ turn.
In just a few days they’ll take the mat in pursuit of championship glory, backed by a rabid fan base that expects nothing less from a team donning the iconic Black & Gold singlet.
Of course, I’m not talking about the Hawkeye wrestling program in its 114th season of existence – the one with 24 NCAA team titles and 85 individual championship crowns to its name. That squad, the Iowa men, will be out in College Park, Maryland for the Big Ten conference tournament on Saturday and Sunday.
No, I’m talking about the one set for its first-ever national championship event and seeking its first (of many) individual champions in program history.
I’m talking about head coach Clarissa Chun and the second-ranked Iowa Hawkeye women.
This Friday and Saturday in Cedar Rapids, IA at Alliant Energy PowerHouse Arena the Hawkeyes will convene with 49 other NCAA women’s programs from across Divisions I, II and III at the fifth annual National Collegiate Women’s Wrestling Championships (NCWWC’s).
(Information for the entire event can be found HERE to get you set to watch/attend this weekend.)
The goal for all these teams is the same – to max out to the utmost of their individual, and by extension, collective abilities.
However, the expectations that help to inform said goal may differ greatly.
For the Iowa women, that expectation is simple:
To win a national championship.
Even before an inaugural regular season in which they not only dominated numerous high-profile tournaments across the country, but also posted a perfect dual record (16-0) en route to nabbing an NWCA National Duals title, these Hawkeyes were always destined to arrive in early March with nothing but team/individual title(s) at front of mind.
Is the group of 15 women set to take the mat on Friday up to that lofty task? I certainly believe so.
But as I’m about to detail throughout this all-you-can-eat NCWWC preview and its companion piece to follow, individual glory may prove far ‘easier’ to come by than the ultimate team prize – the latter of which it’ll be a legitimate upset of sorts if the Hawkeyes were to pull off.
This is your 2024 National Collegiate Women’s Wrestling Championships. And these are the paths in front of the Hawkeyes as they pursue their individual title aspirations.
101 pounds – (Another) Black & Gold battle?
Favorites: #1 Emilie Gonzalez (Iowa), #2 Sterling Dias (Iowa)
Other contenders: #3 Madison Avila (North Central), #4 Jennesis Martinez (Colorado Mesa), #5 Lizette Rodriguez (McKendree)
As I’ve said a few times already this season – echoing a sentiment put forth by Coach Chun – the two best 101-pounders in college wrestling reside in Iowa City.
Neither Emilie Gonzalez (17-1) nor Sterling Dias (28-3) have lost during their Iowa careers to collegiate competition other than each other. That’s an almost two-year sample size now, and I can’t envision, much less predict, why things would be any different this weekend.
They’re both phenomenal wrestlers in their own unique ways, but also share a few components that will always warm the hearts of Iowa fans – namely relentless pace and a penchant for bonus points.
Other notable competitors in this bracket include the defending champion at the weight, #3 Madison Avila (North Central), as well as three-time top-four placers #4 Jennesis Martinez (Colorado Mesa) and #5 Lizette Rodriguez (McKendree).
While Gonzalez has yet to face any of that trio thus far in her young collegiate career, her teammate Dias has faced them all at least once already, outscoring them across four matches by a combined margin of 34-0 with three tech. falls.
Like I said, it’s difficult for me to come up with a reason other than ‘wrestling sometimes happens’ as to why we wouldn’t see Gonzalez/Dias ‘Part Seven’ on Saturday night for a national title at 101 pounds.
I think Gonzalez takes this matchup – just as she did in their regional final – and depending on the bout order for Saturday night may very well become the Iowa program’s first ever national champion in the process.
Finals prediction: #1 Emilie Gonzalez (Iowa) over #2 Sterling Dias (Iowa)
109 pounds – No easy outs.
Favorites: #1 Kendra Ryan (North Central), #2 Ava Bayless (Iowa), #3 Jaslynn Gallegos (North Central), #4 Kaelani Shufeldt (Lock Haven)
Other contenders: #5 Jenavi Alejandro (Tiffin), #6 Danielle Garcia (King), unseeded Pauline Granados (McKendree)
Hopefully using this refrain now doesn’t come back to bite me later if I repeat it 3-4 more times, but 109 pounds is one of the more loaded weight classes at the national tournament, particularly at the very top.
Iowa’s Ava Bayless (27-1) enters NCWWC’s with her lone loss this season coming against NAIA’s top-ranked wrestler, and Bayless is the two-seed.
Jaslynn Gallegos (North Central) already owns a pair of national titles (including last season) plus a total of five top-four All-American finishes – all coming at 116 pounds – and she’s your #3 seed.
Meanwhile, top seed Kendra Ryan (also of North Central) and #4 seed Kaelani Shufeldt (Lock Haven) finished third and fourth respectively at December’s US Senior Nationals event – an Olympic Trials qualifier loaded with much of the best senior-level, collegiate and prep talent that the country has to offer.
The two of them split a pair of matches at those Senior Nationals, this after Ryan bested Shufeldt for fifth place at last year’s NCWWC’s (15-4).
Over the last 13 months or so, Bayless is a combined 3-2 against those other favorites.
She downed Shufeldt (9-2) in the finals of the Princeton Open back in November, then staged a clutch, late comeback versus Gallegos at NWCA National Duals (winning 5-5 on criteria) to help the Hawkeyes win that team championship.
However, Bayless is ‘0’ for her last two against Ryan after winning their first matchup in February of 2023 (5-4) in the finals of the Bearcat Open tournament.
Ryan bested the Hawkeye 9-7 at last April’s US Open, then scored a quick tech. fall (12-1) at Senior Nationals after locking up a tight leg lace.
Point being, it wouldn’t surprise me to see any member of this quartet stand atop the podium this weekend. But it’s going to be an absolute dogfight to get there for whomever that is – Bayless included.
To illustrate that even further, five-seed Jenavi Alejandro (Tiffin) was your runner-up at 101 pounds last season. #6 Danielle Garcia of King University? A two-time All-American who has finished fifth and fourth the past two years at 109 and 116 pounds respectively.
Meanwhile, unseeded three-time All-American Pauline Granados (McKendree) just so happens to be a 2020 national champ and 2021 runner-up – both at 101 pounds. Bayless defeated her by a 4-2 score in their recent regional final.
An individual title at this weight would obviously be preferred by both Bayless and Iowa, but the depth of high-end talent littering the bracket is such that it could be just as pivotal to not let one potential loss before the finals derail you from scoring the maximum amount of team points possible.
I do think Bayless navigates her way to the final, but Ryan has been awfully impressive the last few months on both the collegiate and domestic scene.
Finals prediction: #1 Kendra Ryan (North Central) over #2 Ava Bayless (Iowa)
116 pounds – Two opposite career junctures, one shared championship goal.
Favorites: #1 Samara Chavez (King), #2 Sydney Petzinger (North Central), #3 Brianna Gonzalez (Iowa), #4 Felicity Taylor (Iowa)
Other contenders: #5 Melanie Mendoza (King)
Remember what I just got done saying about an absolutely loaded bracket? Well, here we are again as 116 pounds brings the exact same initial thought to mind.
Iowa enters this one with as much firepower as anyone – twice as much really, considering both Hawkeye entrants are undoubtedly capable of winning the title.
For #4 Felicity Taylor, this weekend represents the final college matches of the senior’s storied career. Not only has the Spillville, IA native served as an incredible leader/ambassador ever since transferring to the program back in the summer of 2022, but her previous accolades at McKendree (one national title and three more runner-up finishes) have only continued to show through in her performance as a Hawkeye.
Taylor (22-2) could be set for a dynamite semifinal with #1 Samara Chavez (King), the resumption of an ongoing series between the two that has gone back and forth over the past year. Chavez is both the returning NCWWC runner up at 116, as well as a 50-kilogram (~110 pounds) runner up at Senior Nationals this past December – dropping both matches in excruciating fashion.
She has a high-flying style that Taylor will need to be wary of should they meet yet again, likely in a Saturday morning semi.
The other Hawkeye in the field is a dichotomy of sorts from her teammate.
Redshirt freshman Brianna Gonzalez (19 years old) enters her first NCWWC’s minus both the age and previous collegiate accolades that Taylor possesses. She’s also far from a homegrown Hawkeye, trekking nearly two thousand miles from her California roots to be a part of the program.
On the mat, however, they’re very much the same – punishing their opponents for the length of a match and doing a whole bunch of winning in the process.
Gonzalez (31-1) has put together a stellar season despite being very much undersized for the weight class, her only defeat coming against her probable semifinal opponent, #2 Sydney Petzinger (North Central), in a narrow 8-4 decision back at National Duals.
Petzinger – a two-time All-American at 109 – has a bit of her own rivalry going with the #1 seed Chavez. She also fell to Taylor just last spring, getting teched (11-1) in the third-place bout of the US Open.
Not once in Taylor’s college career has she failed to make a national final, so picking against her to do so now feels unwise. That said, I keep coming back to my strong belief that Brianna Gonzalez is one of the very best pound-for-pound wrestlers in this entire tournament, and that my only reservation against picking her has been that she might be too undersized at 116 pounds to go through the bracket unscathed.
I’m not going to let that stop me though. I think we see another all-Iowa battle here, with Gonzalez repeating her winning performance versus Taylor that we saw when the two first met in the regional final (a 9-3 decision for Gonzalez).
Finals prediction: #3 Brianna Gonzalez (Iowa) over #4 Felicity Taylor (Iowa)
123 pounds – Close the gap.
Favorites: #1 Shelby Moore (McKendree), #2 Amani Jones (North Central)
Other contenders: #3 Montana Delawder (King), #4 Virginia Foard (King), #6 Victoria Seal (Simon Fraser)
Hawkeye(s) in the bracket: unseeded Ava Rose (Iowa)
123 pounds feels very much like a two-horse race at the top, a race that does not include unseeded Iowa true freshman Ava Rose.
However, that hardly means she is unimportant to Iowa’s team title aspirations. In fact, she very well may be critical to them.
Rose (25-14), ranked 10th in the final NCAA Coaches Rankings, may be outmatched at this early stage of her career against the very top tier of 123 pounds, as evidenced by a quartet of decisive losses against the numbers one, two and six seeds.
That said, she’s undoubtedly improved from November until now, and has some notable wins of her own against current and/or former top 10 opponents.
In terms of her ‘ceiling’ in this bracket, Rose’s most telling result may have been a very competitive 8-4 defeat at the Missouri Valley Open to current #5 seed Alexandra Fitzgerald (Sacred Heart).
Based on that, plus other factors, it wouldn’t shock me in the least to see Rose be right there with and/or beat just about any of the wrestlers seeded from 5-10.
Now, accomplishing said feat multiple times in one tournament is a whole different challenge, which the New Jersey native will have to be up for if she’s going to get herself on the podium with a top-eight finish. It gets even tougher to forecast when one considers the unpredictability of the consolation half of the bracket, where I expect Rose to find herself after hitting #4 Virginia Foard (King) in the Round of 16.
Ultimately, I think the freshman may fall just short of All-American status in her NCWWC debut, but remember, any win that she gets along the way – especially if she’s able to score bonus points – is incredibly valuable to Iowa’s total team score.
There are no ‘unimportant’ matches at the national tournament, even ones far from the glitz and glamor of championship Saturday night – where I believe we’ll get chalk at 123 pounds with McKendree’s stud freshman Shelby Moore topping 2023 Under-20 world bronze medalist Amani Jones.
Finals prediction: #1 Shelby Moore (McKendree) over #2 Amani Jones (North Central)
Hawkeye finish: unseeded Ave Rose (Iowa), Round of 12
130 pounds – A path emerges.
Favorites: #1 Victoria Baez Dilone (King), #2 Cameron Guerin (McKendree), #3 Alexis Janiak (Aurora)
Other contenders: #4 Jennifer Soto (McKendree), #5 Marquesis Haintz (Simon Fraser), #6 Salome Walker (North Central)
Hawkeye(s) in the bracket: unseeded Emily Frost (Iowa)
Much like 123, the bracket at 130 pounds has a very clear-cut top group.
That trio is made up of Spanish international and #1 seed Victoria Baez Dilone (King), three-time defending champion #2 Cameron Guerin (McKendree) and last year’s runner-up, #3 seed Alexis Janiak (Aurora).
Also, much like 123 pounds, this is another weight at which Iowa isn’t projected to score significant points this weekend.
The similarities don’t stop there either. Not only is Emily Frost a true freshman just like her teammate Ava Rose, but she hails from the Northeast as well (Troy, New York).
Frost (27-12) also happens to find herself in the exact same spot in her bracket – poised for a potential Round of 16 match with the #4 seed.
One major difference, however, is that Frost already owns a win over that #4 seed – defeating Jennifer Soto (McKendree) 8-5 at regionals less than two weeks ago.
If Frost were to win her opener against North Central’s Sara Sterner, then again versus Soto to advance into the quarterfinals, she would be just one win away from securing All-American status, and the important placement points that accompany such a distinction.
#5 Marquesis Haintz (Simon Fraser) would present a difficult matchup in the quarters – having beaten Frost once already this season by 11-0 tech. fall, but just by reaching that point the Hawkeye would have set herself up for a far better tournament run than her lack of a seed originally projected.
I think the true freshman finds her way onto the podium, quite possibly racking up some key bonus points in the process given her penchant for pinning opponents with her signature headlock.
And in the title match I’ll take #2 Guerin to win her fourth-consecutive NCWWC crown, avenging a 2-2 loss at National Duals to #1 Baez Dilone.
Finals prediction: #2 Cameron Guerin (McKendree) over #1 Victoria Baez Dilone (King)
Hawkeye finish: unseeded Emily Frost (Iowa), 7th place
136 pounds – Will chaos reign?
Favorites: #1 Yele Aycock (North Central)
Other contenders: #2 Claire DiCugno (King), #3 Grace Stem (Lock Haven), #4 Jade Trolland (Simon Fraser), #5 Holly Beaudoin (Colorado Mesa), #6 Viktorya Torres (McKendree), #7 Taylor Graveman (North Central), #8 Lilly Luft (Iowa)
Alright, it’s time to get a little crazy.
I haven’t yet had a single finals prediction that included a wrestler seeded lower than fourth. That’s about to change in a big way – in large part because I’m not sure this 136-pound weight class has the top-end talent to definitively separate itself from what would typically be the more ‘modest’ contenders in the field.
Multiple season-ending injuries have certainly played a role in that, including a pair of Hawkeyes – Nanea Estrella and Esther Han – but I generally view both this weight and its NCWWC bracket as the most wide-open of the ten that will be contested in Cedar Rapids.
Iowa freshman Lilly Luft (26-9), seeded eighth, probably would’ve been the team’s starting 130-pounder had it not been for the rash of injuries, and instead she’ll enter the national tournament with perhaps as much upward mobility as anyone in the field at 136.
As a returning finalist I’ve installed North Central’s #1 Yele Aycock as the lone ‘favorite.’
Meanwhile, seeds two, three, five and six are all past All-Americans, while #7 Taylor Graveman (North Central) is another highly touted freshman just like Luft.
Amidst all of this, I’m picking the Hawkeye to make a deep run, and doing so for a few key reasons:
- Her results/performance have only gotten better over the back half of the season as she has acclimated to her new weight class.
- She is 4-0 this year in rematches versus opponents whom she has previously lost to – a trend that could be put to the test against #1 Aycock in the quarterfinals given that the junior defeated Luft by a 6-2 margin back at National Duals in early January.
If Luft were to beat the North Central #1 seed it would have massive implications for the team race, while also putting the Charles City (IA) native in excellent position to make a final in her very first national tournament.
Mark me down for the upset and a subsequent finals berth. Once there, I have Luft falling to an opponent whom she hasn’t seen before – in fact, whom most of the weight class haven’t seen before – former 143-pounder Grace Stem of Lock Haven.
Stem, a 2023 fourth-place finisher at her old weight, seemingly made the cut down to 136 just in time for the postseason, and I think it might very well pay off for her with a national title.
Finals prediction: #3 Grace Stem (Lock Haven) over #8 Lilly Luft (Iowa)
143 pounds – As good as it gets.
Favorites: #1 Alara Boyd (North Central), #2 Reese Larramendy (Iowa), #5 Aine Drury (King)
Other contenders: #3 Athena Willden (William Jewell), #4 Ella Schmit (Iowa), #6 Maddie Kubicki (Presbyterian)
Quite possibly my favorite weight class of this entire tournament, 143 pounds took a hit on Sunday with the announcement that two-time NCWWC champ and 2023 senior world teamer Emma Bruntil (McKendree) had withdrawn from the championships.
Even still, intriguing matchups and storylines litter the 24-woman bracket, including the potential for a rematch from a National Duals meeting between the top two seeds in the field, #1 Alara Boyd (North Central) and #2 Reese Larramendy (Iowa).
Boyd, a three-time finalist and 2021 NCWWC champion who decided to take her extra COVID year for one last shot at team/individual glory, bested Larramendy 9-4 back in January after jumping out to an early lead.
I expect the Hawkeye to be waiting in the finals on Saturday night to potentially avenge that loss, particularly after Bruntil’s exit reshuffled the bracket, leaving a pair of favorable potential semifinal opponents in Larramendy’s path.
Larramendy (32-3) has twice beaten #3 Athena Willden (William Jewell) by shutout tech. fall this season and did the same in her lone bout against #6 Maddie Kubicki (Presbyterian) – the 2023 Under-20 world championship representative (65kg) for Team USA – via an 11-0 win back in November.
The top side of this bracket is where I feel sparks could really fly, and it’s why I don’t think we ultimately get the Boyd/Larramendy rematch that I was referring to.
Instead, I believe it’ll be relative ‘dark horse’ #5 Aine Drury (King) who advances to Saturday night, most likely knocking off Iowa’s other entrant #4 Ella Schmit (quarterfinals) and #1 Boyd (semifinals) in the process).
For the longest time it was uncertain whether Drury would redshirt this season or not, but she is in the field and her third-place finish at Senior Nationals (62kg) coupled with her dangerous style makes me think she’s primed for a deep run this weekend.
Give me Larramendy over Drury in a fascinating finals matchup, while #4 Schmit (23-8) fights back after a defeat in the quarters to nab one of the tougher fourth-place finishes you’re going to find in college wrestling.
Finals prediction: #2 Reese Larramendy (Iowa) over #5 Aine Drury (King)
Hawkeye finish: #4 Ella Schmit (Iowa), 4th place
155 pounds – A seed that belies the truth.
Favorites: #1 Marlynne Deede (Iowa), #2 Cheyenne Bowman (King), #6 Bella Mir (Iowa)
Other contenders: #3 Nina Makem (Augsburg), #4 Dalia Garibay (Colorado Mesa), #5 London Houston (North Central)
Yet another barnburner of a bracket, 155 pounds contains a plethora of interesting characters based on previous accomplishments and career paths to date.
Iowa’s #1 Marlynne Deede (9-0) enters as the favorite given her status as returning champion, while her teammate #6 Bella Mir (18-1 with 18 bonus point wins) is as much a threat as anyone to halt her bid for a repeat, only seeded a low as sixth due to missing the first half of the season with injury.
The rest of the field – including three past finalists across a variety of weights – will be plenty familiar with this stage and/or those Hawkeyes as well.
Colorado Mesa’s #4 Dalia Garibay was Deede’s finals opponent in 2023, and #3 Nina Makem her former long-time teammate at Augsburg University.
Meanwhile, Cheyenne Bowman (King) has made the descent from 170 pounds to grab the two-seed for this weekend.
Throw in past All-American #5 London Houston (North Central) and you’ve got all the makings of a super fun, competitive bracket.
Of that entire group, I think Bowman – a recent 68kg finalist at Senior Nationals – poses the biggest potential roadblock to an all-Hawkeye final.
Deede is 1-0 in her college career versus Garibay, and 2-0 (both bonus point victories) versus Houston.
Mir, on the other hand, went a combined 4-0 against Makem/Houston in the span of two weeks last spring at a pair of domestic competitions, including a sweep (both pins) of Houston in the finals of the Under-20 world team trials at 68kg.
I believe both Hawkeyes will successfully navigate their half of the bracket, with Mir ultimately reversing the result from an awesome regional final match between the two.
Finals prediction: #6 Bella Mir (Iowa) over #1 Marlynne Deede (Iowa)
170 pounds – Clash of the Titans.
Favorites: #1 Kylie Welker (Iowa)
Other contenders: #2 Yelena Makoyed (North Central)
Hawkeye(s) in the bracket: #4 Haley Ward (Iowa)
A strong argument can be made this this is the most cut-and-dry weight class of the entire tournament.
It’s Iowa’s Kylie Welker (the #1 seed), North Central’s Yelena Makoyed (seeded second), and then everybody else.
Welker (18-1) has yet to lose in her career versus collegiate competition, while Makoyed enters her fifth and final national tournament with a runner-up (2020) and three-consecutive 170-pound titles (2021-23) to her name.
That said, Welker has largely dominated the lifetime series, including wins by 12-2 and 11-3 margins in their two latest meetings.
Any final other than this would be an absolute stunner.
So as not to shortchange the other Hawkeye in this bracket, true freshman Haley Ward (seeded fourth) also looks set to put a cap on a fantastic season – her first in Iowa City.
Ward (29-3) has a great path to the semifinals, having previously outscored the three familiar opponents in her quadrant of the bracket by a combined 39-0 margin in four matches this season.
I think both Hawkeyes not only have successful tournaments, but wrestle exactly to seed in doing so.
Finals prediction: #1 Kylie Welker (Iowa) over #2 Yelena Makoyed (North Central)
Hawkeye finish: #4 Haley Ward (Iowa), 4th place
191 pounds – Busting through the Cardinal ‘ceiling.’
Favorites: #1 Traeh Haynes (North Central), #2 Brittyn Corbishley (North Central)
Other contenders: #3 Sandra Guerrero (New Jersey City), #4 Sara Lake (Lindenwood), #5 Jaycee Foeller (Iowa), #6 Jayleen Sekona (Colorado Mesa)
The goal for everyone else at 191 pounds is to see if they can break up the North Central stranglehold atop the weight class that has been reflected in the rankings for most of this season.
Of course, that applies doubly for #5 Jaycee Foeller, against whose Iowa team the Cardinals are in direct competition for a first-place team trophy.
Foeller (28-6) – a two-time finalist (NCWWC/NAIA) in as many years as a collegian – is a combined 1-3 in her career against top seeds #1 Traeh Haynes and #2 Brittyn Corbishley (including a pair of two-point defeats last December). But in order to earn another shot at either of them this weekend (at least on the championship side of the bracket), she’ll have to navigate what would appear to be pretty favorable path.
Ella Beam (Presbyterian) awaits in the Round of 16, whom Foeller notched a first period fall against in January. That could set up a quarterfinal bout with #4 Sara Lake (Lindenwood) – a fourth-place finisher at 191 a year ago.
Foeller was 2-0 in her career against Lake prior to their regional final two weeks ago (won 2-1 by Lake). If she’s able to turn that match back in her favor, she’d probably get #1 Haynes in the semifinals.
Upset the top seed there and I’d imagine she’d see Haynes’ teammate in the finals.
While I described the North Central duo earlier as having had a ‘stranglehold’ atop the weight class this year, that’s more so a reflection of their consistency as opposed to their having clearly separated from the rest of the competition on a skill-for-skill basis.
It wouldn’t shock me at all if Foeller, Lake, or one of #3 Sandra Guerrero (New Jersey City) or #6 Jayleen Sekona (Colorado Mesa) – multiple-time All-Americans both – advanced to Saturday night’s championship bout.
I’m going to stick with that consistency though and say we do get an all-North Central final, while Foeller rebounds from a semifinal loss to place third.
Finals prediction: #1 Traeh Haynes (North Central) over #2 Brittyn Corbishley (North Central)
Hawkeye finish: #5 Jaycee Foeller (Iowa), 3rd place
Closing thoughts
I know that was a lot to take in.
(It was a lot for me to expel too, but as I’m sure you’ve noticed by now that never really stops me, does it?)
Obviously, this is an Iowa-centric preview. Even still, I hope in the process I was able to shed some light on several of the other excellent wrestlers in the collegiate space.
They may not be Hawkeyes, but they’re still incredibly entertaining to watch.
And finally, it goes without saying that the driving force behind the team title race is what each individual is able to achieve on their own.
Every single Iowa victory is valuable. The same holds true for any defeat suffered by the competition. And the great equalizer sprinkled throughout it all? Bonus points.
I’ll examine all those factors in greater detail in my team-centric follow up to this individual preview. I do hope you’ll rejoin me then – presumably after taking a long nap, of course.
Otherwise, that about does it for me here. Now that you know the names, the brackets, and the context behind it all you’re more than ready to consume the national tournament with the passion and fervor that it deserves.
Oh, and just in case there wasn’t already enough on the line this weekend, the national champion at each weight will automatically qualify themselves – if they haven’t already – for the 2024 Team USA Olympic Trials (April 19-20 in State College, PA).
So yeah, get pumped you guys.
It’s championship season.
