CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA – Highlighted by four NCWWC All-American performances, the No. 11 East Stroudsburg University women's wrestling closed the first day of the Cliff Keene Athletic National Collegiate Women's Wrestling National Championships in ninth place with 31 points.

Earing NCWWC All-America status with a guaranteed finish of at least eighth place nationally were No. 6 Emily Klein (116), No. 6 Mia Macaluso (123), No. 4 Sofia Macaluso (123) and Zoe Gress (143).

Sofia Macaluso will finish at least sixth and needs just two victories to secure a national championship. Klein, Mia Macaluso and Gress can finish as high as third with a perfect day tomorrow.

Haley Delia (101) and Shola Cascen (191) fell in their first two matches of the double-elimination tournament. Cascen, a senior, becomes the first Warrior to qualify for the national championship meet three times.  

Notables

• Sofia Macaluso remains in the 123 championship bracket after a pair of wins over Gabby Skidmore (Augsburg) and No. 5 Naomi Henry (NJCU). She earned a 10-5 decision in her opening win against Skidmore, before picking up a dominant, 12-1, tech fall triumph over Henry. Macaluso turns her head to No. 1 Marissa Gallegos (Colorado Mesa) in her first match tomorrow. If she is able to defeat Gallegos, Macaluso will face No. 3 Vayle-rae Baker (Kings) or No. 2 Amani Jones (North Central). Macaluso's lone falter of 2022-23 came by a 6-6 decision loss to Baker in the finals of the ESU Open.

• Klein began her second national championship meet strong, advancing to the second round with a bye and into the quarterfinals with a pin of Ashley Morris (Lincoln Memorial) in exactly a minute. Klein fell to No. 2 Jaslynn Gallegos at the 1:45 mark to head to the consolation bracket. The Garden State native closed the opening day strong with a pin in 1:30 over Albion's Jayla Oberst. Klein will take on Samantha Larsen of Gannon. She will need two wins to earn bronze.  

• Mia Macaluso, on the opposite side of the bracket as her sister, earned a first-round bye and advanced to the quarterfinals with a pin at the 1:44 mark against Isabel Rodriguez (Mount Olive). She faced off against No. 2 Vayle-rae Baker next, with Baker earning a pin (1:44). She bounced back with a 12-0 tech fall against Kalli Roskos (Ursinus) in her first match in consolations. She will take on Gabby Skidmore (Augsburg) in her next match. Macaluso aims for a third-place finish at 123, needing a win over Skidmore and then will have to defeat the winner of No. 5 Naomi Henry (NJCU) and No. 8 Jennifer Soto (McKendree).
• Gress began round one with a pin in in 1:25 against Skyelar Smith (Mount Olive). The Hoosick Falls, N.Y. product was sent to the consolation bracket by No. 3 Katie Lange (Augsburg), which came by a 10-0 tech fall. She rallied for three victories in the consolation bracket, first with a 3-3 decision over Khadijah Sanusi (Sacred Heart). It was the third win in four matches against Sanusi this season. She then battled Celenia Cooke of Colorado Mesa, ratcheting a 13-2 tech fall triumph. A former NCWWC All-American at Colorado Mesa prior to transferring to ESU, Gress earned her fourth win in five matches on the day with a pin at the 1:05 mark against Marisa Roth (Northern Michigan). She prepares to wrestle against No. 4 Kendall Bostleman (North Central) in her first match tomorrow. If Gress wins, she will take on the victor of No. 7 Lili Ujfalvi (Gannon) and No. 6 Clarissa Agostini (Adrian).  

Team Standings

Rank	Team	Wrestlers	Points
1	North Central	15	113.5
2	King	15	103.5
3	McKendree	10	83
4	Colorado Mesa	12	65.5
5	Augsburg	8	63
6	Simon Fraser	9	58
7	Sacred Heart	10	42.5
8	Adrian	10	31.5
9	East Stroudsburg	6	31
10	Gannon	8	30.5
11	Lock Haven	5	29.5
12	Presbyterian	6	29
13	Emmanuel	7	24.5
14	Elmira	6	23.5
15	Northern Michigan	6	18
16	NJCU	2	16
17	Schreiner	4	16
18	Texas Womens	5	14.5
19	Wisconsin Stevens Point	11	14.5
20	Mount Olive	3	13
21	Aurora	1	12
22	Tiffin	4	10.5
23	Lindenwood	1	9
24	Albion	5	7
25	Ursinus	2	7
26	Limestone	7	6.5
27	Chadron	4	6
28	Minot State	3	5.5
29	William Jewell	1	5.5
30	Carthage	4	4

How It Happened

101 | Haley Delia (0-2)

• Champ. Round 1 - Haley Delia (ESU) received a bye
• Champ. Round 2 - Jenavi Alejandro (Tiffin) won by tech fall over Haley Delia (ESU) (TF 10-0)
• Cons. Round 2 - Haley Delia (ESU) received a bye
• Cons. Round 3 - Chloe Kitagawa (Gannon) won by fall over Haley Delia (ESU) (Fall 3:28)

116 | No. 6 Emily Klein (2-1)

• Champ. Round 1 - Emily Klein (ESU) received a bye
• Champ. Round 2 - Emily Klein (ESU) won by fall over Ashley Morris (Lincoln Memorial) (Fall 1:00)
• Quarterfinal - Jaslynn Gallegos (North Central) won by fall over Emily Klein (ESU) (Fall 1:45)
• Cons. Round 4 - Emily Klein (ESU) won by fall over Jayla Oberst (Albion) (Fall 1:30)

123 | No. 6 Mia Macaluso (2-1)

• Champ. Round 1 - Emily Klein (ESU) received a bye
• Champ. Round 2 - Emily Klein (ESU) won by fall over Ashley Morris (Lincoln Memorial) (Fall 1:00)
• Quarterfinal - Vayle-rae Baker (King) won by fall over Mia Macaluso (ESU) (Fall 1:25)
• Cons. Round 4 - Mia Macaluso (ESU) won by tech fall over Kalli Roskos (Ursinus) (TF 12-0)

123 | No. 4 Sofia Macaluso (2-0)

• Champ. Round 1 - Sofia Macaluso (ESU) received a bye
• Champ. Round 2 - Sofia Macaluso (ESU) won by dec. over Gabby Skidmore (Augsburg) (Dec 10-5)
• Quarterfinal - Sofia Macaluso (ESU) won by tech fall over Naomi Henry (NJCU) (TF 12-1)

143 | Zoe Gress (4-1)

• Champ. Round 1 - Zoe Gress (ESU) won by fall over Skyelar Smith (Mount Olive) (Fall 1:25)
• Champ. Round 2 - Katie Lange (Augsburg) won by tech fall over Zoe Gress (ESU) (TF 10-0)
• Cons. Round 2 - Zoe Gress (ESU) won by decision over Khadijah Sanusi (Sacred Heart) (Dec 3-3)
• Cons. Round 3 - Zoe Gress (ESU) won by tech fall over Celina Cooke (Colorado Mesa) (TF 13-2)
• Cons. Round 4 - Zoe Gress (ESU) won by fall over Marisa Roth (Northern Michigan) (Fall 1:05)

191 | Shola Cascen (0-2)

• Champ. Round 1 - Jada Arnold (Mount Olive) won by tech fall over Shola Cascen (ESU) (TF 10-0)
• Cons. Round 1 - Shola Cascen (ESU) received a bye
• Cons. Round 2 - Victoria Craft (Schreiner) won by tech fall over Shola Cascen (ESU) (TF 12-2)

Up Next: Klein, Mia Macaluso, Sofia Macaluso and Gress compete tomorrow in the final day of the national championship meet. Klein, Mia Macaluso and Gress can finish as high as third or as low as eighth, while Sofia Macaluso can finish anywhere between first and sixth at 123.