Wrestling - W | 2/10/2016 8:59:00 PM

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – Simon Fraser University enters the 2016 WCWA Women's College Nationals as the No. 3 seed, hoping to dethrone two-time defending champion King University.
 
Simon Fraser, the 2013 WCWA champion, is the No. 3 ranked team behind King and No. 2 Oklahoma City heading into nationals Feb. 12-13 at the Freede Center/Abe Lemons Arena. The Clan finished fourth a year ago.
 
"I usually have a good feel for how our team will fare at this championship but I have no idea this time," said Clan head coach Mike Jones. "With a young team anything can happen."
 
The Clan team is comprised of four freshmen, four sophomores, a junior and a senior among the 10 competitors who travelled to Oklahoma. Sophomore Payten Smith, 30-2 on the season, enters the national tournament ranked No. 1 at 191-pounds. Smith won the consolation final last year to capture bronze.
 
Sophomore Mallory Velte, a medical redshirt last year, is top-ranked at 143. She finished fourth as a freshman two years ago and has a 27-6 record this season.
 
Two other Clan wrestlers are ranked among the top three in their weight classes. Senior Darby Huckle, a three-time All-American and bronze medalist in 2015, is third at 101-pounds and enters the tournament with a 22-5 record. Sophomore Abby Lloyd, a silver medalist a year ago as a freshman at 109-pounds, is third ranked at 116 this year. She enters the tournament 33-2.
 
"This team has surprised me all year and I know that it's a group capable of elevating its performance and rising up to the occasion," said Jones.
 
Projected Clan Lineup
 
101 - #3 Darby Huckle, Sr., 22-5
116 - #3 Abby Lloyd, So., 33-2
123 - #6 Dominique Parrish, Fr., 26-3
123 - #7 Jennifer Anderson, Jr., 17-6
123 - Aliocha Periard, Fr., 16 -5
130 - Nicole Depa, Fr., 10-8
143 - #1 Mallory Velte, So., 27-6
136 - #4 Francesca Giorgio, So., 22-1
155 – Open
191 - #1 Payten Smith, So., 30-2
170 - #8 Kendall Reusing, Fr., 23-5
 
The competition is a bracket format with 300 wrestlers across 10 weight classes in a double loss elimination format.
 
FRIDAY, FEB. 12
Preliminary rounds, 8 AM (Pacific), Quarterfinals/consolation, 2 PM (PT).
 
SATURDAY, FEB. 13
Semifinals/medal rounds, 8 AM (PT), Medal rounds, 11 AM (PT),Championship finals, 5 PM (PT)
 
WATCH LIVE: http://www.flowrestling.org/event/252925-wcwa-women-s-college-national-championsh
 
LIVE RESULTS http://www.trackwrestling.com/opentournaments/VerifyPassword.jsp?tournamentId=223738009
 
Although King is favored, it only has two No. 1 ranked individuals, the same as the Clan. No. 2 Oklahoma City has the most athletes with No. 1 individual rankings with three.
 
There are only four returning champions this year and none who have won multiple national titles.
 
There is special significance at this year's WCWA Nationals, with as many as 30 spots in the USA Olympic Trials available. The top three USA athletes in each weight category from the 2016 WCWA Nationals punch their ticket to Iowa City, April 9-10. The total number of qualifiers could be fewer, because if any of the top three Americans in each weight have already qualified, that spot will not be filled. So far, 15 college wrestlers have qualified for the Trials through other events.
 
Although Simon Fraser is the lone Canadian team in the WCWA, it features five Americans who are nationally ranked in the WCWA. They are No. 1 Mallory Velte of California at 143, No. 4 Francesca Giorgio of Pennsylvania at 136, No. 6 Dominique Parrish of California at 123, No. 7 Jennifer Anderson of Washington at 123 and No. 8 Kendall Reusing of California at 170.
 
Reusing will be wrestling down from 191 at 170 at this tournament. It will be her first time at this weight class all season.
 
King University won the last two WCWA women's national titles. Since the first women's college nationals was held in 2004, only two teams have won at least three national titles in a row. Oklahoma City claimed four in a row (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012), while the University of the Cumberlands won three straight in 2006, 2007, and 2008.
 
Follow the SFU Clan wrestling team on the club's official Twitter account at Twitter.com/SFUWrestling. 
 
-- with files from USA wrestling
 
--@SFUClan--