Liberty Women’s Wrestling Begins Season At Home Meet Nov. 16
The Liberty Women’s Wrestling team stepped onto the mat to start its season at the Liberty University Wrestling Meet at the LaHaye Multipurpose Center Nov. 16. The round-robin tournament, hosted by the Lady Flames, included Brewton Parker College, Montreat College, Southern Virginia University and Greensboro College.
The wrestling competition featured a series of hard-fought matchups for Liberty, and for some of the Lady Flames, this was their first collegiate wrestling match. Liberty faced tough losses against Brewton Parker College (35-10) and Montreat College (38-10) but were able to secure a well-earned victory against Greensboro College (19-14). In a close match against Southern Virginia University, Liberty battled hard but ultimately fell just short, losing 20-15.
Despite the losses, Assistant Coach Charisse Manley was encouraged by the efforts and attitudes of her girls, acknowledging that many of the girls are newcomers to the sport.
“Our goal is ultimately having the girls learn the basics of the sport and then be able to apply those in a way to where they’re reaching their goals,” Manley said. “Ultimately what we really want the girls to do wresting-wise is just go out there and fight.”
In her debut season, freshman Alana Folcik delivered an impressive performance against BPC, beginning her match with an early 2-0 lead. Folcik had to fend off a comeback but was able to regain control with a series of powerful takedowns. She maintained the momentum, putting her opponent on her back for the winning move.
Senior Rebekah Bucur also delivered a strong performance, quickly taking the BPC Lady Baron down, to secure an early victory.
After facing defeat against BPC, sophomore Anna-Mari Servin battled on the mat to earn a win against Greensboro College.
“This sport is very much so who’s going to be the grittier person, who’s going to want it more and fight for it more,” Servin said. “You can be going against the top girl in our weight class and make it through if you just keep pushing at it.”
Senior Maile Ka’ahanui put on a dominating match against her opponent, earning points through strong takedowns and securing a 10-0 victory.
Against Southern Virginia, senior Claire Wortz took control early on, racking up points to lead her opponent. They continued to battle on the mat before Wortz secured the winning move of the match.
“This was my second-ever freestyle match,” Wortz said. “I joined the team about a year ago, but I couldn’t wrestle until February. So, this is my first real toes in the water to having an actual tournament, and the feeling of winning feels so good.”
Ka’ahanui delivered a second impressive performance, earning an early takedown and final pin for a victory. To close out the match, freshman Avery Stewart added one more win for the Flames, in a nail-biting match.
Manley commended the resilience of her girls following their first match.
“I think I really saw that attitude of just going to keep going after it,” Manley said. “I might not know everything, or I might be losing but I’m going to still keep battling through positions, and so I think they have that desire in them to want to fight through things and battle through this.”
The Lady Flames will be back on the mats Nov. 23 as they travel to East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania for the ESU Warrior Duals Invitational.
Pais is a sports reporter for the Liberty Champion.