Avila Places Third, Heath Seventh at 2025 NAIA Women’s Wrestling Championships
PARK CITY, Kan. - For the second straight year, Jannell Avila and Katherine Heath earned All-American honors for Baker women's wrestling at the 2024-25 NAIA Women's Wrestling National Championship this past weekend in Park City, Kan.
Coming into the tournament unseeded, Avila made an incredible run through the 180-pound bracket with back-to-back wins over the No. 2 and No. 7 ranked wrestlers on Friday to move on to the semifinals of the championship bracket.
After falling in the semis, the sophomore from Coralville, Iowa saved her most memorable performance for last, pinning No. 2 India Page of Lindsey Wilson for the second straight day in the third-place match.
Trailing by one late in the second period, Avila pulled off another stunner and pinned Page to come away with a third-place finish and secure her second straight All-American honor.
In her fifth straight national appearance, Heath battled through injury to earn a top-eight finish for the second consecutive year, placing seventh nationally at 117 pounds. She rolled to a pair of tech fall wins in her first two matches on Friday before ensuring herself another podium finish with a third tech fall in the consolation bracket.
On Saturday, the senior from Fairview, Texas won a 10-6 decision in the placement match to close out her highly-decorated career here at BU, going out as the program's career leader in wins (127), falls (40), and tech falls (50). She took third at the NAIA Championships last year and was a conference champion after claiming the 116-pound title at the 2024 Heart of America Conference Championships.
BU's three other national qualifiers - Jade Martin, Kylie Robledo and Nevaeh Wardlow - all fell in their first two matches of the tournament on Friday.
Robledo dropped a close 9-6 decision to the No. 8 seed at 124 pounds in her first match, Martin fell by tech fall to the top-seed at 138 pounds and the freshman Wardlow fell to the fifth-ranked wrestler at 180 pounds.
During Saturday's awards ceremony, Baker received the NAIA's Team Sportsmanship Award, which recognizes a team that displays exceptional sportsmanship, character, and ethical conduct during the national championship event.
The Wildcats wrap up a 2024-25 campaign that saw them finish in fourth at the Heart Championships and 20th at the NAIA Championships, while boasting five national qualifiers.
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