WICHITA, Kan. — The University of Providence women's wrestling team set a new program best with a fourth-place team finish and saw senior Erin Hikiji win her second-straight individual title at the NAIA national tournament on Saturday.
The highlight of the tournament for the Argos was Hikiji, who became the first four-time NAIA national finalist in program history by defeating No. 4 seed Lita Cruz 10-0 in the semifinals.
In the championship bout at 103 pounds, Hikiji dominated No. 3 Zoey Haney, defeating the Indiana Tech wrestler 11-0 to secure her second-straight NAIA national championship and finish her senior season with a perfect 33-0 record.
Five other Argos also competed on Championship Saturday in senior Waipuilani Estrella-Beauchamp, juniors Paige Morales and Alyssa Randles, sophomore Hailey Sutton, and freshman Joely Slyter.
Estrella-Beauchamp fell to Jumoke Adekoye in the semifinals 6-3 but defeated Jeila Ramos 11-0 and pinned Sarah Savidge in 0:33 to finish in third.
Morales fell to Avery Ashley in the semifinals and finished in sixth, while Randles defeated Lola Barkby 10-0 but fell to Kamilah Brooks in the fifth-place match to take sixth.
Slyter fell to Grace Lashinsky 5-4 in the consolation semifinals but rallied to defeat Angelica Vincente Gonzalez 12-1 to finish in seventh, while Sutton defeated Micah Fisher-Miller 8-0 but fell to Bo Geibe to take seventh.
At this year's championships the Argos tied the program record with six All-Americans, took home a trophy with a program-best fourth-place team finish, and saw Hikiji cement her legacy as the most-decorated athlete in school history as a four-time finalist, four-time All-American, and two-time national champion.
