Council Bluffs, IA - For the second consecutive year and the third time in four years, the Umpqua Community College Women's Wrestling team finished as the National Runner-Up, this time in the first-ever National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Women's Wrestling Invitational.
The RiverHawks scored 230 team points while bringing home three individual National Champions in the first year of sanctioned women's wrestling at the NJCAA level. Umpqua was Runner-Up in the Junior College National Championship (JCNC) last year before joining the NJCAA for the 2022-23 campaign.
The RiverHawks saw individual National Titles from freshman Zoey Smalley (Winston, Oregon /Douglas High School) in the 143lb weight bracket, sophomore Autumn Perez (Dodge City, Kansas / Dodge City High School) in the 170lb weight bracket, and Sophomore Victoria Baez (Madrid, Spain / San Blas High School) winning her second National Championship in the 130lb bracket, with a win over teammate Freshman Zainab Ibrahim (Portland, Oregon / Reynolds High School).
The RiverHawks had three third-place finishes out of Sophomore Itzel Medina (Herald, California / Liberty Ranch High School) at the 123lb weight bracket, Freshman Annabel Garcia (Fremont, California / Fremont High School) in the 136lb weight bracket, Freshman Leilani Holley (San Lorenzo, CA / San Lorenzo High School) in the 235lb bracket.
Fifth-place finishes from Sophomore Leila Sidhu (Rocklin, CA / Del Oro High School) in the 109lb weight bracket, Sophomore Kayli Acosta (Boise, ID / Borah High School) in the 130lb weight bracket, Sophomore Tiyanna Leal (Chico, CA / Durham High School) in the 155lb weight bracket and Freshman Gracy Jones (Billings, MT / Billings Sr. High School) in the 170lb bracket
Sixth-place finishes from Freshman Destinee Harris (Seattle, WA / Edmonds Woodway High School) in the 155lb weight bracket, Freshman Jennifer De La Torre (Tillamook, OR / Tillamook High School) in the 170lb weight bracket and Freshman Faith Wooley (Hillsboro, OR / Liberty High School) in the 235lb weight bracket.
In total, 14 individuals earned NJCAA-All-American honors as the RiverHawks produced a second-place team finish behind Indian Hills of Iowa.
