Cedar Rapid, IA – Alma College Women's Wrestling made history on Friday when they took to the mat at the NCWWC National Championships. It marked Alma's first trip to the national championships, an incredible feat in just their first season of varsity competition. Alma qualified 4 wrestlers, and finished tied for 31
st with 5.0 team points.
MacKenzie Burger was Alma's highest qualifier, and entered the tournament with a national ranking of 15
th at 101 pounds. Burger is the first Scot to ever receive a national ranking in an individual weight class. The freshman faced a daunting matchup in All-American Aaliyah Payne-Parris of Sacred Heart. After going down 6-0 initially, Burger worked her way back to a 6-6 tie, before earning the win via fall at 4:09. In the second round she met Odelia Lopez of Schreiner University, and was defeated via tech fall. In the consolation bracket, Burger matched up with Emmaline Hicks of Simpson, and was defeated via fall. Burger ends year 1 at 22-14 overall, scoring 102.0 team points for Alma.
Chloe Colton qualified at 116 pounds. She met Abby Nelson of Wisconsin Stevens Point, and was defeated via tech fall. Her consolation bracket matchup against Shea Reisel of Dubuque ended via tech fall. Colton's first season ends at 9-13 with 31.0 team points scored.
Jaclyn Dietz represented Alma at 136 pounds. In the opening round, she met Viktorya Torres of Mckendree University, and was defeated via tech fall. In the consolation bracket, she was pinned at 1:05 by Livier Dubon of Texas Women's University. Dietz concludes her Alma career at 15-19, having contributed 52.0 team points this season.
Alma's final representative was
Cassidee Easey at 191. Easey's opening match saw her defeated via fall by Colorado Mesa's Jayleen Sekona. Easey's consolation bracket match ended in a tech fall defeat to Brittney Reed of Emory & Henry. Easey closes her freshman campaign at 7-8, scoring 24.5 team points.
The Scots end their first varsity season with a 2-8 record overall, and 4 national qualifiers. Alma will look to build on this success in 2024-25.
