ERIE, Pa. — The New Jersey City University women's wrestling team, ranked in a tie for #15 in the most recent National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Poll, competed as one of 11 teams at the Region I (Northeast) National Collegiate Women's Wrestling Championships (NCWWC) today, Saturday, Feb. 18, hosted by #11/8 Gannon University. The Gothic Knights secured three top-six finishes individually, including a pair of runners-up — both of those NJCU grapplers earned National Qualifying spots as a result of those top-four finishes — to place sixth overall at the event. Jersey City will be represented at the NCWWC Nationals in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on March 3-4 by now-two-time National Qualifier, sophomore 109-pounder Izabella Frezzo (East Rutherford, N.J./Becton Regional) and #5-ranked, three-time National Qualifier and 2020-21 All-American, junior co-captain Naomi Henry (Brooklyn, N.Y./Wingate).

Frezzo entered the day as the second-seeded wrestler in the 109-pound bracket, behind only nationally #4-ranked Kaelani Shufeldt of #8/9 Lock Haven University. Frezzo began with a 10-0 technical fall victory over Kaitlyn Potter of Elmira College in the first round. Then, in the quarterfinals, she defeated Olivia Amaral of Western New England University by fall in just 33 seconds. In her next bout in the semifinal round, Frezzo again secured a pin, this time at 1:54 into the match for perhaps the largest win of her collegiate career, defeating nationally #5-ranked Julianne Moccia of Gannon to secure a spot in the championship match. There she fell to Shufeldt via a 12-2 technical fall.

Henry was the top-seeded 123-pounder on the afternoon and only wrestled twice, earning a bye all the way into the semifinal round. Her first match was not an easy one, however she eventually secured the pin at 5:59 over Jayden Bazemore of Gannon to move on to the championship match. There she took on second-seeded nationally #6-ranked Sofia Macaluso of #9 East Stroudsburg University, but fell via fall at 4:51.

Four other Gothic Knights competed in two matches each on the day, including freshman 101-pounder Dyanne Pelaez (Fords, N.J./Woodbridge). The rookie placed sixth in her weight class to help NJCU earn points toward their overall team score.

Up Next:
As mentioned, Frezzo and Henry will represent the Green and Gold at NCWWC Nationals in a few weeks. The duo will compete over two days (March 3-4) at Alliant Energy Powerhouse Arena in Cedar Rapids for a chance to secure fourth and fifth All-American honors in the program's brief history.