SIMPSONVILLE, S.C. – The Presbyterian College women's wrestling team – slotted at #5 in the country to begin the 2025-26 season – will open up the brand-new slate on Saturday with three neutral-site matches.
Reigning Southeast Region Coach of the Year
Brian Vutianitis will send his troops to Hillcrest High School in Simpsonville for a trio of duals against Newberry, Allen, and Huntingdon. The action begins at 2:00 PM.
Expectations are through the roof for a Blue Hose roster that returns nearly all 14 national qualifiers from last year. PC went 14-4 in dual play last winter and finished the campaign in 6
th place at the national tournament.
Tomorrow will be the first time in the program's brief history that Presbyterian has faced Newberry in a dual. On the flip side, Coach V's unit is a combined 3-0 versus Allen and Huntingdon.
GAMEDAY INFO – SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 1
#5 Presbyterian vs. Newberry | 2:00 PM
#5 Presbyterian vs. Allen | 2:45 PM
#5 Presbyterian vs. Huntingdon | 6:00 PM
WHERE: Hillcrest High School | Simpsonville, S.C.
LIVE RESULTS: Track Wrestling
SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
- This is the first season that the NCAA will be sponsoring women's wrestling, creating a new level of exposure for one of the nation's fastest-growing sports.
- Newberry's inaugural season was last winter, while Allen put together their second season themselves. PC's three wins over Allen and Huntingdon are by an average margin of 37 points.
- Presbyterian stomped the Hawks two years ago 47-0 and defeated them in Alabama last season 36-10. Their only previous match with Allen resulted in a 38-8 decision.
SPRING 2025 RECAP
- The Blue Hose boasted six All-Americans after claiming the Southeast Regional Championship back in March, with half of those accolades coming from true freshmen.
-
Carina Giangeruso (then a rookie) was PC's highest placer of the 14 who advanced to Nationals, coming in 4
th for the 138-pound class and going 33-5 over the course of her debut season.
- Astoundingly, all six of last year's All-Americans are back for more as Presbyterian has their eyes set on a national title.
Paige Wehrmeister,
Maddie Kubicki,
May Cuyler, and
Maria Aiono each came in 6
th place individually, not to mention
Chloe Dearwester's 8
th-place nod.
- From start to finish last winter, Presbyterian's roster stacked up 435 combined victories. A PC wrestler won via pin 174 times, with 32 combined pins from Aiono and Kubicki.
- The Blue Hose defeated seven nationally-ranked opponents in dual competition, as nine PC wrestlers took either gold or silver at the Southeast Region bracket.
SEVEN IN THE TOP TEN
- Along with Presbyterian's highest-ever preseason ranking at #5, the Scotsmen will send seven grapplers to this new season who are ranked inside the individual top ten for their respective weight class:
(So.)
Chloe Dearwester – No. 7 – Class 110
(Jr.)
Alyssa Mahan – No. 6 – Class 124
(So.)
Carina Giangeruso – No. 3 – Class 138
(Jr.)
Maddie Kubicki – No. 4 – Class 145
(So.)
May Cuyler – No. 4 – Class 160
(Jr.)
Henlee Haynes – No. 4 – Class 180
(So.)
Maria Aiono – No. 3 – Class 207
- Below is an illustration of those wrestlers' final statistics from last year's record-breaking outcome:
