Great Lakes Wire

The Northern Michigan women's wrestling team concluded their season at the NCWWC National Championships in Coralville, Iowa. Yu Sakamoto secured a third-place finish while Alissa Caltagirone placed eighth, both earning All-America honors.

Competing at 117 pounds, Sakamoto's third-place achievement marked the best finish in the program's history. Her journey began with a victory by technical fall (10-0, 4:34) in the Championship Round 1, followed by a decision win (5-0) in Round 2, advancing her to the quarterfinals. Although she narrowly lost by decision (6-5), she rebounded with wins by fall (2:34) and tech fall (10-0, 3:32) in subsequent consolation rounds. In the Consolation Semifinals, she claimed victory by decision (6-5), advancing to and winning the third-place match by tech fall (13-0, 6:00).

Alissa Caltagirone competed at 138 pounds and achieved an eighth-place finish with a record of three wins and three losses, marking her first All-America recognition. She opened with a technical fall win (12-2, 4:36) and a decision win (6-4) to reach the quarterfinals but was defeated there. She then secured another victory by decision (10-3) before losing her final two matches.

Kailyn Garrett also represented Northern Michigan at 207 pounds, securing one win by fall (0:47) in Consolation Round 1.

The combined efforts of Sakamoto, Caltagirone, and Garrett resulted in a total of 29.5 points for Northern Michigan, placing them 14th out of 64 teams.