Jackson Gerber, Sports Editor
In front of an impressive home crowd, the Augsburg women’s wrestling team came out victorious in their first ever home dual match, defeating UW-Stevens Point 30-12. Having already beaten the Pointers 35-8 earlier in the season, the Auggies hoped to duplicate their dominant performance on their home mat.
The match started with a bang for the Auggies as the No. 1 ranked 109 pound wrestler and potential olympian Emily Shilson won 10-0 via technical fall to put her team up 4-0. Following a pin by UW-Stevens Point that put the Pointers up 5-4, Augsburg would win the next five bouts to take a commanding 25-6 lead. The five bout run was started by a Vayle-Rae Baker pin and followed by a 6-1 decision for Savannah Vold to put the Auggies up 12-6.
Sandwiched between two forfeits was one of the more exciting matchups of the dual, as Kahlea Jolly fought her way to a 6-6 tie but ended up with the win due to a criteria decision. The Pointers would score another pin before the match ended with a forfeit in favor of the Auggies.
It has been a successful start to the women’s wrestling teams’ inaugural season. So far the Auggies have four wrestlers in the national rankings. Shilson is the consensus No. 1 at 109 pounds, and Baker is the No. 3/2 wrestler at 123 pounds. Gabby Skidmore ranks No. 8/5 in the 136 pound weight class and Faith Tuttle is the No. 6/5 ranked wrestler at 191 pounds. The team has been very good as well, ranking No. 3/6 team in the nation.
The Auggies have two meets left, both national championships. The first is the WCWA National Championships in Marietta, Georgia on February 7 and 8 and the second is the final meet of the year at the NCAA Championships in Adrian, Michigan on March 6 and 7.