Liberty University Club Sports Athletics
Women's wrestlers open shortened season tonight at Ferrum
1/15/2021 12:00:00 AM | Women's Wrestling
With few National Collegiate Wrestling Association (NCWA) programs competing and the NCWA not sponsoring a 2020-21 season due to COVID-19 restrictions, Liberty University's women's wrestling team has scheduled two dual meets and one tournament against Women's Collegiate Wrestling Association (WCWA) teams, starting Friday at 7 p.m. at Ferrum College, an NCAA Division III program.
"We've been working extremely hard and are so excited to have the opportunity to compete after not having anything promised to us," said Lady Flames first-year Head Coach Charisse Manley, who wrestled for the past two seasons as a graduate student. "Because of the uncertainty of the season, we realize how special it is and are so grateful to the Lord to have an opportunity to shine out on the mat."
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| Charisse Manley shouts at a teammate on the mat last season, when Josh McIlhenny (right) was head coach. |
She noted that the match will be wrestled in freestyle, the form used by WCWA teams, rather than folkstyle, which is what the Lady Flames are accustomed to competing in through the NCWA.
Next Friday, the Lady Flames will travel to Emmanuel (Ga.) College for a 2 p.m. showdown before Liberty's men's team faces the Lions at 4 p.m. Two days later, on Sunday, Jan. 24, the Lady Flames will compete against 10 teams, mostly from the WCWA, in the Emmanuel College Open.
"Weigh-ins will be at 7 a.m. and then they're going to do a devotional for all of the teams involved before wrestling begins at 9 a.m.," Manley said. "We are hoping that women's tournament will be a perfect opportunity to network with the other teams and schedule more dual meets this season."
After starting with a roster of 10 wrestlers in the fall semester, which could have been enough to cover all of the weight classes, the Liberty is down to six active competitors on the team this semester. Seniors Kyndra Wooten, who placed second at last year's NCWA Grand Nationals in Texas, and Marissa Sanders graduated in December.
The Lady Flames feature one wrestler from Virginia, one from West Virginia, two from New Jersey, and two freshmen wrestlers and two first-year coaches from Hawaii — Manley and her younger sister Cendal Manley, a four-time NCWA national champion who serves as her assistant coach while pursuing her master's degree.
"We have four veterans and two freshmen," Charisse Manley said, noting she can only fill five of the 10 weight classes now with two wrestlers — junior Rebekah Kemper and freshman Maile Ka'ahanui — competing at 170.
Liberty is led by senior captain Catherine Morales, who placed third at nationals last year at 155 pounds.
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| Freshmen 143-pounder Claudia Keanini (left) and Maile Ka'ahanui (170) are from the same Hawaiian island as Lady Flames coaches Charisse and Cendal Manley. |
Junior Maria Ferello will be the first to take the mat at 136 pounds after the Lady Flames forfeit at 101, 116, 123, and 130 pounds due to lack of wrestlers. Freshman Claudia Keanini — who, like Ka'ahanui is from the same Hawaiian island of Molokai as the Manley sisters — will compete at 143 pounds and senior Lisa Konawel has dropped down from heavyweight (235) to wrestle at 191.
"I'm really excited for every girl," Charisse Manley said, noting that it will be a new experience for her and she will have to adjust to not competing herself. "This will be the first time we have coached without wrestling ourselves, which is definitely a difficult transition. But it's been super fun and I've enjoyed it a lot."
She said it has been a blessing to be able to invest in the returning student-athletes, who were their teammates just last season, as well as the incoming freshmen, and expressed her gratitude to men's wrestling Head Coach Jesse Castro and Assistant Coach Josh McIlhenny, who headed up the women's team last season, for the opportunity.
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| The Lady Flames started the season with 10 wrestlers. |
"We definitely have a lot invested in this program and are wanting to continue to build it into whatever God wants it to be," Charisse Manley said. "We love wrestling, but our main goal is to help cultivate and create women of God, first and foremost."
She said the sport of wrestling is a perfect training ground for developing student-athletes holistically, especially now that the Lady Flames have a facility to call their home, the Club Sports Training Complex.
"It creates the perfect environment for God to work and move in each other's realm of life," Manley said. "It is great for learning how to function on a team and to communicate, and gives you more influence and time to grow relationships."
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer
