North Central College poses with the first-place team plaque following the Ken Kraft Midlands Championships.
HOFMANN ESTATES, Ill. – The NCAA No. 3 ranked North Central College squad delivered a third-straight team title at the Ken Kraft Midlands Championships with five individual tournament champions.
Leading the way for the Cardinals was 117-pound champion Sydney Petzinger, who won the Midlands for the second-consecutive year. Petzinger, a three-time NCWWC All-American, went 5-0 on the day with four bonus-point wins, plus a 9-0 decision over Lindenwood’s Caitlyn Jackson in the finals.
Additional North Central College champions were Brianne Graves at 103 pounds, Sydney Perry at 145 pounds, Shenita Lawson at 180 pounds and Dasia Yearby at 207 pounds. On top of five champions, the Cardinals put nine wrestlers in the finals and notched 23 top-six finishers to tally an impressive 165 team points.
Finishing a distant second place was prominent high school program Wyoming Seminary with 70 team points. Presbyterian, Albion and Aurora rounded out the top five teams. All told, there were six Top 25 teams in the NCAA rankings on the mats this weekend at NOW Arena.
Presented the Dan Gable Outstanding Wrestler Award was 131-pound champion Alexis Janiak of Aurora. Janiak, a two-time U20 World medalist for Team USA, defeated unattached athlete Virginia Foard in the finals, 4-3. Foard is a two-time age-group Pan American Champion for the U.S.
124-pound champion Everest Leydecker, wrestling unattached, earned the Marjo Kraft Champion of Champions Award following a 6-1 decision over top, young prospect Emma Bacon of Wyoming Seminary in the championship bout. Leydecker posted three 10-0 technical falls and a 40-second pin prior to the finals. She was a U17 World Team member for Team USA in 2023.
Three athletes repeated as tournament champions—Petzinger, plus unattached athletes Kayla Batres at 110 pounds and Taina Fernandez at 138 pounds. Batres, a U15 Pan American champion, took an 11-0 technical fall over Alexis Winecke of UW-Stevens Point in the finals. Fernandez, who won the U17 World Championships last summer, pinned Taina McGowan of Wyoming Seminary in 1:38 during her final.
Presbyterian College’s May Cuyler went 4-0 on her run to the 160-pound title. She earned a pair of technical falls, plus a pin, before stopping North Central’s Tiera Jimerson in the championship match, 10-7.
Final results and complete brackets of the 60th Ken Kraft Midlands Championships are available on Trackwrestling.com. Replays from the event are available online with a Big Ten Plus subscription.
2024 Ken Kraft Midlands Championships #
At Hoffman Estates, Ill., Dec. 30 #
Team Standings #
1. North Central, 165
2. Wyoming Seminary, 70
3. Presbyterian College, 69.5
4. Albion, 54.5
5. Aurora, 51.5
6. Lindenwood, 50
7. UW-Stevens Point, 43.5
8. Frostburg State, 29
9. Alma, 21.5
10. Princeton, 17
Placement Matches #
103 pounds #
1st – Brianne Graves (North Central) dec. Madison Avila (North Central), 3-2
3rd – Madison Healey (Wyoming Seminary) dec. Genesis Ramirez (Aurora), 9-5
5th – Gabriella Motz (Albion) forfeit Zurri Zamora (North Central)
110 pounds #
1st – Kayla Batres (Unattached) tech. fall Alexis Winecke (UW-Stevens Point), 11-0
3rd – Alaina Sunlin (UW-Stevens Point) fall Madolin Ripley (Wyoming Seminary), 4:13
5th – Caroline Farris (Alma) forfeit Leeana Mercado (North Central)
117 pounds #
1st – Sydney Petzinger (North Central) dec. Caitlyn Jackson (Lindenwood), 9-0
3rd – Kaelani Shufeldt (Unattached) tech. fall Mikayla Garcia (North Central), 10-0
5th – Chole Ayres (Princeton) tech. fall Eden Hernandez (North Central), 14-3
124 pounds #
1st – Everest Leydecker (Unattached) dec. Emma Bacon (Wyoming Seminary), 6-1
3rd – Carissa Qureshi (Unattached) dec. Milana Borrelli (Unattached), 10-6
5th – Alyssa Mahan (Presbyterian College) dec. Aroma Marrufo (North Central), 7-6
131 pounds #
1st – Alexis Janiak (Aurora) dec. Virginia Foard (Unattached), 4-3
3rd – Mackenzi Stiller (Unattached) fall Eliana White-Vega (North Central), 1:06
5th – Cayden Condit (Lindenwood) fall Brianna Holcomb (Frostburg State), 2:06
138 pounds #
1st – Taina Fernandez (Unattached) fall Taina McGowan (Wyoming Seminary), 1:38
3rd – Carina Giangeruso (Presbyterian College) dec. Taylor Graveman (North Central), 9-8
5th – Emma Grimm (North Central) dec. Shani Tyson (Frostburg State), 6-0
145 pounds #
1st – Sydney Perry (North Central) dec. Sarina Bertram (North Central), 6-3
3rd – Riley Aamold (North Central) dec. Marisa Angelos (Unattached), 8-0
5th – Clare Waite (North Central) dec. Paige Wehrmeister (Presbyterian College), 4-1
160 pounds #
1st – May Cuyler (Presbyterian College) dec. Tiera Jimerson (North Central), 10-7
3rd – Alondra Morales (North Central) forfeit Lizzie Raleigh (North Central)
5th – Brynn Green (Albion) forfeit Alana Duggan (Lindenwood)
180 pounds #
1st – Shenita Lawson (North Central) fall Brittyn Corbishley (North Central), 4:34
3rd – Stella Steigler (Unattached) fall Mackenzie Konanz (Aurora), 2:01
5th – Larissa Gallo (Unattached) fall Abbie Miles (Albion), 0:44
207 pounds #
1st – Dasia Yearby (North Central) fall Jade Herzer (UW-Stevens Point), 0:39
3rd – Traeh Haynes (North Central) forfeit Katelyn Lewis (Unattached)
5th – Caroline Ward (North Central) dec. Ella Beam (Presbyterian College), 6-4
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