UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio - The Bethany College women's wrestling team opened the 2025-26 season at the JCU Open hosted by John Carroll (Ohio) University as three Bison won their respective brackets at the Tony DeCarlo Center.

The Bison opened their season at the unscored JCU Open which included 12 different teams as the Green and White placed three champions, five runners-up, and two third-place finishers to pick up right where they left off last year. 

Freshman 131-pounder Rose Mary Dodd (Lake Elsinore, Calif./Temescal Canyon) served as Bethany's first champion of the day. Dodd cemented herself in Bethany's history as the first athlete to ever secure a high-amplitude five-point move that she used to push herself into the finals. Dodd dominated the entire day, picking up two pins and three tech-falls. In those tech falls, Dodd outscored her opponents 36-2 while not allowing a single takedown in the tournament. 

In the 160-pound bracket, freshman Chase Marie Ryan (Quakertown, Pa.) started off this round robin tournament on the wrong foot, getting caught and pinned in her first match. After falling behind in match two, the Bison reset at the break. Ryan bounced back in a massive way, picking up three straight bonus point victories in dominating fashion. The Bison ended the tournament 3-1, but was crowned champion based off criteria of quality wins.

The final Bethany champion came in the 145 bracket where the Bison saw two green singlets in the finals with sophomore Jasmine Craddock (Chesterfield, Va./Thomas Dale) and freshman Ari Tyson (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill West) battling for first place. Tyson was unscored upon in her three matches entering the finals. She put on a clinic with two first period tech falls scoring in every position. Craddock pinned her way to the finals, picking up multiple feet-to-back points in the process. While both Bison dominated their way to the finals, only one could be crowned champion. That person was Craddock, who used her feet-to-back threat to once again put her opponent, and her teammate, on her back.

At 103, freshman Ava Paul (Deptford, N.J./Deptford Township) finished in second place on the day, with her only loss coming from the champion of the tournament.

Freshmen Ashley Campbell (Edinboro, Pa./General McLane) and Clara Ealy (Forest Hill, W.Va./James Madison) took third and fourth place, respectively, in the 110 bracket. Both losses came to the first and second place wrestlers. They each picked up two falls and Campbell picked up another major decision.

Freshman 117-pounder Taelor Rae Busch (Omaha, Neb./Mercy) dominated her first two matches of the day. She picked up two first-period falls, one in 47 seconds and the other just over a minute. She gritted out a 4-4 victory on criteria in the semis to earn her place in the finals. It was a high-octane bout full of big moves. Down a takedown with minimal time, Busch went for broke. Unable to land her throw, Busch fell in the finals taking silver in her first collegiate tournament.

Freshman 124-pounder Malia Tocco (Philo, Calif./Mendocino) picked up three falls en route to a runner up finish. The Bison battled hard, picking up multiple come-from behind wins to enter the finals. Her opponent from Purdue hadn't wrestled longer than 31 seconds entering the finals match, but Tocco stood her ground and prevented a pin.

Freshman Mireya Garcia (Leland, N.C./North Brunswick) won her first college match of her career via fall in the 138-pound bracket

Sophomore Trinity Barrus (Hysham, Mont.) beat the 180-pound tournament champion 4-0 in her first bout of the day. She then went on to secure a first period fall over another opponent before pulling out of the rest of the tournament for medical reasons.

Freshman MyJanniea Baptist (Los Angeles, Calif./Lawndale) had a bye in the first round of the heavyweight bracket, but then picked up two consecutive first period falls to earn a position in the finals against a wrestler from Indiana University. Baptist was in a chess match for first place. Neither wrestler able to secure a takedown or a pushout during the match. Unfortunately for the Bison, Baptist fell 2-1 in the most positioning-oriented match of the tournament.

The Bison are back in action on Wednesday, November 5 as they travel to Lynchburg, Virginia to compete at the Randolph Tri-Match against the host Randolph (Va.) College and the Liberty (Va.) University club team at 4 p.m. in Frances and Don Giles Gymnasium.