NAPERVILLE, Ill. – Three University of Iowa women’s wrestling student-athletes competed and finished in the top four at the North Central College Invitational on Sunday in the Residence Hall of the North Central Recreation Center.

At 123 pounds, freshman Cali Leng went 4-2 on the day earning a fourth-place finish. Leng started the day with a 7-6 decision over North Central’s Dakota Drew. In round two, Leng notched a pin against Ileah Brown of Schreiner, in 2:34. Moving to the quarterfinals, Leng captured a 12-2 technical fall over Bethany Regione of Aurora. Sending her to the semifinals, Leng fell to North Central’s first-ranked Amani Jones, via a pin in 2:35, to place her on the backside. Leng defeated Josie Davis of Campbellsville via an 8-2 decision, putting her in the third-place match. After a hard-fought six minutes, Leng came up short to William Jewell’s Alexandra Waitsman, via an 8-7 decision.

Also representing at 123 pounds, Ava Rose secured a second-place finish with a record of 4-1. After an injury default from her opponent in the first round, Rose made quick work in round two with a 12-2 tech. fall over Sandie Pfeil of Augustana. The freshman notched another tech. fall in the quarterfinals against Angela LoRusso of Adrian College, 10-0. In the semifinals, Rose downed William Jewell’s Alexandra Waitsman via a 14-8 decision. Rose met first-ranked Amani Jones of North Central, where she fell short of the win via a 10-0 tech. fall.

At 136 pounds, Sophomore Anakya Besco joined her teammate in taking home a silver medal, finishing the day 5-1. In the preliminary round, Besco earned a tech. fall over Carthage College’s Jennifer Villagomez, 11-1. Besco continued into round one with another tech. fall downing Brooke Schuenemann of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, 14-4. In the second round, the sophomore defeated North Central’s Halle White, via 10-0 tech. fall. Sending her to the quarterfinals, Besco earned a decision, 2-0, over Marissa Sanabria of Lindenwood. In the semifinals, Besco met Campbellsville’s Gabriella Perez, notching another win via decision, 3-2. In the first-place matchup, Besco fought hard but ultimately fell to Alondra Morales of North Central, via an 8-0 decision.

HEAR FROM HEAD COACH CLARISSA CHUN

“I thought it was a great competition for our women to finish up before the end of the semester. They wrestled hard and battled within themselves and on the mat to come out with a strong finish. The women that came to wrestle are learning and growing in specific areas and finding ways to execute on the mat in competitions. This is a great time of year to work on it. A lot of great things happened today; I am very proud of them. They all made mid-match and mid-competition adjustments and brought out their best selves in the end. Nothing to hang our heads on, great efforts from each and every one of them today.”

UP NEXT

Nine Hawkeyes will travel to Las Vegas, Nevada, next Sunday to compete against the Wartburg Knights in the Las Vegas Desert Duals.