Heath Captures Heart 116-Title, Wildcats Earn Five National Qualifiers

OSKALOOSA, Iowa – Katherine Heath took home the conference title in the 116-pound bracket of the 2024 Heart Women's Wrestling Championships on Saturday where the Wildcats finished fourth overall in the team standings and earned a total of five national qualifiers.

Jannell Avila added a runner-up showing and Mariam Shariq and Jaclyn Daley each came away with third-place finishes to help lead the Wildcats to a total team score of 101, putting them among a top-four that featured Grand View claiming the team conference championship.

Heath won her only two matches of the tournament with a tech fall in the semifinals before picking up a pin against William Penn's Catherine Steinkamp to give Baker an individual conference title for the fourth straight year in a row.

Wrestling at 191 pounds, Avila won back-to-back matches to secure her spot in the title bout where she fell to the NAIA's No. 2 wrestler Joanna Hendricks of Waldorf.

Shariq pinned her opponent in the placement match to earn her bronze medal, while Daley won by tech fall in the semis and then came through with her pin in the third-place match as well.

Elisa Robinson and Kylee Slyter each placed fifth with Robinson, a former conference champion herself, tallying a total of three pins during her tear through the 191-pound bracket and Slyter using a pair of tech falls to finish with fifth-place honors at 109 pounds.

Willow Dubois pinned her first opponent at 130 pounds and added another pin in the third round of the consolation bracket before eventually finishing in sixth.

Overall, five Wildcats qualified for the 2024 NAIA National Championship with Slyter (109), Heath (116), Daley (170), Avila (191) and Robinson (191) all earning spots in the national tournament.

After the final tournament field is set following at-large bids, Baker will head to the NAIA National Championships on March 8-9, held at Harold Newman Arena in Jamestown, N.D.

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