ERIE, Pa. – The Gannon women's wrestling team's lineup was limited by injuries going into the NCWWC Region 3 Qualifier on Saturday.

However, head coach Erin Vandiver's team qualified six of its seven wrestlers for the upcoming NCWWC National Championships and placed fourth among 10 teams in the regional, which was held at the Gannon Recreation and Wellness Center.

The Knights maximized their performance after they were only able enter seven wrestlers in the meet because of injuries to some of their top contenders. Gannon compiled 93.5 points and finished behind only champion Tiffin (134), second-place Adrian (113.5), and Albion (109).

Tiffin had two champions and four second-place finishers, while Adrian had two champions and two second-place finishers. Albion led the regional with three champions.

Gannon sophomores Lili Ujfalvi (Kecskemet-heteny, Hungary/Bolyai Janos Secondary School) (143 pounds) and Schyler Caringi (Earlton, N.Y./Coxsackie-Athens) (170) won regional titles while four other Golden Knights finished at least as high as fourth place to earn spots in the National College Women's Wrestling Championship on March 8-9 at Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Senior Juliana Cubias (Laguna Niguel, Calif./Aliso Niguel) (116) and Jayden Bazemore (Cypress, Texas/Cypress Ranch) (123) each finished in third place, and Chloe Kitagawa (Aliso Viejo, Calif./Aliso Niguel) (101) and Kealonie Vega (Kissimmee, Fla./Osceola) (109) each placed fourth as all four punched tickets to Nationals.
 

 
CHAMPIONSHIP EFFORTS

Ujfalvi is a returning All-American who finished fifth at Nationals last year and placed third at the 2023 regional. She improved to 23-9 on the season by going 3-0 in the tournament. After a first-round bye, Ujfalvi, the No. 2 seed,
defeated Jessica Martinez of Albion 10-4 in the quarterfinals and won by fall over Saniyah Ward of D'Youville in 5:49 in the semifinals. Ujfalvi then edged D'Youville's Alessandra Elliott 2-1 for the title.

Caringi wrestled only two matches, but she was dominant in both. As the top seed, she received a bye into the 170-pound semifinals. She then needed just 21 seconds to pin Talia Mitchell of John Carroll before claiming a 13-0 technical fall in the title match. Caringi did not compete in the regional as a freshman because of an injury.
 

 
GANNON PLACERS

Cubias earned her second straight trip to nationals by going 3-1 and defeating Alma's Chloe Colton by fall in 1:07 in the 116-pound, third-place match.

Bazemore, the top seed at 123, regrouped from a semifinal upset to win twice, including a 4-0 win over Jada Fowler of Frostburg State in the third-place match.

Kitagawa went 1-2 but still secured her second consecutive trip to Nationals at 101 pounds with a fourth-place finish. Vega, a freshman, suffered a quarterfinal loss but then won three consecutive matches by technical fall in the consolation rounds to earn a trip to Cedar Rapids.

Ariana Gonzalez (Cypress, Calif./John F. Kennedy) rounded out Gannon's lineup by finishing sixth in the 155-pound weight class.

 
TEAM RESULTS
1. Tiffin  134.0
2. Adrian   113.5
3.  Albion 109.0
4. Gannon 93.5
5.  Hiram 71.5
6. Trine 67.0
7. Alma 64.0
8. D'Youville  53.5
9. John Carroll 45.0
10. Frostburg State 28.5

 
GANNON RESULTS

101 POUNDS
Chloe Kitagawa (Aliso Viejo, Calif./Aliso Niguel), 1-2, 4th place
Quarterfinal - Chloe Kitagawa (Aliso Viejo, Calif./Aliso Niguel) (Gannon) won by fall over Alexis Hart-Butcher (Adrian) (Fall 2:50)
Semifinal - Gabriella Motz (Albion) won by tech fall over Chloe Kitagawa (Aliso Viejo, Calif./Aliso Niguel) (Gannon) (TF 12-0)
Cons. Semi - Chloe Kitagawa (Aliso Viejo, Calif./Aliso Niguel) (Gannon) received a bye)
3rd Place Match - Lexi Doerflinger (Hiram) won by fall over Chloe Kitagawa (Aliso Viejo, Calif./Aliso Niguel) (Gannon) (Fall 1:33)
 
109 POUNDS
Kealonie Vega (Kissimmee, Fla./Osceola), 3-2, 4th place
Champ. Round 1 - Kealonie Vega (Kissimmee, Fla./Osceola) (Gannon) received a bye
Quarterfinal - Emily Mendez (Adrian) won by decision over Kealonie Vega (Kissimmee, Fla./Osceola) (Gannon) (Dec 6-0)
Cons. Round 2 - Kealonie Vega (Kissimmee, Fla./Osceola) (Gannon) won by fall over Celeste Welch (Alma) (Fall 1:32)
Cons. Round 3 - Kealonie Vega (Kissimmee, Fla./Osceola) (Gannon) won by tech fall over Melany Herrera (John Carroll) (TF 10-0)
Cons. Semi - Kealonie Vega (Kissimmee, Fla./Osceola) (Gannon) won by tech fall over Kylee Bentley (Hiram) (TF 14-4)
3rd Place Match - Riley Morrison (Trine) won by fall over Kealonie Vega (Kissimmee, Fla./Osceola) (Gannon) (Fall 3:31)
 
116 POUNDS
Juliana Cubias (Laguna Niguel, Calif./Aliso Niguel), 3-1, 3rd place
Quarterfinal - Juliana Cubias (Laguna Niguel, Calif./Aliso Niguel) (Gannon) won by fall over Chloe Colton (Alma) (Fall 1:33)
Semifinal - Carleigh Czerneski (Adrian) won by fall over Juliana Cubias (Laguna Niguel, Calif./Aliso Niguel) (Gannon) (Fall 1:04)
Cons. Semi - Juliana Cubias (Laguna Niguel, Calif./Aliso Niguel) (Gannon) won by tech fall over Caitlin Lewis (Hiram) (TF 10-0)
3rd Place Match - Juliana Cubias (Laguna Niguel, Calif./Aliso Niguel) (Gannon) won by fall over Chloe Colton (Alma) (Fall 1:07)
 
123 POUNDS
Jayden Bazemore (Cypress, Texas/Cypress Ranch), 3-1, 3rd place
Champ. Round 1 - Jayden Bazemore (Cypress, Texas/Cypress Ranch) (Gannon) received a bye
Quarterfinal - Jayden Bazemore (Cypress, Texas/Cypress Ranch) (Gannon) won by fall over Michaela Dykes (Trine) (Fall 0:37)
Semifinal - Hannah Arledge-Teran (Albion) won by fall over Jayden Bazemore (Cypress, Texas/Cypress Ranch) (Gannon) (Fall 2:48)
Cons. Semi - Jayden Bazemore (Cypress, Texas/Cypress Ranch) (Gannon) won by fall over Keegan Gonzalez (Alma) (Fall 2:00)
3rd Place Match - Jayden Bazemore (Cypress, Texas/Cypress Ranch) (Gannon) won by decision over Jada Fowler (Frostburg State) (Dec 4-0)
 
143 POUNDS
Lili Ujfalvi (Kecskemet-heteny, Hungary/Bolyai Janos Secondary School), 3-0, 1st place
Champ. Round 1 - Lili Ujfalvi (Kecskemet-heteny, Hungary/Bolyai Janos Secondary School) (Gannon) received a bye
Quarterfinal - Lili Ujfalvi (Kecskemet-heteny, Hungary/Bolyai Janos Secondary School) (Gannon) won by decision over Jessica Martinez (Albion) (Dec 10-4)
Semifinal - Lili Ujfalvi (Kecskemet-heteny, Hungary/Bolyai Janos Secondary School) (Gannon) won by fall over Saniyah Ward (D`Youville) (Fall 5:49)
1st Place Match - Lili Ujfalvi (Kecskemet-heteny, Hungary/Bolyai Janos Secondary School) (Gannon) won by decision over Alessandra Elliott (D`Youville) (Dec 2-1)
 
155 POUNDS
Ariana Gonzalez (Cypress, Calif./John F. Kennedy), 1-3, 6th place
Quarterfinal - Ariana Gonzalez (Cypress, Calif./John F. Kennedy) (Gannon) won by decision over Jordan Palmer (John Carroll) (Dec 6-6)
Semifinal - Nyla Burgess (Adrian) won by fall over Ariana Gonzalez (Cypress, Calif./John F. Kennedy) (Gannon) (Fall 1:16)
Cons. Semi - Hailey Budney (Trine) won by fall over Ariana Gonzalez (Cypress, Calif./John F. Kennedy) (Gannon) (Fall 1:08)
5th Place Match - Erika Novak (Hiram) won by fall over Ariana Gonzalez (Cypress, Calif./John F. Kennedy) (Gannon) (Fall 4:38)
 
170 POUNDS
Schyler Caringi (Earlton, N.Y./Coxsackie-Athens), 2-0, 1st place
Quarterfinal - Schyler Caringi (Earlton, N.Y./Coxsackie-Athens) (Gannon) received a bye
Semifinal - Schyler Caringi (Earlton, N.Y./Coxsackie-Athens) (Gannon) won by fall over Talia Mitchell (John Carroll) (Fall 0:21)
1st Place Match - Schyler Caringi (Earlton, N.Y./Coxsackie-Athens) (Gannon) won by tech fall over Sidney Ramos (Tiffin) (TF 13-0)