Central Montana Times

Navarro wins NAIA National Championship at 101-lbs.

History was made Saturday as the University of Providence women's wrestling team garnered its first ever national champion as Ira Navarro defeated teammate Erin Hikiji 2-1 in the title match at 101 pounds Saturday at the NAIA Women's National Championships in Jamestown, North Dakota.  

Navarro was sixth last season and wrestled all year as the top-ranked women at 101-lbs., finishing her title run with a 10-0 decision over Hikiji. The senior from Ewa Beach, Hawaii earned the first title in school history for women's wrestling. Navarro ends her championship season with a record of 18-2. Hikiji, (Fr., Mililani, Hawaii) ends the season 33-5 and could be the No. 1-ranked wrestler in the preseason. Both wrestlers also earned All-America status.  

Ashley Gooman was upset in the semifinals and the No. 1-ranked woman at 116 came back to claim third place. The senior from Ewa Beach, Hawaii finishes as an All-American with a record of 25-4.  

Taking fourth place and becoming an All-American at 130-lbs., was Waipuilani Estrella-Beauchamp. Hailing from Kahului, Hawaii, the junior upset the No. 3-seed to reach the semifinals where she fell to the second-seeded Sarah Savidge of Life University (Fla.), then fell to Doane's (Neb.) Cristelle Rodriguez to finish 17-6 on the year.  

The No. 3-seed from Providence at 136-lbs., junior Paige Respicio was upset in the quarterfinals and ended up in 7th place. Respicio (Jr., Ewa Beach, Hawaii) went 21-8 overall and became an All-American.  

Lexi Tupuloa (Jr., Ewa Beach, Hawaii) earned All-American status at 191 finishing eighth overall.  

The six All-Americans sets a record for the Providence women's team which finished fifth at nationals with 102 points, the highest finish in school history. Southern Oregon claimed the National Championship with 160 points. The Raiders were followed by Life University (Ga.) with 139.5, Grand View (Iowa) with 123.5 points with Menlo College (Calif.) fourth with 123 points.  

Three other Argos competed at the national championships with Sadie Antoque (155), Alyssa Poe-Hatten (109) and Alicia Frank (123) each losing out in the consolation bracket.  

After the performance by the Argos, head coach Matt Atwood was proud of his team, to say the least, "I am extremely proud of the girls this weekend! They gave an outstanding performance. They were able to make school history again this year with the most All-Americans in school history, highest team finish in school history and first ever national champion in school history! I still think we have not even scratched the surface of what this team is capable of in future years! We have had great leadership from our two senior captains Ashley and Ira, and we are returning 4 All-Americans, the team is still young and growing. I am already excited to see what next year looks like! 

 

 

"Ira winning a national title is well deserved! She has been one of the hardest workers in our room over the past three years, she is every coach's dream athlete. Works extremely hard, does all the right things, maintains near a 4.0, and has amazing character and leadership. She is going to be greatly missed!  

Erin being a finalist as a freshman is an outstanding feat! She has a bright future ahead of her and I am confident she will win multiple national titles over her career!  

"Ashley is going to be another one that cannot be replaced, she was the first girl I ever signed as a head coach, and she has been amazing to have throughout the duration of her career! She is an amazing athlete but more importantly she is an amazing human.  

Waipuilani being an All-American this season is incredible to see as well, she was a national champion as a freshman (at Midland University in Nebraska) but then had ACL surgery as a sophomore and up until a few months ago she wasn't even able to compete, for her to come out and do what she did is awesome. 

Paige pulled off being an All-American with a fractured foot this weekend…she's the only girl I know who could have fractured her foot in her finals match at conference, refuse to be pulled out of the match, then put some tape on it and not only show up to the national tournament but become an All American!  

"And last but not least Lexi! Lexi has been on the edge of a lot of big matches this year and has not been able to quite get to where I know she can be, but she buckled down over the last couple of months, changed her mind set and work ethic and it paid off for her! I could not be prouder of her and the rest of the team! These girls have been amazing, and I could not be more humbled they let me be a part of their journey!" 

Original source can be found here.