Four Crowns Lead WPU to Second Place, Kadel Named NAIA Coach of the Year
Park City, Kan.--A new standard was set Friday and Saturday as the William Penn women's wrestling team narrowly missed a team crown at the fourth annual NAIA National Championship.
Led by four national champions and a total of seven All-Americans, the Statesmen finished second with 158.5 points. Life (Ga.) was unfortunately able to hold off WPU's push and claim the crown with 169 points, while rival Grand View placed third with 145.5 points.
William Penn, in just its sixth year of existence, broke program records for team finish, national champions, All-Americans, and team points.
With a perfect 4-0 record in this year's championship round, WPU remains perfect all-time in the finals at 9-0. All nine title winners have come in just the past three seasons.
At tournament's end, Head Coach Jake Kadel was also selected as the NAIA's Coach of the Year for all of aforementioned efforts. He also guided William Penn to a Heart of America Athletic Conference Championship title two weeks ago.
Reminiscent of the Heart Championship, WPU entered the finals trailing rival Grand View (this time for second place). Just like the league tournament, the squad again overcame the deficit with a perfect showing Saturday night.
The finals started at 110 pounds, and Mia Palumbo (Grad., Oak Lawn, Ill., Master's of Sports Management) notched her second national championship (also won in 2024) by defeating No. 2 seed Avery Ashley of Oklahoma City by a 10-0 technical fall.
The graduate student, who closes out her collegiate career as a four-time national finalist, was 5-0 on the weekend with four technical falls and one fall. She was not scored upon during the Championship.
Christianah Ogunsanya (So., Akure, Nigeria, Kinesiology) immediately followed up that performance with her own gold at 117 pounds. The sophomore, now a two-time national champion as well, finished 4-0 (three technical falls). She permitted just one point the entire weekend, and put an exclamation point on her championship run with a 5-0 shutout over No. 2 seed Salyna Shotwell of Life in the first-place matchup.
Esther Kolawole (So., Akure, Nigeria, Kinesiology) kept WPU's train barreling forward as she dominated the 138-pound title bout, winning by a 10-0 technical fall over No. 2 seed Zaynah McBride of Life.
Kolawole's second national crown came after going 4-0 with four technical falls. Like Palumbo, the sophomore shut out all of her opposition (40-0 combined score).
180-pounder Piper Fowler (Fr., Cleveland, Tenn., Psychology), who opened the national tournament as the No. 4 seed, blew through the bracket with four consecutive falls (4-0 record) to keep her team unblemished on the biggest stage.
The freshman, who was on the mat for just seven minutes and 18 seconds throughout her quartet of pins, upset No. 1 seed Reka Busa (Life) in the semifinals and then earned a mat slap against No. 6 seed Andjela Prijovic of Grand View in 1:09 in the championship showdown. Fowler had also pinned Prijovic in the Heart Championship finals last month.
124-pounder Victoria Baez Dilone (Grad., Madrid, Spain, Master's of Sports Management) was the navy and gold's next-highest placewinner as she finished third with a 5-1 record.
Her weekend featured three technical falls and two falls, while her lone loss came to Cristelle Rodriguez of Doane who was named the NAIA's Wrestler of the Year and Tournament Outstanding Wrestler. She wrapped up her collegiate career with a pin in only 17 seconds in the bronze match.
Baez Dilone ends as a one-time All-American at William Penn.
Kendall Bostelman (Sr., Napoleon, Ohio, Exercise Science) also put a bow on her career with a podium finish, taking fifth at 131 pounds.
The senior was 4-2 (three technical falls) with her only setbacks coming to the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in the bracket. The All-America award is her first at WPU.
While Baez Dilone and Bostelman are wrapping up their time in college, Avy Perez (Fr., Mission Hills, Calif., Nursing) is just getting started. The freshman 110-pounder picked up her first All-America laurel by placing seventh with a 4-2 record (one technical fall and one fall).
A quartet of Statesmen also ended up just one victory away from being All-Americans as they were each ousted in the blood round.
131-pounder Bronwyn Brenneman (Sr., Parnell, Iowa, Biology) guided the foursome by finishing 2-2 with one fall. Her Championship experience unfortunately came to a close in a loss to teammate Bostelman.
124-pounder Tatiana Paragas (Fr., Honolulu, Hawaii, Exercise Science) was 1-2, posting arguably the most-impressive win of the group, defeating Berlin Kiddoo of Central Methodist 10-7. Kiddoo was the Heart Championship runner-up two weeks ago.
Diara Pomares (Fr., Hemet, Calif., Fine Arts) won once as well at 180 pounds, and had the No. 2 seed on the ropes before succumbing 4-3 in her first bout.
Phoebe Burt (Sr., Coralville, Iowa, Sociology) also recorded a 1-2 record, doing so at 207 pounds to advance to the blood round.
145-pounder Naida Abdijanovic (Sr., St. Louis, Mo., Biology) competed for WPU at the Championship as well, but came up empty in the win column.
"This year has been an incredible journey for many reasons," Head Coach Jake Kadel said. "We were tested very early on, and it helped bring us together for the entire year."
"I cannot thank enough all the coaches who pour into the ladies, and a big thanks also to our administration for the support that we receive here; that is a huge part of our success," Kadel added. "The ladies proved they are up there at the top, and who knows, maybe if we did not have as many byes in the first round, we come home as team champions."
"Hats off to our four individual national champions--the most of any program in the country in women's wrestling, across all divisions," Kadel concluded. "The future is very bright for William Penn women's wrestling!"
