Oklahoma City University Athletics

MARSHALL, Mo. – Oklahoma City University repeated as Women’s College Wrestling Association national champion on the strength of four national individual champions and two runner-up finishes Saturday at the Burns Athletic Center.

Stephanie Waters at 44 kilograms, Michaela Hutchison at 55, Amberle Montgomery at 67 and Brittany Delgado at 95 each captured national titles for the Stars. Nicole Woody at 48 and Melissa Simmons at 82 made the finals at their weights as OCU outscored Cumberlands (Ky.) 124-76.

The Stars had 13 all-Americans as Taylor Busboom at 44, Na’Tasha Umemoto at 51, Ashley Hudson at 59, Sheila McCabe at 63 and Brittney Roberts at 72 each took third.

OCU’s other all-Americans were Audrey Morehouse, sixth at 59; and Tessa Plana, fifth at 63.
The Stars' performance earned OCU coach Archie Randall the WCWA national coach of the year.

“We’re pretty excited,” Randall said. “We wrestled pretty well. We had a couple of exceptional matches from the girls. The most important thing is we have everyone coming back. A lot of the girls are disappointed in their finishes.”

The Stars benefited from having five individuals take third. While those didn’t finish in the championship round, they scored the maximum amount of points they could in that situation.

“After we lost those semifinals, the way we wrestled those third-place matches, that’s where we won the tournament,” Randall said. “We needed everyone to come back through the consolations. To win, you’ve got to battle back. They had to come right back up to the mat after losing in the semifinals.”

Waters, a junior from Joliet, Ill., knocked off Lisa Martinez of Cumberlands 5-0, 5-2 in the 44-kilo championship bout. Waters pulled off a five-point move to win the first period.

“She hit a five-point move to end the period in the first period in the first 40 seconds of the match,” Randall said. “It was exceptional.”

Hutchison, a sophomore from Soldotna, Alaska, edged Shauna Isbell of Lindenwood (Mo.) 1-0, 2-0 to win her second consecutive national title at 55.

“Michaela wrestled conservatively and cautiously,” Randall said. “She did enough to win, but we could have gotten more from her.”

Montgomery, a freshman from Orting, Wash., caught Veronica Carlson of Missouri Baptist in a headlock and finished her off a pin in 1:05. Montgomery, 22, joined the Stars at the start of the spring semester and became the 67-kilogram national champion.

“She had a perfect matchup,” Randall said. “Montgomery is a headlocker, and Carlson pushes and shoves.

“She’s amazing. She didn’t get in until Christmas. She came to Oklahoma City to get her degree and wrestle. She packed everything up and gave everything up to compete for us. Usually it takes those girls from the Olympic Training Center a year to get used to our style, but she works so hard.”

Delgado, a sophomore from Simpsonville, S.C., beat Jessica Scott of Cumberlands 1-0, 2-1 at 95. Delgado overcame an illness to erase the sting of finished third at 82 last year.

“Brittany Delgado had the flu, but she shook the curse and won the national title,” Randall said. “She finished third last year, and that was tough. She’s so mentally tough. She was so sick she didn’t get her award.”

Woody, a junior from Gambrills, Md., fell 0-2, 1-0, 3-0 to Simon Fraser’s Victoria Anthony in the 48-kilo title match. Hilary Greening of Simon Fraser nipped Simmons, a sophomore from Ridgefield, Wash., 1-0, 2-0 for the 82-kilo national crown.

To overcome Karon Scott’s injury at 95, Roberts moved from 82 to 72, Simmons from 72 to 82 and Delgado bumped from 82 to 95.

“The whole tournament was tougher,” Randall said. “We’ve added quality coaches and teams. Link Davis and I had to work our butts off. Coach Davis does a great job.”
Bout-by-Bout Results