FOREST CITY, Iowa — Dakota Wesleyan Women's Wrestling competed at the Waldorf Open in its opening weekend of competition for the season.
The team was led in the 110-pound weight class by Cerys Gardner, who earned her first pin of the season against Diana Llanos from Iowa Lakes Community College in just under two minutes in the initial consolation round. A technical fall ended her day at the tournament, but she still had a good showing. Tiara Faehnrich at 138 for the Tigers recorded a win with a fall in 4:03 against Riley Weiler of ILCC following a first-round loss. The 160-pound weight class featured two competitors from Dakota Wesleyan, representing them in separate brackets. True freshman Sava'nah Norte opened her collegiate career with a 1-2 record after an impressive 1:06 fall in the consolation side of the bracket against Glori Ramirez of Augsburg University, while Olivia Smith pulled out a gutsy 5-2 win by decision in her second match of the day to claim her victory on the day. Kaitlin Gay rounded out the DWU lineup in the 207-pound weight class, but was not able to add any points to the team score.
DWU Women's Wrestling will be back in action at the Dust Bowl Open down in Kansas on Saturday, November 15th, at 9:00 AM. See the full 2025-26 season here.