Women’s wrestlers start semester with strong showing at SVU

Liberty women's wrestlers at Southern Virginia

Members of Liberty's women's wrestling team who competed in the Knight Invitational last weekend at Southern Virginia University will be joined by others for this Saturday's Builders Invitational at the Apprentice School in Newport News, Va.

Women’s wrestlers start semester with strong showing at SVU

1/16/2026 9:52:00 PM | Women's Wrestling

Four of the nine competitors the Lady Flames sent to Buena Vista for this past Saturday’s Knight Invitational landed on the podium.

Liberty University's women's wrestling team was well represented at the first tournament of 2026, sending nine competitors to last Saturday's Knight Invitational hosted by Southern Virginia University in Buena Vista, Va.

Four of the Lady Flames placed in the top five in their respective weight classes, led by sophomore June Welch's third-place showing at 131 pounds. Junior Amanda Walker and sophomore Faith Kiefer came in fourth at 138 and 180 pounds, respectively, and senior Aurora Pennington landed in fifth place at 124 pounds.

"The girls wrestled tough and had a good showing for their first tournament of the semester," Liberty Head Coach Charisse McIlhenny said.

Pennington defeated the eventual third-place finisher — SVU's Andrea Castro — in the quarterfinal round. Kiefer was pinned by Knights freshman Dazi Thatcher 2 minutes, 13 seconds into their consolation final match.

Liberty will travel to Apprentice School to compete in the Builder Invitational on Saturday in Newport News, Va.