GAFFNEY, S.C. – Venturing back to Limestone – a venue which already saw a 41-10 victory in their favor over two months ago in dual play – the seventh-ranked Presbyterian College women's wrestling team is set to return to Gaffney at the close of the upcoming weekend for a Saints-hosted tournament this time around, opening the brackets at 10:00 a.m. this Sunday.
The final date on PC's calendar until the Southeast Regional Championships and National Championships in Bristol and Coralville respectively, the Blue Hose look to polish off their regular season slate back in their most comfortable environment, the tournament format to which they've claimed seven 1
st-place achievements and a total of 28 top-four finishes over the course of the campaign.
A large reason for Presbyterian's staying power inside the NWCA's top ten has been their proficiency within the bracket system, most recently sending five wrestlers to a top-four standing or better (including two 1
st-place trophies and two other 2
nd-place nods) at the Robert Horton Open in Georgia nearly two weeks ago. Since that point, PC has posted consecutive dual wins over Emmanuel and Brewton-Parker behind a combined 53-point scoring spree.
Nine of the 11 victories from the Blue Hose in those two duals came via pin, allowing a sometimes-sparse lineup (due to injuries) to overcome the smaller numbers game by making the most of their W's. Altogether, PC has conjured up 56 wins by fall and 142 overall, ensuring this season to be the most productive yet in the program's brief history.
Casting time back to November 20 – PC's Limestone contest that ended in a 31-point drilling – such a difference was obtained thanks to a seven-match win streak from the Blue Hose that handed them a 35-0 advantage. By virtue of the W (the first of what would become seven dual wins this year), Presbyterian moved to 5-0 all-time against the Saints beside their highest margin of victory in the series to date.
A win count across the roster that has reached menacing levels during some of PC's biggest battles, the Blue Hose have witnessed a combined record of 64-10 between their three nationally-ranked grapplers –
Samantha Miller (101),
Ainslie Lane (116), and
Paige Wehrmeister (136/143). Five different wrestlers donning the blue and white have reached 20 wins or more this year, four of them doing so on a win percentage exceeding 70%.
Over the past three events on the schedule, Miller and Wehrmeister have added up for a perfect march of 10-0, not to be outdone by a 5-1 mark from Catherine "CG" Bertrand and a 4-1 trek by senior
Cassandra Lopez over that same period.
With one final opportunity to flex their muscles before postseason territory enters the fray, a link to both live video and statistics of Sunday's tournament can be found below or at the top of this page.
Limestone Open Live Video -
https://www.flowrestling.org/teams/7805982-limestone-womens-wrestling?view=live-and-upcoming&utm_campaign=sac&utm_medium=partner&utm_source=teams&utm_content=teams&utm_term=limestone-wwr&rtid=&coverage_id=&sp=conf-partner
Limestone Open Live Stats -
https://www.trackwrestling.com/TWHome.jsp?TIM=1668479442134&twSessionId=dupxwfyfei