WARD TAKES FIRST IN AVILA DEBUT; WOMEN’S WRESTLING STARTS SEASON STRONG AT FALCON OPEN

PARK CITY, Kan. – In her Avila women's wrestling debut, Haley Ward took first place in the 207-pound open division on Friday at the Falcon Open while the Eagles had three others place in the top-four.

Ward, a transfer from the University of Iowa, came to Sara Hilliard's program with a strong pedigree and put that on display on Friday at the Friends University tournament.

The junior opened her day with a victory over NAIA No. 17 Christina Page from Central Methodist via fall in 1:40 then followed that up with back-to-back tech fall wins over Madison Haley from Friends and Madeleine Stone from Baker.

Ward's decision victory over No. 12 Ella Murphey from Oklahoma City gave her the 207-pound title in the 2025 edition of the Falcon Open.

Another wrestler making her debut was freshman Amitria McNack, who went 4-1 on the day to finish second in the Freshman/Sophomore 180-pound division.

Two-straight wins via fall and a tech fall win gave McNack a semifinal matchup with No. 20-ranked Karla Martinez of Friends.

McNack, the freshman from Clinton, Mo., took down Martinez via fall in 3:33.

Coming off the big semifinal victory, McNack lost in the championship match via tech fall to Ambre Chevreau of Wayland Baptist.

Paige Strauch, another Avila freshman, went 5-1 on the day and finished in third place in the freshman/sophomore 160-pound class, while Joshyonna Coppage-Dortch finished her debut 2-2 with a fourth-place finish in the freshman/sophomore 103-pound division.

Returners Nicole Redmond (1-2), Jaclyn Riedinger (1-2), and Chloe Taylor (1-2), picked up victories in their season openers while facing tough draws in the always difficult open from Park City. 

Avila is back in the swing of things for the 2025-26 season and will head across the state line again next week for the Ottawa Open on Saturday before heading back to the Wichita area for a dual with Friends on Nov. 11.

 (photo credit: Jared Lainhart)