Gannon University women’s wrestling coach Breonnah Neal will look for a second consecutive successful season after taking over the position before the 2021-22 season.
In her first year as head coach, Neal led the Golden Knights to a 6-0 dual record, a third-place performance in the NCWWC Northeast Regional and a top-10 finish in the NCWWC National Championships.
Under her guidance, Gannon had eight national qualifiers emerge from the Northeast Regional, including one regional champion. The Golden Knights then had four wrestlers -- Kat Pendergrass (101 pounds), Julianne Moccia (109), Anya Knappenberger (130), and Lana Perez (136) -- achieve All-America status with top-eight finishes at the NCWWC National Championships. That group helped Gannon place ninth nationally among 32 teams. Moccia led Gannon with a seventh-place finish at Nationals after winning a Northeast Regional title.
Five Golden Knights compiled at least 20 victories: Knappenberger (28-9), Annabelle Helm (25-7), Moccia (23-8), Perez (20-11), and Stephanie Floor (20-12).
Neal joined the Gannon program on August 9, 2021, after serving as the Ferrum College head women's wrestling coach since 2019. There she built a foundation that produced the highest national finish (13th) in school history and four national qualifiers. In addition, during the 2021 season, the program had an All-American wrestler for the second consecutive season.
She also worked as an assistant coach at the School of Hard Knocks Wrestling Club in High Point, North Carolina.
Neal began her collegiate career at Campbellsville University in Kentucky where she earned a national runner-up finish at the Women's Collegiate Wrestling Association (WCWA) national championships to close the 2013-14 season. She was also a University Nationals All-American and qualified for the World Team Trials during her time at Campbellsville.
In 2014, Neal transferred to King University in Bristol, Tennessee, where she won a national championship with a perfect 21-0 record in 2017. The run included 16 technical falls and two pins. Neal earned her bachelor's degree in psychology that same year. While at King, she earned three more WCWA All-American finishes and finished third at the U.S. Open. She helped King win four straight duals titles and the WCWA National Championship. In addition, Neal was named King University's 2017 Female Athlete of the Year and 2017 Most Valuable Wrestler while earning a spot on the Dean's List.
The Winston-Salem, North Carolina, native attended West Forsyth High School, where she was a three-time, all-conference honoree. Neal broke the North Carolina state record for female wins (111) against males and was the first woman to ever qualify for the North Carolina State Tournament in 4A, the state's largest division. Her wins record was later broken by a wrestler she coached.
-- Updated July 15, 2022
