JERSEY CITY, N.J. — The New Jersey City University women's wrestling team, ranked #16 in the nation in the most recent NCAA National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Poll, hosted the program's first-ever home tri on Saturday, Dec. 17, at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center (JMAC). The Gothic Knights faced off with Delaware Valley University, topping the Aggies 35-15, then matched up with #11 Sacred Heart University and fell in a hard-fought battle with the Pioneers, 28-14. A total of four Jersey City grapplers went 2-0 on the afternoon, with all seven recording victories on the day.

NJCU (2-4) started off against Delaware Valley (0-2) and began up 20-0 after the Aggies forfeited the 101, 109, 116 and 123 weight classes. Then, junior co-captain #8-ranked Naomi Henry (Brooklyn, N.Y./Wingate) hit the mat for the day's first match, this time at 130 pounds. She made quick work of her DelVal foe and pinned her in 1:06 to put Jersey City up, 25-0. Sophomore 136-pounder Kayla Zeppetelli (Little Ferry, N.J./Ridgefield Park) continued the run and one-upped Henry by winning her match by fall in just 0:36 to make it a 30-0 advantage. After the Aggies got on the board to make it 30-15 with wins by forfeit at 143, 155 and 170, junior co-captain and #7-ranked Sandy Guerrero (West Orange, N.J./West Orange) closed out the match with a win by fall in just 0:50 to seal the 35-15 victory.

After Sacred Heart (10-2) made quick work of Delaware Valley in the day's second match, winning 45-2, the third and final match of the afternoon saw the Pioneers and Gothic Knights go head-to-head in seven weight classes. Sacred Heart's #6-ranked Aaliyah Payne-Parris started off with a win by fall at 101 pounds over freshman Dyanne Pelaez (Fords, N.J./Woodbridge) — the Gothic Knight finished her day at 1-1 to improve to 3-10 on the year — sophomore 109-pounder Izabella Frezzo (East Rutherford, N.J./Becton Regional) made her return to the mat with a grind-it-out shutout victory by decision, 5-0, over Ahsia Torres of the Pioneers to make it 5-3 in the overall match — Frezzo is now 9-4 on the season.

Junior Bella Serrano (Belmar, N.J./Manasquan) was next up for NJCU and she stretched out her match at 116 pounds before falling via a 12-2 technical fall to Nohea Moniz, making the score 9-4 — Serrano also went 1-1 on the day and is now 3-7 on the season. The next match was at 123 pounds and rookie Somaia Elokda (Bayonne, N.J./Bayonne) fought the entire bout before falling by a 6-0 decision to Tati Walker of Sacred Heart, which brought the score to 12-4 in favor of the Pioneers — Elokda is 2-7 to this point in her freshman campaign.

The Green and Gold then began to storm back as Henry dominated her foe, Belen Rios of Sacred Heart, to the tune of a shutout 11-0 technical fall just 1:24 into the first to make it 12-8 — she is now 14-3 on the year and as dangerous a grappler as there is in the country. Not to be outdone, the most completive match of the day took place at 136 pounds between Zeppetelli and Tays Pascual of the Pionners. The two traded takedowns throughout the match, however Zeppetelli snuck in a near-fall at the buzzer of the first to take an 8-4 lead into the break. Pascual got the first takedown of the second to make it 8-6 before Zeppetelli answered back with just under two minutes remaining to extend her lead to 10-6 — each had one more takedown before Zeppetelli held on for the 12-8 decision, which made the score 13-11 in Sacred Heart's favor. The NJCU sophomore is now 6-7 on the year, with today's two wins (one by forfeit and one by decision) becoming her first two non-fall victories of her collegiate career.

Unfortunately, the Pioneers won the next three matches by forfeit to take a commanding 28-11 lead, which sealed the win for Sacred Heart. However, the day's final match saw Guerrero return to the mat once again against Cara Broadus of SHU. Broadus scored first with a takedown early, but a minute later Guerrero answered with a huge throw for a four-point takedown. Broadus then suffered an initial injury with just under a minute left in the period before another Guerrero takedown forced her to injury default, giving the NJCU junior her eighth win of the season — she is currently still undefeated at 8-0.

Up Next:
Jersey City returns to the mat after the New Year in Collegeville, Pa., for the Will Abele Open, hosted by Ursinus College on Sunday, Jan. 15. After another road tournament on Sunday, Jan. 22, the Gothic Knights return to the JMAC for their second and final home competition of the season on Sunday, Feb. 5, against Elmira College at 1:00 p.m.