Lady Flames freshman Ellie Shoemaker is taken down by Greensboro's Priscilla DeWitt in their 160-pound match on Nov. 15 in the Liberty Football Indoor Practice Facility. (Photos by Ted Allen)
Lady Flames wrestlers tried by fire in early-season dual tournaments
11/24/2025 10:00:00 AM | Women's Wrestling
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With four returners and seven newcomers on this year’s roster, Liberty is undergoing a youth movement and has gained valuable experience over the past two weekends.
Liberty University's women's wrestling team is off to a fast start to its 2025-26 season, hosting its largest tournament in the Liberty Football Indoor Practice Facility last Saturday, Nov. 15, before traveling to East Stroudsburg (Pa.) University for Sunday's Warrior Duals.
"We have a large freshmen and transfer class, which makes up 70 percent of the team," Lady Flames Head Coach Charisse McIlhenny said. "They are continuing to come out aggressive on the mat from the get-go. Their conditioning is good, so it's just a matter of being confident in trusting in the training we have been doing and tightening some positions. I am expecting to see all of the girls starting to shine as we go on."
Competing in a field of 12 teams, including two NCAA Division I programs in Lehigh (Pa.) University and Sacred Heart (Conn.) University, as well as the host Warriors — ranked No. 9 in NCAA Division II — Brock University from Canada, five NCAA Division III teams, and two other NCAA Division II programs, the Lady Flames won their fair share of matches on Sunday.
Liberty 117-pound freshman Julia Silva opened a 10-0 lead before pinning Mikayla Matson of Adrian (Mich.) College — ranked tied for No. 21 with New England College among NCAA Division III programs — in 3 minutes, 14 seconds.
After dropping two matches by fall — in 2:22 to Lehigh's Leila Sidhu and 2:12 to Marymount's Grace Bolstad — and one by technical fall to Sacred Heart's Samantha Yap, Silva scored an 8-4 decision over New England's Fenna Van Der Velden.
At 124 pounds, sophomore Aurora Pennington bounced back from a 10-0 technical fall setback to Lehigh's Alexa Cilliotta by pinning Adrian's Sophia Renteria in 1:50. She then recovered from dropping another match by 10-0 tech fall — this time in just 45 seconds against Megan Edwards of Elmira College — to score an 11-0 tech fall over Marymount's Madison Adcock. Pennington proceeded to win her last two matches by pin — over New England's Olivia Delegas in 26 seconds and over Sacred Heart's Lauren Nguyen in 1:53 to finish 4-2 on the day.
Sophomore June Welch, a transfer from North Carolina Central University, won her first two matches at 131 pounds — by forfeit and by 10-0 tech fall over New England's Orla King — before losing her next two by fall and last match by tech fall.
At 138 pounds, junior Amanda Walker finished 2-4, winning one match by forfeit and another by 10-0 tech fall over Adrian's Elaina Rudolph.
Sophomore Faith Kiefer finished 3-3 at 180, including her first match by forfeit and second by fall over New England's Marisol Almanzar in 2:42. She lost her next two matches by fall, the second in just nine seconds against Sacred Heart's Madeline Hodges, before pinning Elmira's Angelina Caban in 2:22 and being pinned by Lehigh's Genevieve An in 1:17.
Last Saturday, at the Strong and Courageous Women's Dual Tournament — based on the team's theme verse from Joshua 1:9 — the Lady Flames hosted some stiff competition in a unique setting, with three mats set up on the field turf inside the Flames Football practice facility.
Liberty wrestled against the other six programs, losing its opening match to the only other NCWA program in the tournament field, the Apprentice School, by a 22-11 final.
Lady Flames Assistant Coach Cendall Murphy (back) puts her older sister, Head Coach Charisse McIlhenny, in a headlick to demonstrate a move to the team between matches in the Strong and Courageous home tournament..
"It was not the best way to start, but the momentum from our girls picked up and after that, we hit the ground running and picked the pace up a lot," McIlhenny said, noting they lost close matches to NCAA DIII opponents Greensboro (N.C.) College, 24-20, Southern Virginia University, 26-23, and Randolph College, 29-20, and NAIA opponents Bruton Parker Brewton-Parker (Ga.) Christian University, 29-15, and Montreat (N.C.) College, 38-10. "We're seeing, every time we wrestle, that everyone gets better, and with all of the matches these girls are getting, they're sharpening each other." Murphy completes a move on McIlhenny as their team observes in a huddle.Complete results are available online.
Pennington — one of four returning wrestlers on this year's roster along with Kiefer, senior Chloe Roland, and junior Anna-Marie Servin — came to Liberty in January after transferring from Limestone (S.C.) University when that school cut its wrestling program.
"We have a really young team, and it's the beginning of the season," said Pennington, who won her match against SVU's Seani Casperson, 7-2. "This is everybody's first experience wrestling (in) college, except for four of us. We don't wrestle freestyle in high school, so all of these girls, not only is it their first college tournament, but it's their first time wrestling freestyle. So as we get into the rules of freestyle, we'll grow exponentially."
She said the schedule is set up to get her younger wrestlers as many matches as possible so they will be battle-tested in preparation for the NCWA Grand National tournament in Shreveport, La., in late March.
"Some of our girls have (15-20) matches under their belt, so it is exciting to get that sheer number of matches in," McIlhenny said, nothing there are 16 teams registered for the Lady Flames' next meet, the Dec. 5-6 Patriot Duals at University of The Cumberlands (Ky.).
Pennington said the potential is definitely in the wrestling room, with the recruits the Lady Flames brought in all experienced in the sport.
"This is the first year that we've had a program that every single wrestler coming in has wrestled in some capacity," she said. "It might not be this year, but with as many freshmen as we have, if they keep coming back … We'll get there."
By Ted Allen/Staff WriterMcIlhenny and Murphy get the Lady Flames fired up in a huddle between matches at the Liberty Football Indoor Practice Facility.
