Rodriguez, Jelacic, Lekas go back to back, Life wins team title at NAIA Women’s Wrestling National Championships

PARK CITY, Kan. – The third annual 2025 NAIA Women’s Wrestling National Championships came to a close on Saturday night, as three athletes won their second individual National titles, and Life University became the third champion in the history of the tournament.

Life won its first NAIA National team title on Saturday night, scoring 190.5 team points with three individual champions and 10 total All-Americans. Head coach Ashley Flavin was named the NAIA Coach of the Year.

Securing top finishes at this year’s event from Life were sisters Zaynah and Latifah McBryde, as both finished second at last year’s championships. Zaynah McBryde, competing at 138 pounds, defeated 2021 National champion No. 2 seed Waipuilani Estrella-Beauchamp of Providence, 10-0. Latifah McBryde bested No. 7 seed Darby Weidl of Ottawa in a 7-2 decision.

Life also had a first-time champion at 207 pounds in Savannah Isaac. Isaac, a four-time Ohio state champion and three-time Fargo National champion, is in her first year at Life. She defeated Riley Dempewolf of Indiana Tech in a 4-1 decision.

Cristelle Rodriguez of Doane won her second-straight NAIA Women’s Wrestling National title at 124 pounds. Rodriguez used a 5-5 criteria decision to secure the victory in an electric back-and-forth match over Katie Gomez of The Cumberlands. Rodriguez is a 2024 U23 World Champion.

Returning champion Stefana Jelacic of Lourdes won her second consecutive title, defeating top seeded Anaya Falcon of Life, 7-2, at 110 pounds. Jelacic had a dominant tournament en route to her second title, collecting two victories by technical fall and two by decision.

At 180 pounds, Ashley Lekas of Texas Wesleyan claimed her second NAIA National title, defeating Kelani Corbett of Missouri Valley, 12-2. Lekas won all her matches by technical fall, outscoring her opponents 43-2.  

For the third year in a row, Erin Hikiji of Providence, wrestling at 103 pounds, competed in the championship finals. After a pair of runner-up finishes, Hikiji reached the top of the podium this year with an 8-2 decision over Alexis Miller of Oklahoma City.

William Penn had a pair of national champions in Christianah Ogunsanya at 117 pounds and Esther Kolawole at 145 pounds. Ogunsanya shut down Salyna Shotwell of Life’s offense in the battle in the finals. Throughout the tournament, Ogunsanya outscored her opponents 41-4.

Kolawole took out defending national champion and top seeded Jamilah McBryde of Life in the championship match, 12-5. The battle between two very skilled wrestlers proved to be one of the most exciting matches of the night, and Kolawole’s early offensive surge proved to make the difference.

The award for Most Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament went to Jumoke Adekoye of Dickinson State. Adekoye’s tournament was defined by two incredible victories. In the semifinals, Adekoye defeated Carolina Moreno of Southern Oregon, putting a stop to her pursuit for a fourth title. Adekoye won her finals match against Xochitl Mota-Pettis of Missouri Valley. 5-3. She is the first national champion in Women’s Wrestling for the Dickinson State program.

Grand View finished second in the team race with 120.5 points. In third, the Cumberlands were just four points behind with 116.5, and William Penn was hot on their heels with 114 points. Rounding out the top five was Missouri Valley with 101.5 points.

Complete brackets are available at Trackwrestling.com, and archived matches of the NAIA Women’s Wrestling Championships are available at FloWrestling.com.

1                     Life, 190.5 points

2                     Grand View, 120.5 points

3                     Cumberlands, 116.5 points

4                     William Penn, 114.0 points

5                     Missouri Valley, 101.5 points

6                     Providence, 85.0 points

7                     Southern Oregon, 79.5 points

8                     Texas Wesleyan, 73.5 points

9                     Doane, 70.5 points

10                   Indiana Tech, 70.5 points

103 pounds

1^st – No. 1 Erin Hikiji (Providence) dec. No. 3 Alexis Miller (Oklahoma City), 8-2

3^rd – No. 5 Judy Sandoval (Grand View) pin No. 7 Makayla Young (Indiana Tech), 0:39

5^th – Alexis Hatfield (Avila) forf. Angelina Casteneda (Cumberlands)

7^th – No. 4 Karina Vang (Doane) inj. def. Sofia Abramson (Oklahoma City)

110 pounds

1^st – No. 2 Stefana Jelacic (Lourdes) dec. No. 1 Anaya Falcon (Life), 7-2

3^rd – No. 3 Paige Morales (Providence) tech. fall No. 6 Tehani Soares (Indiana Tech), 10-0

5^th –  No. 4 Emma Baertlein (Southern Oregon) dec. No. 8 Alexsys Jacquez (Saint Mary), 3-0

7^th – No. 7 Tristan Nitta (Grand View) inj. def. Nizhoni Tallman (Evergreen State)

117 pounds

1^st – No. 1 Christianah Ogunsanya (William Penn) dec. No. 3 Salyna Shotwell (Life), 8-0

3^rd – Shammilka Miranda (Cumberlands) tech. fall No. 6 Mayangelie Colon (Grand View), 11-0

5^th –  No. 5 Jasmine Howard (Southern Oregon) dec. No. 2 Camille Fournier (Texas Wesleyan), 7-4

7^th – No. 7 Katherine Heath (Baker) dec. Icart Galumette (Campbellsville), 10-6

124 pounds

1^st – No. 1 Cristelle Rodriguez (Doane) dec. No. 2 Katie Gomez (Cumberlands), 5-5

3^rd – No. 3 Joanna Vanderwood (William Penn) dec. Catharine Campbell (Grand View), 5-1

5^th –   No. 4 Jasmina Immaeva (Missouri Valley) tech. fall No. 5 Rose Kaplan (Indiana Tech), 10-0

7^th – No. 6 Maya Davis (Grand View) tech. fall Ariana Martinez (Life), 13-2

131 pounds

1^st – No. 5 Jumoke Adekoye (Dickinson State) dec. No. 3 Xochitl Mota-Pettis (Missouri Valley), 5-3

3^rd – No. 2 Mercy Adekuoroye (Wayland Baptist) dec. No. 1 Carolina Moreno (Southern Oregon), 15-6

5^th – No. 6 Olivia Mottley (Life) inj. def. No. 4 Sarah Savidge (Life)

7^th – No. 8 Devin Patton (William Penn) dec. Larissa Kaz (Hastings) (Dec 14-12)

138 pounds

1^st – No. 1 Zaynah Mcbryde (Life) tech. fall No. 2 Waipuilani Estrella-Beauchamp (Providence), 10-0

3^rd – No. 5 Samantha Barragan (Texas Wesleyan) pin No. 6 Reagen Gallaway (Hastings), 2:27)

5^th – No. 3 Jordan Suarez (Wayland Baptist) pin Serenity De La Garza (Missouri Valley), 3:33)

7^th – Isabelle Hawley (William Penn) pin Natalia Posada (Oklahoma City), 1:21)

145 pounds

1^st – No. 3 Esther Kolawole (William Penn) dec. No. 1 Jamilah Mcbryde (Life), 12-5

3^rd – No. 2 Liv Wieber (Eastern Oregon) pin Sevreign Aumua (Missouri Valley), 2:54

5^th – Bridgette Sotomayor (Doane) pin Aubrey Yauger (Texas Wesleyan), 4:33

7^th – Alivia Ming (Cumberlands) disq. No. 6 Anastasia Hardin (Missouri Baptist), DQ

160 pounds

1^st – No. 1 Latifah Mcbryde (Life) dec. No. 7 Darby Weidl (Ottawa), 7-2

3^rd – No. 2 Flor Parker Borrero (Evergreen State) pin No. 4 Micah Fisher (Cumberlands), 1:28

5^th – No. 5 Josette Partney (Missouri Baptist) inj. def. No. 6 Allyssa Johnson (Jamestown)

7^th – No. 8 Aspen Barber (Doane) won by fall over Abigail Sebesta (Ottawa), 2:08

180 pounds

1^st – No. 1 Ashley Lekas (Texas Wesleyan) tech. fall No. 3 Kelani Corbett (Missouri Valley), 12-2

3^rd – Jannell Avila (Baker) pin No. 2 India Page (Lindsey Wilson), 5:23

5^th – No. 5 Liliana Vergara (Campbellsville) pin Lillian Gradillas-Flores (Southern Oregon), 0:27

7^th – No. 6 Reka Busa (Life) pin No. 7 America Lopez (William Penn), 0:43

207 pounds

1^st – No. 3 Savannah Isaac (Life) dec. No. 4 Riley Dempewolf (Indiana Tech), 4-1

3^rd – No. 1 Olivia Brown (Grand View) won by decision over No. 5 Hannah Jackson (Ottawa), 6-0

5^th – Maquoia Bernabe (Cumberlands) dec. No. 2 Kathryn Hingano (Southern Oregon), 3-1

7^th – Mariyah Brumley (William Woods) pin No. 6 Alysse Phillips (Lourdes), 0:47