Simon Fraser University continues to make those falls count.
Led by three gold medallists, the SFU women’s wrestling team posted the second-best result at the Women’s Collegiate Wrestling Coalition in Adrian, Michigan.
It was the inaugural WCWC national championship, and SFU entered as one of the top-ranked programs at the competition.
Delivering championship results were freshman Karla Godinez-Gonzalez in the 116-pounds division, and juniors Alex Hendrick, in the 123-lb division, and Ana Godinez-Gonzalez, in the 143-lb category.
Karla Godinez-Gonzalez captured the title with a 7-0 decision over McKendree University’s Felicity Taylor, after racking up three tech fall wins in her previous matches. Hendrick defeated King University’s Cheyenne Sisenstein in the final. The Fair Oaks, California grappler ran up five straight victories, including two by tech falls, en route to the national title.
The older sister of Karla, Ana Godinez-Gonzalez defeated McKendree’s Alara Boyd by tech fall in her divisional showdown, after besting SFU teammate and Burnaby native Sara Brinkac 7-0.
The Godinez-Gonzalez sisters, who transferred to Burnaby Mountain after launching their post-secondary studies at the University of the Fraser Valley, headlined a strong team performance which saw them finish second behind McKendree, by a 191-178.5 point margin.
A year ago, Ana Godinez-Gonzalez won a rare twin Canadian Wrestling national titles – both the junior and senior 62-kilogram gold medals, as well as the outstanding female wrestler of the tournament award. She only debuted with SFU two months ago at the Menlo Open in Atherton, Cal., where she she defeated 2019 NAIA and WCWA national champion Solsan Piercy.
Bouncing back after disappointing semifinal losses to finish third overall in their weight classes were Burnaby’s Nicole Depa (in 130-lbs), Lauren Mason (136), Alyvia Fiske (155), Emily Cue (170) and Serena Woldring (191).
Brinkac placed fourth, while Ciara McRae exited her 109-lbs division in sixth spot and Rebekah Trudel seventh in 170-lbs.
"An exciting weekend of wrestling for our team, we had a couple of tough losses on Friday. But our girls battled hard on Saturday,” remarked SFU head coach Justin Abdou. “I'm very proud of the effort of this team. To bring 11 wrestlers and have everyone make the All-American team is pretty special.”
