By Tanner Lafever
USA Wrestling

We’re only two weeks into the 2025-26 women’s college wrestling season, and thus far, the high-caliber matchups have yet to show any signs of slowing down. 

Whether it’s an individual battle at an open tournament or a potential National Duals preview between top-10 teams, fans of this sport are reaping the benefits. 

We’ll break down some of the top storylines from the week that was before peeking ahead at another entertaining slate to come. 

Yo, Adrian! 

No single location was home to more great wrestling this past weekend than Adrian, Michigan. 

There, the 18th-ranked Bulldogs hosted a pair of awesome events over back-to-back days. 

The first leg of the doubleheader – Saturday’s Adrian Duals – featured 41 duals between a collection of quality NCAA/NAIA programs. 

Among them, #2 McKendree (IL), #3 North Central (IL) and #7 Aurora (IL) were all in the mix as NCAA teams ranked in the top 10 – as was #8 Lindsey Wilson on the NAIA side. 

Meanwhile, perennial power King University (TN) was also in the field – as the new-look Tornado continue to find their footing under first-year head coach Bret Fry. 

As it turned out, the headline matchup of the bunch lived up to the billing, too. 

#2 McKendree won 7/10 bouts to earn a 24-18 victory over #3 North Central – National Duals runners up each of the past two years (to Iowa).

To lend some context to the firepower in this dual, neither team was at full strength and there were still eight previous NCWWC finalists who took the mat – not to mention several other past All-Americans and some talented youngsters to boot. 

(You can watch/read more about the battle between the Bearcats and Cardinals here) 

McKendree went 4-0 on the day – incl. wins over #21 Gannon (41-1) and King (38-7). 

North Central bounced back to win its three remaining duals – besting King (31-13), #18 Tiffin (46-0) and #14 West Liberty (33-9). 

And if that weren’t enough to satisfy one’s wrestling appetite, those teams all doubled back for the Adrian Open the following day. 

Joined by athletes from #4 Grand Valley State (MI), #5 Presbyterian (SC) and others in a 40-team field – the open tournament featured the NCAA’s #2, #3, #4 and #5 ranked programs.

Weight of the weekend 

I’ll preface this section by recommending those interested dive into all 10 varsity brackets from both the Adrian Open and the Battle of Rockies – last weekend’s other premier event (hosted in Great Falls, Montana). 

The latter had its own loaded field, headlined by NAIA contenders #4 Providence (MT) and #5 Indiana Tech. 

But for the sake of brevity (and my editor), I’ve narrowed down the focus to a single weight class. 

Why? Because both tournaments had stellar brackets at 131 pounds. And I think that makes 131 the undisputed weight of the weekend in women’s college wrestling. 

Starting with the Battle of the Rockies, fourth-ranked Waipuilani Estrella-Beauchamp (Providence) emerged as a somewhat surprising champion. 

The three-time NAIA All-American (a 2025 runner up at 138), bonused her way through five matches without allowing a single point. The last of those bouts was her longest (and most impressive), a 2:28 fall over reigning national champion Jumoke Adekoye (Dickson State). 

As for the Adrian Open, a bracket that included #2 Yele Aycock (North Central), #3 Alex Szkotnicki (McKendree), #5 Hannah Palise (Grand Valley State) and 2024 NCWWC runner-up Virginia Foard (King) was thrown into chaos right away. 

That’s because in the Round of 32, unranked NAIA freshman Jeila Ramos (Lindsey Wilson) knocked off #2 Aycock in stunning fashion:

Ramos nearly made it back-to-back major upsets, too – losing her subsequent match in wild (and controversial) 16-13 fashion against #3 Szkotnicki. 

When it was all said and done – each of Szkotnicki, Palise and Foard reached the semifinals. But as it turned out, none of them won the bracket. 

Instead, that distinction went to Mia Friesen – of Canadian national champions Brock University – who bonused her way through the field, including a 0:28 technical fall of Szkotnicki in the final. 

That’s how good 131 was this weekend.

Up next 

As we look forward to Week Three on the schedule, I’ve got my eye trained squarely to the southeast. 

This Saturday, two unique venues will host some top-tier college duals. 

Up first, Life University’s Lupo Family Field – where the Marietta, Georgia, locale is expected to be a balmy 68 degrees when NAIA’s top-ranked Running Eagles welcome #5 Indiana Tech. 

Shortly thereafter – roughly a five-hour drive to the east – the #1 Iowa Hawkeyes will face off against #5 Presbyterian atop the flight deck of the USS Yorktown CV-10. 

That’s right, the retired World War II aircraft carrier is hosting the second edition of the Throwdown on the Yorktown – right where it’s docked at the Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. 

(Presbyterian will also dual historic first-year Division 1 NCAA program Delaware State later that same day.) 

Less than 24 hours later, all five of these programs will convene on Presbyterian’s campus in Clinton, SC to as part of the field at the Blue Hose Challenge. 

That’s two top-five teams from both the NCAA/NAIA ranks – including both reigning national champions – a day after they wrestled on either a football field or a US Navy vessel. 

Where else could that happen but in women’s college wrestling?