BUENA VISTA, VA. – The Emory & Henry Women's Wrestling Team got the 2026 portion of their schedule underway with a strong showing in the Southern Virginia Invitational.
The Basics
EVENT – SVU Invitational
HOST – Southern Virginia University
LOCATION – Buena Vista, Virginia
VENUE – Knight Arena
The Open
124 Pounds
- Junior Madison Wilson (Henrico, Va.) began with an 18-8 technical superiority victory over Allen's Rihanna Loomis. In her next bout Wilson would be sent to the consolation bracket by Bluefield's Caitlyn Ash after being pinned in the final minute of the first period. On the consolation side Wilson would lose her first bout by fall to Andrea Castro from Southern Virginia. In the 5th place contest Wilson would be pinned again by Liberty's Aurora Pennington.
- Junior Natalia Langer (Powhatan, Va.) started her day with a bye. In her first bout Langer would dominate Liberty's Aurora Pennington, winning by technical superiority 10-0. Langer would roll into the 1st Place match against Bluefield's Caitlyn Ash where Langer would get the pinfall victory in the waning seconds of the 1st period, earning her a spot atop the podium.
131 Pounds
- Junior Mak Robinson's (Spotsylvania, Va.) first bout would go the distance and would see her advancing on the 8-7 decision. Robinson would fall in her next bout to Cedar Crest's Alaina Stanford by fall in the 1st Period. On the consolation side Robinson would pin her teammates Kailyn Pond and Tana Loving to advance to the Semi-Consolation Round. She would meet her match in the Semis with a pinfall loss to Liberty's June Welch.
- Freshman Tana Loving (Fredericksburg, Va.) would win her initial bout against Mount Olive's Celia Ross by pinfall. Loving would come up short in the next round falling to Isis Severe from Allen by pinfall in the 1st Period. Loving would win her next bout against Southern Virginia's Leigh-Anne Verburg by fall, before she would fall to teammate Mak Robinson.
- Freshman Kailyn Pond (Disputanta, Va.) lost her first bout to Randolph's Marielle Hirkala by fall. Pond would receive a bye in the first round of the consolation bracket before she would be pinned by teammate Mak Robinson.
138 Pounds
Freshman Kendi Dye (Richlands, Va.) would fall by technical superiority in her first bout to Allen's JahMya Hill 13-0. Dye fell in a 9-0 decision at the hands of Cedar Crest's Madacyn Rivera in the next round of the consolation bracket and Dye would go on to win the 5th Place match by forfeit.
145 Pounds
- Freshman Isabella Hill (Independence, Va.) started strong with two straight pinfall victories over Randolph's Jenna Moening and Cedar Crest's Madelyne Stultz. Hill would fall in the semifinal round to Greensboro's Hallie Misplay in a 0-0 decision.
- Junior Molly Keller (Fairlawn, Va.) demonstrated her dominance early and often. Keller would win her first two bouts in the 1st Period by pinfall over Savannah Chesney from Mount Olive and Neveah Smith from Allen. Molly rolled into the semifinal and came out victorious by technical superiority 10-0 against Gracie Blake from Southern Virginia. The 1st place match was more of the same, Keller dispatched Hallie Misplay from Greensboro College by technical superiority 10-0 for 1st place on the day.
160 Pounds
- Freshman Maggie Page (Radford, Va.) fell in her first contest by technical superiority 12-0 against Alexis Kirkland from Southern Virginia. On the consolation side Page would pin Liberty's Lydia Dillon in :19 seconds to advance. Page's day would end in her next bout against Allen's Cathia Timas by decision 12-10.
- Sophomore Rihana Carson (Roanoke, Va.) rattled off two technical superiority wins to start the day, 10-0 against Elizabeth Shoemaker from Liberty and 10-0 against Cathia Timas from Allen. Carson would lose by pinfall in her next bout to Cedar Crest's Draydon Charman. On the consolation side, Carson would fall to Randolph's Emily Riopel by pinfall. However Carson would bounce back in the 5th Place Match, which would see her come out victorious over Miazion Warren from Randolph.
180 Pounds
- Junior Eryn Hubble (Leesburg, Va.) started her day with a bye. Her first action would see her pin Allen's Jayden Holmes in the final minute of the 2nd Period. Hubble would be pinned in her next bout by Journey Land from Mount Olive. In the Semi-Consolation round Hubble would come up short against Southern Virginia's Dazi Thatcher, being pinned in the 1st Period. The 5th Place match would go the distance, seeing Hubble emerge victorious by a 16-10 decision.
207 Pounds
- Freshman Allison Gabarrete (Jeffersonton, Va.) got her day started right with a pinfall victory in the final seconds of the 1st Period against Cedar Crest's Sarah Seltzer. Gabarrete kept it rolling with a technical superiority victory over Randolph's Mikalya Ozueh 11-0, earning her a spot in the Championship bout. In the bout Gabarrete would come up short as she would be pinned in the 1st Period by Allen's Lianna Davis finishing in 2nd place overall.
Up Next
- The Wasps will be back in action Saturday, January 17th when they take on Emmanuel inside the Mary Mars Gymnasium on the Campus of Lincoln Memorial University at 5PM.
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