The Women's College Wrestling Association (WCWA) has released their votes for National Champions and top ten individual women in the nation. The University of the Cumberlands (UC) held a solid fourth place ranking and hope to move up in the polls.
The overall rankings placed Oklahoma City University as number one in the nation for the third year in a row. King University and Simon Frasier University were ranked in the second and third spots behind the Stars of Oklahoma City University.
The WCWA also ranked top eight individuals in the nation and the Patriots had several women represent UC on the mat. Starting off the rankings in the 101lb weight class holding the number six spot is Ophelia Felipe (Rome, GA). In the 109lb weight class representing the Patriots was Jessica Nguyen (Houston, TX) who was ranked at number six.
The Patriots received two number one rankings. One in the 116lb weight class with senior Gabrielle Henry (Columbus, OH) and in the 130lb weight class with senior Cianah Hee (Honolulu, HI).
Ranked number eight representing the 136lb weight class was Lauren Louive (Massillon, OH). In the 155lb weight class two women represented the Patriots. Ranked sixth was Sydney Nelson (Kingsland, GA) and ranked eighth was Megan Agajanian (Moorpark, CA). The Patriots also had two women representing the 191lb weight class ranked third was Lakia Henderson (Osceola, FL) and Kera Scott (Houston, TX).
Head Coach Alaina Berube had this to say about the national rankings. "I am pleased with the release of the 1st rankings of the year. We had quite a few of our athletes ranked top 8 in the country. I am excited for the rest of the season and for these girls to defend their rankings. I also look forward to a few girls moving up in the rankings as well as a few women who did not quite make the top eight but I expect them to be ranked by the end of the season."
The Patriots will travel to Sunkist International Open in Meza, AZ for their next match on October 29th, 2011.
For more information on the women's wrestling team or Patriot athletics visit www.cumberlandspatriots.com.
University of the Article Provided by Sagan King, University of the Cumberlands Sports Information Graduate Student Assistant.
