Women’s College Wrestling: Wesleyan’s Nwachukwu Selected as USA Wrestling Athlete of the Week
Adaugo Nwachukwu (San Jose, Calif./Iowa Wesleyan) has been selected as USA Wrestling Athlete of the Week, USA Wrestling has announced.
Nwachukwu, a freshman for Iowa Wesleyan, won the 136-pound title at the NAIA Women’s National Championships over the weekend.
Entering the tournament as the No. 1 seed, she bonused her way to the semifinals, earning first-period pins in the Round of 32 and quarterfinals along with a 10-0 technical fall in the Round of 16. Nwachukwu shutout the No. 12 seed Diana Dzasezeva from Waldorf in the semis to punch her ticket to the finals.
There, she faced 2019 NAIA National champion and second-seeded Gracie Figueroa of Menlo, who was a 2016 Cadet World bronze medalist.
Nwachukwu seemed unfazed by the caliber of her opponent, using a four-pointer in each period to propel her to 13-3 technical fall for the national title.
Nwachukwu is Iowa Wesleyan’s first national champion in program history.
College Softball: Wesleyan Earns Win No. 1
The Iowa Wesleyan softball team earned their first win of the 2022 season yesterday, taking game one of a two game twinbill with the University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis.
The Tigers picked up an 11-3 game one win, before dropping game two 6-2.
Adrianna Jarrett’s first inning double that scored former New London prep Kara Krieger put Wesleyan on front — a lead they would not relinquish.
All told, Wesleyan scratched home eight first inning runs, then added one in the third and two more in the fourth.
Ariana Wolfard was the winning pitcher.
The right-handed hurler worked five innings, tap-dancing around 13 hits allowing just three runs and striking out one.
Wolfard also helped her cause at the plate, tripling and driving home three runs.
In game two, Julia Hill’s two hit performance was not enough in the 6-2 defeat.
Hill was the losing pitcher, working just one inning allowing four earned.
Jordan Morthland limited the damage the rest of the way, tossing five innings of two run ball.
Wesleyan is now 1-11 on the year.
The Tigers will be in action again Saturday, March 19th as they take on the Harris-Stowe State University in a doubleheader.
The game is set to be played in St. Louis, with the first game starting at 1:00 p.m.
College Baseball: Tigers Swept by Tommies and Mustangs
The Iowa Wesleyan baseball team suffered a pair of losses yesterday, losing to St. Thomas 14-1 and Mount Mercy 17-2.
Against the St. Thomas, Wesleyan cut the lead to 2-1 before the Tommies scored 12 unanswered runs to earn the victory.
In game two, Mount Mercy put up 17 runs in six innings.
Angel Marquez took the loss, allowing six hits and nine runs over 2.1 innings.
Wesleyan is now 8-19 on the year, they’ll look to right the ship Friday when they play two against Lincoln Christian University.
First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
Women’s College Basketball: Clark, Joens Named AP All-Americans
Iowa’s Caitlin Clark and Ashley Joens of Iowa State have been named AP All-Americans.
The publication announced All-American teams Wednesday night.
Clark was nearly unstoppable this year, dropping 27.4 points, eight boards and eight assists per game for Iowa.
Joens was equally impressive, leading Bill Fenelly’s Iowa State Cyclones.
Joens, an Iowa City native, scored 20 points and added just south of 10 boards per game.
Both Iowa and Iowa State will open their NCAA Tournament push tomorrow.