LH women’s wrestling makes history at NCWWC National Championships
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – The No. 7 Lock Haven women’s wrestling team opened up Friday’s day one of the National Collegiate Women’s Wrestling Championships (NCWWC) National Championships with a bang in Alliant Energy Powerhouse.
In the morning session, the trio of ranked Bald Eagles Kaelani Shufeldt (Huntington Beach, Calif./Marina), Lily Sherer (Shohola, Pa./Delaware Valley) and Grace Stem (Snow Shoe, Pa./Bald Eagle) each won their opening matches of the day to advance to the quarterfinals, with all three locking up All-American status before the night was over.
The No. 2 ranked wrestler at 143 pounds, Stem rolled to a 10-0 tech fall to move to the quarterfinal round. The Bald Eagle freshman powered her way through Gannon’s No. 7 Lili Ujfalvi and earned her place in the semifinals with a 9-6 decision.
With the win, Stem made history and sealed her place in the record books as LHU women’s wrestling’s first All-American, and will be in contention for a national championship in Saturday action.
At 109, No. 5 Shufeldt won by fall in her opening match over Simon Fraser’s Golrokh Nouri to move onto the quarterfinals before dropping her quarterfinal bout. Shufeldt got right back on the mats, however and grabbed a tech fall victory over New Jersey City’s Izabella Frezzo to lock up her legacy as The Haven’s second All-American. Shufeldt will have a chance to compete for third-place Saturday.
In a morning of pins, No. 6 Sherer grabbed a fall at the 2:18 mark to move to the quarterfinals in the afternoon session, where she dropped a narrow decision. Sherer battled back in the evening and made history as The Haven’s third All-American of the day. Her dominant 8-2 decision over Emmanuel’s Samantha Larios sealed the moment, and Sherer remains in contention for third place.
At 136, Madison Matta (Blue Ridge, Pa./Waynesboro) dropped her opening bout of the championships, but bounced back with a consolation win before being edged out 2-1 in her wrestle backs.
Trinity Monaghan (Harleysville, Pa./Souderton) was in action and the freshman capped a stellar season making her debut appearance at the national championships.
As a team, the Bald Eagles currently sit 11th out of 30 teams at the championships with 29.5 points.
The Bald Eagles close the national championships Saturday in Cedar Rapids. Action gets underway at 12 p.m. and the final session begins at 8 p.m.
