WEST LIBERTY, Pa. - The Bethany College women's wrestling team competed at the 2026 NCAA Region II Championships hosted by West Liberty (W.Va.) University at the Academic, Sports & Recreation Complex.

Bethany was back on the national stage at the 2026 national qualifiers where the Bison faced off against some of the best wrestlers in the country. The Green and White had six wrestlers make it to Day 2 of the tournament with three of them placing within the top six of their respective brackets. The team finished tenth in the overall team standings with 44.5 points as Lehigh (Pa.) University took the top spot with 151.5 points and all 10 wrestlers placing fifth or better. 

The Bison's top finishers were freshmen Rose Mary Dodd (Lake Elsinore, Calif./Temescal Canyon) and MyJanniea Baptist (Los Angeles, Calif./Lawndale) who each placed fifth.

Dodd went 4-2 on the weekend including a 4-2 decision in the opening round of the 131-pound bracket. After falling in the bracket semifinals, she then secured a tech fall and a pin to earn a spot in the consolation semifinals with a shot of advancing to nationals. Despite falling in the semifinals, Dodd went on to a dominant 12-1 tech fall victory in the fifth-place match to finish as the Bison's first placer of the tournament.

After receiving a first-round bye and falling in the quarterfinals, Baptist also reached the 207 consolation semifinals with a one-minute fall and a 7-1 decision. She then lost a close decision in the semifinals to the host West Liberty's Jamie Shapton who went on to win third place and a spot in the national tournament. However, Baptist too would win the fifth-place match with another one-minute pin to make it two fifth-place finishers for the Bison.

Freshman Ashley Campbell (Edinboro, Pa./General McLane) was the third member of the Green and White to reach the fifth-place match. She rattled off two victories by fall in the 110 consolation bracket after falling in the quarterfinals, but ultimately dropped her last two matches to finish sixth overall. 

Freshman Taelor Rae Busch (Omaha, Neb./Mercy) had a similar path at 117 earning a first-round tech fall win and just narrowly missing a win in the quarterfinals. She then had a 11-0 tech fall in the consolation bracket to stay alive on Day 2 and then fell in another close decision to finish 2-2 in the tournament.

Despite falling in the opening round, freshman 124-pounder Natalie Rodriguez-Romero (Perris, Calif./Citrus Hill) won by fall and in a 14-8 decision through the first two matches of the consolation bracket to send her to the tournament's second day as well. 

Sophomore Shanielah Kirk (Milwaukee, Wis./Martin Luther) earned a quick pin in the second round of the 180 consolation bracket after falling in Round 1, but also fell just short in a decision to end her run in the national qualifiers on Day 2.

Freshman Ava Paul (Deptford, N.J./Deptford Township) was the final Bison to earn a victory with a 10-5 decision in the first round of the 103-pound bracket.

Also competing in their first NCAA Tournament appearance was sophomore 138-pounder Jasmine Craddock (Chesterfield, Va./Thomas Dale), freshman 145-pounder Ari Tyson (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill West), and freshman 160-pounder Peyton Gauss (Pemberton, N.J.).