Wrestling - W | 2/27/2020 9:42:00 AM
ADRIAN, MI --- Adrian College will host the First Annual Cliff Keen National Collegiate Women's Wrestling Championships (NCWWC) in Adrian, Mich. on March 6-7, 2020. The meet will feature NCAA varsity women's wrestling programs at the DI, DII, and DIII levels.
This is a historic event, as it is the first national-level tournament for college women's wrestling specific to NCAA-affiliated universities only.
Organized by the Women's Collegiate Wrestling Coalition, the NCWWC is an important step in the process of receiving NCAA Emerging Sport Status for women's wrestling. In June 2019, the NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics recommended that all three NCAA divisions add women's freestyle wrestling as an emerging sport. These NCAA divisions are considering the women's wrestling bid this year, and official Emerging Sport Status could be achieved as early as August 2020.
The Cliff Keen National Collegiate Women's Wrestling Championships is not an official NCAA Championship at the moment, but will be held annually until the sport receives Emerging Sport Status, then qualifies as an official NCAA Championships, amongst the 40 current NCAA institutions.
(Information above courtesy of USA Wrestling.)
For the Simon Fraser Women's Wrestling Team, they'll be looking to make a bit of their own history at the meet. Simon Fraser is coming off an incredibly successful season overall, which most recently included a trip to the Bearcat Open in Illinois back in early February. At the meet, SFU picked up five individual victories.
Earlier in the year, Simon Fraser only narrowly missed out on the NCAA Duals Title, as they lost out in heartbreaking fashion to McKendree University on a delayed official's decision: finishing second by the closest of margins.
Heading to Adrian College, Simon Fraser will have seven wrestlers ranked amongst the top three in their weight classes nationally, as each will look to vie for an individual title. Karla Godinez-Gonzalez and
Alex Hedrick will compete at 123, with
Lauren Mason at 130,
Nicole Depa at 136, Ana Godinez-Gonzalez at 143,
Alyvia Fiske at 155 and
Emily Cue at 191. Simon Fraser is also the #1 overall ranked team entering the tournament, so they'll be looking to make good on that ranking in Illinois.
Stay tuned for updates from the First Annual Cliff Keen National Collegiate Women's Wrestling Championships.
