ERIE, Pa. — With a year of competition completed and a roster that more than doubled, the Gannon women's wrestling team is ready to keep growing along with its sport as the 2019-20 season kicks off.
Six of the seven wrestlers who competed for the Lady Knights at the WCWA National Championships return, and 49 of the team's 56 individual bout victories are back as well as coach
Christen Dierken heads into her program's second year.
"We are so excited to start competing," Dierken said. "We had a really good preseason. We have a full lineup, and we're ready to go out and see what the girls can do. We're still a very young team, with six of our 10 starters being freshmen and the rest sophomores, but we're exciting to keep growing."
Gabby Perez (Honolulu, Hawaii/Moanalua), who finished last year with a 15-8 record and reached the round of 16 at nationals, returns to bolster the lineup, as does
Mikayla Dockweiler (Corpus Christi, Texas/Richard King), who went 9-9 as a freshman and won a pair of bouts at nationals.
The lineup is filled out with 15 newcomers, leaving the Knights without the worry of a forfeit during dual competition, and giving everyone a practice partner in the wrestling room.
The 2019-20 season kicks off Saturday at the Ferrum Duals, where Gannon will face Ferrum and Presbyterian. Once finalized, the full schedule will feature home dates on October 20 and December 6 at the Hammermill Center, as well as a new national championship for NCAA schools the first weekend of March.
"There's a lot more maturity on the team, and we've put a lot more into building leadership and values," Dierken said. "We've talked about what we want our legacy to be and how we want to be remembered. They're a lot more serious when it comes to their own wrestling, and the team overall."
ROSTER BREAKDOWN
Returners: Alexandra Alers (Buena Park, Calif./Kennedy) , R-Fr., 123;
Caleeann Blarr (Girard, Pa./Girard), So., 116;
Caroline Camarillo (Baldwin Park, Calif./San Dimas), R-Fr., 136;
Paige Cook (Kersey, Pa./St. Mary's), So., 136;
Araceli Cruz (Neptune City, N.J./Neptune), R-Jr., 109;
Mikayla Dockweiler (Corpus Christi, Texas/Richard King), So., 130;
Danielle Floor (Pago Pago, American Samoa/Leone), So., 155;
Stephanie Floor (Pago Pago, American Samoa/Leone), So., 143;
Jezebel Garcia (Santa Clara, Calif./Adrian C. Wilcox), R-Fr., 155;
Kendall McGarity (Spring Branch, Texas/Smithson Valley), R-Fr., 191;
Gabby Perez (Honolulu, Hawaii/Moanalua), So., 130.
Newcomers: Irene Barrera (Rio Grande City, Texas/Rio Grand City), Fr., 101;
Janyssa Berrios (Lancaster, Pa./J.P. McCaskey), Fr., 123;
Bailey Crouse (Amherst, N.Y./Tonawanda), Fr., 143;
Amara Devericks (Capistrano Brach, Calif./Corona), Fr. 170;
Nikoly Dos Santos (Matthews, N.C./Providence), Fr., 109;
Destiny Gonzalez (Cypress, Calif./John F Kennedy), Fr., 170;
Annabelle Helm (Vancouver, Wash./Union), Fr., 155;
Jordan Jarvi (Conneaut, Ohio/Conneaut), Fr., 116;
Gabrielle Malinowski (Waterford, Pa./Fort Leboeuf), Fr., 136;
Daniela Morales Dardon (Palmdale, Calif./Highland), Fr., 170;
Kayla O'Brien (Vienna, Va./George C Marshall), Fr., 123;
Sam Pietrzykowski (Wheatfield, N.Y./Niahara Wheatfield Senior), Fr., 155;
Chrystal Raine (Dallas, Texas/Liberty), Fr., 101;
Aliza Stahl (Findlay, Ohio/Elmwood), Fr., 123;
Mikayla Vega (Escalon, Calif./Escalon High), Fr., 109.
Coach Speak: "We don't have holes in the lineup anymore. We feel like we can really go and compete and have a realistic shot at winning duals now. We have to get creative with our schedule a little bit, because some young teams don't want to go up against a full roster and face the lopsided score at the end of a dual, but we're going to go out and get the competition that we need."
