After a brief break, the Utica University women's wrestling team is back in a big way this week, traveling to Elmira on Wednesday before hosting their second-ever home meet this Saturday afternoon at Miga Court. Wednesday's road trip will feature a pair of duals against Ithaca and the hosting Soaring Eagles. Check out our weekly preview to see how you can catch all of this week's action!

ELMIRA, NY - On Wednesday, the Utica University Women's wrestling team will be traveling to Elmira to compete against both Ithaca College and host Elmira College in a Tri-meet. The meet will take place at the Speidel Gymnasium (Pat Thompson '75 Court) on Wednesday, January 28th. Keep an eye on our athletic website and Elmira's athletic website for an update on the event's start time. 

Interested spectators can stream the meet on the Elmira section of the Empire 8 Network or by clicking this link: https://www.empire8network.com/elmira/

UTICA, NY - This weekend, the Utica University Women's wrestling team will also be competing at home in a Round Robin meet on Saturday, January 31st. This will be the second home meet in the program's history. The meet will take place at home in Miga Court at the Clark Athletic Center Gymnasium at 1:00 pm. The round-robin competition will feature a variety of matchups at each weight class, with wrestlers from each team competing in a series of matches within their own weight class. There are no brackets or team results, just one-on-one bouts between each wrestler at each weight class. There will be winners in each weight class, determined by total wins at the event. Stay tuned at the end of the event for the announcement of any winning athletes!

To stay up-to-date with our Pioneers during this weekend's meet, be sure to check the stream link provided!

Link: https://www.empire8network.com/utica/

Results for this meet will be posted shortly after the completion of the event. You can find them by clicking the results tab under the meet on our women's wrestling schedule page. 

Last Home Meet: The Pioneers last hosted a home meet on January 12th, 2025, where they competed against Maine Maritime Academy, Alfred State, Buffalo State, and Western New England in a series of duals. On this day, which was also their first-ever home action in program history, they picked up three wins against Alfred State (29-10), Maine Maritime (25-10), and Buffalo State (23-21). This year, the Pioneer lineup is full of new athletes; Juniors: Paityn Billard (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford) and Evelyn Enriquez (Mastic Beach, NY/Miller Place), Sophomores: Natalie Enriquez (Mastic Beach, NY/William Floyd) and Hannah Kusmierczak (Rome, NY/Holland Patent), and Freshmen: Octavia Dragotta (Utica, NY/Thomas R. Proctor), Dakoda House (Oneonta, NY/Cherry Valley Springfield), and Jackie Mace (Montour Falls, NY/Odessa-Montour), all of which will be competing in their first-ever home meet with the orange and blue. Alongside them will be first-year Head Coach, Carmela Cancelmo, who looks to usher in a new era, headlined by the team's second-ever home meet this coming Saturday.

Season Highlights Headed Into the Home Stretch: This season has been one of growth, as an extremely young Pioneer team has looked to find its footing at the collegiate level. This week, local talents Hannah Kusmierczak (Rome, NY/Holland Patent) and Jackie Mace (Montour Falls, NY/Odessa-Montour) will look to continue their respective sophomore and freshman seasons by adding even more wins to their total. Kusmierczak currently leads the team with nine wins on the year, grabbing three falls and a tech fall to produce her 9-15 record. Mace, on the other hand, has displayed versatility, slotting in at both the 131lb and 138lb weight classes while racking up eight wins thanks to one decision with and four victories by fall. These two young talents will look to lead the rest of the lineup during this week's action, and look to showcase their skills under the Miga Court lights for the first time in their respective careers this coming Saturday. 

Up Next After This Weekend's action: Utica will travel to Lackawanna College for another tri-meet, competing against Lackawanna and Northampton. This meet will take place on Tuesday, February 3rd, at 6.00 pm in the Student Union Gymnasium.