Wesleyan women’s wrestling impresses in 1st meet

INDIANOLA — The Iowa Wesleyan women’s wrestling team proved why it earned a No. 8 rankings in the preseason NAIA poll with a fantastic performance at Indian Hills on Saturday.

The Tigers traveled to the Luther Hill Invitational and brought back two championships and seven Top-3 finishes, a strong start to what could be a historic season.

Tigers Destiny Campbell and Adaugo Nwachukwu brought home titles in the 130-pound and 136-pound brackets.

Campbell rolled at 130. She sandwiched a pair of 10-0 technical falls over North Iowa’s Paige Baker and Waldorf’s Cheyenne Daigeau with a pin of Grand View’s Isabella Gonzalez to earn a spot in the championship, where she met up with teammate JoAnna Vanderwood.

Vanderwood earned her spot in the semifinals with a pin and a technical fall, and then advanced to the title match with a 6-3 decision over Maydson Gray of Grand View.

In the title match, Campbell outlasted Vanderwood 6-4 to finish first. Vanderwood took second, making it two Tigers in the Top-2.

Nwachukwu absolutely dominated the 136 bracket. She beat Laura Kipnusu of Grand View via a 10-0 technical fall, rolled over Neve Barragan of Waldorf with an 11-0 tech fall and then roared against Andrea Schlabach in the championship, winning 13-4.

The Tigers had another Top-3 finisher at 136 pounds. Emily Neumann took third, rattling three wins off in a row after a quarterfinal loss to Schlabach.

Also finishing third for Iowa Wesleyan were Alaina Sunlin at 101 pounds, Faith Cole at 116 pounds and Nadia Abdijanovic at 143 pounds.

Michaela Blume finished fourth at 143 pounds. Nonnie Justice (123), Emma Cole (155) and Grace Gray (191) were all fifth. Zoi Smith failed to place at 123 pounds.