Women's Wrestling | 3/7/2026 3:04:00 PM
CORALVILLE, IA - Bella Phillips (Bellingham, Wash./Squalicum High School) will certainly not be the last all-American for the Gannon women's wrestling program.
But as the first, she no doubt made one incredible first impression.
After achieving NCAA all-American status on Friday night, the sophomore put together a 2-1 record for a second consecutive day to claim fifth place in the 180-pound bracket at the inaugural NCAA Women's Wrestling Championships. She placed two spots better than her original seed coming into the tournament, which was seventh.
"It's hard to put into words the experience I've had here", said Phillips following her final match. "Coming into the year, I always had the goal of making it [to national championships] and placing well, but this experience has by far and away exceeded my expectations. I'm proud of what I've accomplished here, making history and finishing in the top five. It's been an incredible year, and I hope to make it back next year and place even higher."
In her first match of the day, Phillips dispatched Adrian's Mia Gaetjens, sister of Gannon senior
Zoe Gaetjens (Mogadore, Ohio/Mogadore). Phillips earned her second shutout of the tournament, winning 12-0 by tech fall at the 2:58 mark of the first period.
The sophomore would face fourth seed Shenita Lawson (North Central) in the consolation semifinal. Phillips would score the first point, but surrendered a late takedown in the second period to fall, 4-1.
In the fifth-place match, Phillips faced a familiar foe in Lock Haven's Azariah Moore, whom she defeated in a home dual earlier this season. Phillips would allow an early takedown and nothing after that, scoring the final seven points of the match to claim fifth place, 7-2.
"I'm so proud of Bella", said head coach
Erin Vandiver. She has made herself and the program proud. We knew she had an opportunity to climb up the podium today, and for her to have back-to-back days of success was wonderful to see. She has set the bar high for our team for future years, and we hope she is the first of many to come in our program that can make it to the NCAA stage."
Phillips finishes the 2025-26 season with a record of 32-8. She now has 70 career wins in just two seasons with the Golden Knights. The 32 wins is also good for most on the team. She'll enter the 2026-27 season just 32 wins shy of setting the Gannon program record for wins, which was set earlier this season by
Lili Ujfalvi (Kecskemet-heteny, Hungary/Bolyai Janos Secondary School) with 101.
FINAL RESULTS - BELLA PHILLIPS
Round 1 - Defeated Ay'Seante Ross (Norwich) via tech fall (11-0, 2:25)
Quarterfinal - Lost to Destiny Rodriguez (McKendree) via decision (5-4)
Consolation Round 2 - Defeated Genevieve An (Lehigh) via tech fall (12-1, 5:56)
Consolation QF - Defeated Mia Gaetjens (Adrian) via tech fall (12-0, 2:58)
Consolation SF - Lost to Shenita Lawson (North Central) via decision (4-1)
5th Place Match - Defeated Azariah Moore (Lock Haven) via decision (7-2) (5th Place)
