Women's Wrestling receiving votes in latest coaches' poll

KANSAS CITY, MO. – The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics announced its second women's wrestling coaches' poll for the season earlier today, with Morningside's first-year program catching the eye of the national raters, receiving votes for the first time ever.

The Mustangs' climb into the footnotes of the coaches' poll comes following the rookie program's sound defeat of National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III's Augsburg, who was ranked no. 17 at the time. Morningside won four of the dual's nine matches by fall or technical fall, collecting another five-point win by forfeit. The Mustangs also had numerous quality matches in the tournaments leading up to the program's first duals last Sunday.

Championing Morningside's surge was Madeline Black, who is 9-4 on the season with seven pins, including a 1:01 pin against Augsburg and :32 second pin against DII Sioux Falls. Black became Morningside's first individually ranked wrestler, cracking the top 20 at no. 19 in the 130-pound weight class.

The Mustangs return to the mat following the turn of the calendar, when they travel to Hastings, Neb., for the Bronco Open on Sunday, Jan. 7.