Statesmen Take Second at For Her Duals
Iowa City-- The No. 5 William Penn women's wrestling team competed at the For Her Duals on Sunday. The tournament featured eight teams, including four NCAA programs and four from the NAIA. Competition was divided into NCAA and NAIA divisions, with teams wrestling a round-robin format before advancing to NCAA versus NAIA placement duals.
William Penn went undefeated in the NAIA pool, defeating No. 8 Indiana Tech, No. 11 Ottawa, and No. 1 Life to advance to the championship dual. In the finals, WPU faced the University of Iowa and fell by a 30–13 decision.
WPU 30, Indiana Tech 11
William Penn fell behind 3–1 early after dropping the 103-pound bout but responded with four consecutive victories.
110-pounder Mia Palumbo (Grad., Oak Lawn, Ill., Master's in Sports Management) sparked the run with a 10–0 technical fall, giving WPU a 5–3 advantage.
117-pounder Christianah Ogunsanya (Fr., Akure, Nigeria, Kinesiology) and 124-pounder Victoria Baez Dilone (Grad., Madrid, Spain, Master's in Sports Management) kept the momentum rolling, each earning 10–0 technical fall victories as the Statesmen extended their lead to 13–3.
Kendall Bostelman (Sr., Napoleon, Ohio, Exercise Science) continued the Statesmen surge with a hard-fought 6–4 decision at 131 pounds, pushing the advantage to 16–4.
The Warriors picked up the win at 138 pounds, but Esther Kolawole (So., Akure, Nigeria, Kinesiology) responded with a dominant 10–0 technical fall at 145 pounds to extend WPU's lead to 21–7.
Indiana Tech trimmed the score to 21–11 at 160 pounds, but William Penn took control down the stretch. Piper Fowler (Fr., Cleveland, Tenn., Psychology) posted a technical fall at 180 pounds, and Phoebe Burt (Sr., Coralville, Iowa, Sociology and Psychology and Human Services) put an exclamation point on the dual with a pinfall victory.
WPU 25, Ottawa 17
Ottawa jumped out to an 8–1 lead by winning the opening two matches at 103 and 110 pounds, but William Penn responded with five straight technical fall victories.
Christianah Ogunsanya started the run at 117 pounds, followed by Tatiana Paragas (Fr., Honolulu, Hawaii, Exercise Science) at 124 pounds, Kendall Bostelman at 131 pounds, Esther Kolawole at 138 pounds, and Maeley Elsbury (So., Chelsea, Iowa, Undecided) at 145 pounds to give the Statesmen a 21–8 advantage.
Ottawa responded with a technical fall victory of its own at 160 pounds, but Piper Fowler clinched the Statesmen round two win continuing the duals theme of technical falls at 180 pounds.
WPU 23, Life 20
William Penn once again fell behind after the 103-pound match, but answered back with a technical fall by Mia Palumbo at 110 pounds to even the score at 4–4.
117-pounder Christianah Ogunsanya gave the Statesmen their first lead of the dual with an 11–4 decision.
Victoria Baez Dilone followed by extending the WPU advantage to 11–5 with a technical fall at 124 pounds.
Life answered with a technical fall at 131 pounds to close the gap to 12–9, but Esther Kolawole regained control for the Statesmen at 138 pounds with a technical fall, extending the lead to 16–9.
Life closed the gap again with a technical fall at 145 pounds, but Kylee Eastwood (Sr., Fontana, Kan., Undecided) delivered the match of the day, pinning her opponent to push the Statesmen ahead 21–13.
The Running Eagles captured the next two weight classes, winning by technical fall and decision, but it wasn't enough as the Statesmen held on for a 23–20 victory.
Iowa 30, WPU 13
The Hawkeyes got on the board first with a 103-pound technical fall for a 4–0 lead, but Mia Palumbo answered at 110 pounds with a win by injury default, putting WPU ahead 5–4.
Christianah Ogunsanya pushed the Statesmen further ahead with a dominant technical fall at 117 pounds, making it 9–4.
Iowa stayed in the fight, picking up back-to-back wins at 124 and 131 pounds to reclaim the lead, 13–10.
The back-and-forth continued as 138-pounder Esther Kolawole earned an 8–0 decision to tie the dual at 13–13.
From that point, Iowa dominated, taking the remaining matches to win the championship dual 30–13.
"It was a great opportunity to see our seasonal progress individually and collectively," Head Coach Jake Kadel said. "Our lineup is still coming together and we saw a great effort from all of our women stepping up yesterday as a team."
"Coach Cash was running the show this week as I was out with sickness so a big congrats to him and the coaching staff for keeping the team in peak performance for a big weekend," Kadel stated. "Our women did a great job at seizing the moment and now we have to continue to improve for these next couple of weeks until the post season."
Up Next: William Penn will host Central Methodist on Wednesday for its Senior Night, with the dual scheduled to begin at 5 p.m.
WPU 30, Indiana Tech 11
103--Zoey Haney (I) won by decision over Lily Zapata, 6-2 (1-3) (WPU earned a team point for scoring in the match)
110--Mia Palumbo (W) won by technical fall over Emma Jones, 10-0 (5-3)
117--Christianah Ogunsanya (W) won by technical fall over Elizabeth Dollar, 10-0 (9-3)
124--Victoria Baez Dilone (W) won by technical fall over Lola Barkby, 10-0 (13-3)
131--Kendall Bostelman (W) won by decision over Andrea Hernandez, 6-4 (16-4) (Indian Tech earned a team point for scoring in the match)
138--Kinnley Smith (I) won by decision over Esperanza Almazan, 8-6 (17-7) (WPU earned a team point for scoring in the match)
145--Esther Kolawole (W) won by technical fall over Hayden Newberg, 10-0 (21-7)
160--Bo Geibe (I) won by technical fall over Kylee Eastwood, 11-0 (21-11)
180--Piper Fowler (W) won by technical fall over Teagan Aurich, 10-0 (25-11)
207--Phoebe Burt (W) won by fall over Ellen Ashabranner, 1:06 (30-11)
WPU 25, Ottawa 17
103--Aynsley Fink (O) won by decision over Lily Zapata, 12-4 (1-3) (WPU earned a team point for scoring in the match)
110--Daityn Webb (O) won by fall over Teya Garner, 2:46 (1-8)
117--Christianah Ogunsanya (W) won by technical fall over Sigrun Metzger, 11-0 (5-8)
124--Tatiana Paragas (W) won by technical fall over Peyton Hand, 12-0 (9-8)
131--Kendall Bostelman (W) won by technical fall over Lainey Farley, 10-0 (13-8)
138--Esther Kolawole (W) won by technical fall over Aileen Lester, 10-0 (17-8)
145--Maeley Elsbury (W) won by technical fall over Kaitlyn Thorn, 11-0 (21-8)
160--Darby Weidl (O) won by technical fall over Kylee Eastwood, 10-0 (21-12)
180--Piper Fowler (W) won by technical fall over Siara Arrington, 10-0 (25-12)
207--Kylee Lindsley (O) won by fall over Diara Pomares, 5:11 (25-17)
WPU 23, Life 20
103--Alyssa Quezaire (L) won by technical fall over Lily Zapata, 10-0 (0-4)
110--Mia Palumbo (W) won by technical fall over Diana Gonzalez, 11-0 (4-4)
117--Christianah Ogunsanya (W) won by decision over Salyna Shotwell, 11-4 (7-5) (Life earned a team point for scoring in the match)
124--Victoria Baez Dilone (W) won by technical fall over Kennedy Russell, 11-0 (11-5)
131--Olivia Mottley (L) won by technical fall over Kendall Bostelman, 14-3 (12-9) (WPU earned a team point for scoring in the match)
138--Esther Kolawole (W) won by technical fall over Zaynah McBryde, 10-0 (16-9)
145--Jamilah McBryde (L) won by technical fall over Jalyiah Gardner, 10-0 (16-13)
160--Kylee Eastwood (W) won by fall over Zayla Vann, 5:37 (21-13)
180--Latifah McBryde (L) won by technical fall over Piper Fowler, 13-2 (22-17) (WPU earned a team point for scoring in the match)
207--Reka Busa (L) won by decision over Phoebe Burt, 4-1 (23-20) (WPU earned a team point for scoring in the match)
Iowa 30, WPU 13
103--Sterling Dias (I) won by technical fall over Lily Zapata, 10-0 (0-4)
110--Mia Palumbo (W) won by injury default over Nyla Valencia (5-4)
117--Christianah Ogunsanya (W) won by technical fall over Ava Bayless, 10-0 (9-4)
124--Isabella Gonzales (I) won by fall over Victoria Baez Dilone, 5:30 (9-9)
131--Karlee Brooks (I) won by technical fall over Kendall Bostelman, 13-2 (10-13) (WPU earned a team point for scoring in the match)
138--Esther Kolawole (W) won by decision over Bella Williams, 8-0 (13-13)
145--Reese Larramendy (I) won by technical fall over Maeley Elsbury, 10-0 (13-17)
160--Ella Schmit (I) won by fall over Kylee Eastwood, 4:52 (13-22)
180--Kylie Welker (I) won by technical fall over Piper Fowler, 10-0 (13-26)
207--Katja Osteen (I) won by technical fall over Phoebe Burt, 10-0 (13-30)
