Jamestown, ND – It was once again a stellar NAIA National Championship for Dymond Guilford in the 170-weight class, where she made history for the UC women's wrestling program. She took home the crown last season, and the 2023 campaign was no different, capping an undefeated season with her second straight title. This makes her the first wrestler in the program's history to win two NAIA National Championships.
 
Guilford was up 1-0 in the title match, against #2 Joye Levendusky from Southern Oregon. Guilford was then put on the clock with 2:40 left in the match, needing to score or else she would give a point to Levendusky. Guilford remained composed, getting an underhook with her right arm and then using her strength to get the double underhook. Guilford then used the leverage and landed a four-point underhook throw. She had so much strength and momentum that Levendusky was put on her back and within seconds Guilford got the pin. At 3:59 the official put his arm up signaling the pin and that the 170-title stayed with Guilford.
   
Guilford went a perfect 21-0 on the season and only conceded four points combined from all of her matches, truly dominating her competition. At the NAIA National Championship, the Lancaster, CA native went 4-0, recording a pair of tech falls, a decision and a fall. 
 
On day one of the tournament, Guilford went 2-0, only spending 41 seconds and then 44 seconds on the match respectively, claiming two tech fall victories. Her second win was against eighth seeded Jesaphine Lee from Life. The two wins put Guilford in the semifinals against fourth ranked Liliana Vergara from Campbellsville. It was a methodical match from both wrestlers and Vergara scored the first point in the match, claiming it from a passive call against Guilford. In the second period, Vergara was called for being passive as well, tying the match up at 1-1. With just one minute remaining in the bout, Guilford was put on the clock again needing to score or she would concede a point to Vergara and lose the match. However, once again Guilford responded. She landed the blast double on Vergara to earn four points for the 5-1 lead. Vergara did get one more point in the final 10 seconds, but it was not enough and Guilford was en route to her second straight NAIA title.
 
As a team, Cumberlands finished in sixth place with 98 points, just six points behind University of Providence who took home fifth. The 2023 NAIA women's wrestling tournament was a championship sport for the first season, moving up from an invitational. For the inaugural year, UC earned five All-Americans, improving from four a season ago. Elizabeth Dosado, Aliyah Yates, Jesse Kirby and MaQuoia Bernabe all took home the honors along with Guilford.
 
For Dosado, it was the first time in her career earning NAIA All-American status, finishing in fourth place at the 101-weight class. On day one, Dosado went 2-0 with a tech fall and fall and earning a spot in the semifinals. She took on top-seeded Ira Navarro from the University of the Providence. Coming into the match Navarro had won both of her matches from tech falls, without allowing a point. Dosado was aggressive and almost had a takedown, but Navarro scored the first two points of the match. Navarro landed another two-point takedown in the first period to go up 4-0, but Dosado worked a pushout with one second on the clock in the first period to make it 4-1 at the break. Dosado kept working and was able to hook her leg around Navarro for the two-point takedown making it 4-3 with 30 seconds left in the match. Dosado fought hard in the final seconds, but Navarro won 4-3 and was the eventual National Champion. The loss put Dosado in the consolation semifinals.  That match was quick, only lasting 1:46 before Dosado got the pin and was now in the third place match against third seeded Esthela Trevino from Southern Oregon. Trevino scored the only points of the first period, going up 4-0. Trevino landed another four-point takedown to go up 8-0, but Dosado stayed resilient. She earned a four-point takedown of her own and almost got the pin, but defense from Trevino kept it from happening and making the score 9-4. Dosado fought till the end, but lost to claim fourth place.
 
At her first NAIA Championship as a Patriot, Yates had a strong showing and earned All-American honors in the 136-weight class. Yates went 3-1 on day one of the competition. On the second day, Yates had to face eighth seeded Riley Dalrymple from Life. Yates dominated from the start, getting the two-point takedown 30 seconds in and then scoring a leg lace to be up 4-0. Next Yates landed a four-point throw and then a two-point takedown with one minute left in the first period for the 10-0 tech fall win. Then Yates faced sixth seeded, Bella Amaro from Southern Oregon. Yates was down 3-0 after the first period. Yates scored first in period two, but another two-points from Amaro secured the win and moved Yates to the fifth place match against second seeded Erin Redford from Eastern Oregon. The Palmdale, CA native earned the first points of the match with just a minute left in the first period for the 2-0 lead. In the second period, Redford was put on the clock and unable to score so Yates went up 3-0. Yates then worked to get another two-point takedown and push the score to 5-0 with 25 seconds left. Yates held her off for the rest of the match for the 5-0 decision win, claiming fifth place.
 
In the 191-weight class both Kirby and Bernabe earned All-American status. For Kirby it was her third NAIA All-American honor and fourth All-American overall while Bernabe claimed her second. Kirby went 3-1 on day one and was in the consolation semifinals to start the day. Her opponent got out to a 2-0 lead against Kirby. But Kirby stayed locked in and used her leg to throw her opponent on the ground for the four-point throw and immediate pin at 1:24. Her next match was against top seeded Kelani Corbett from Missouri Valley. Corbett went up 2-0 on Kirby. Later in the first period, Kirby grabbed Corbett's leg and threw her to the ground to tie up the match. Multiple times throughout the match Corbett thought she had Kirby for the takedown, but Kirby used her defense to give no advantage and no points awarded. Towards the end of the match, Corbett did land the four point takedown and pin Kirby to send her to the fifth place match. There, Kirby took on eighth seeded Olivia Brown from Grand View. Twice Brown was put on the clock for passivity to give Kirby two points, but Brown earned a two-point takedown during the match to win on criteria over Kirby. This placed the Culpeper, VA native as the sixth-place finisher.
 
Right behind Kirby in seventh place was Bernabe. The sophomore went 2-1 on the first day of competition and met eighth seeded Olivia Brown in the consolation quarterfinals to begin day two. Brown defeated Bernabe in a close 4-0 decision putting Bernabe in the seventh-place match. Bernabe dominated her opponent and did not give up a point in the bout. She landed a pair of two-point takedowns to have the 4-0 lead after the first period. In the second period, Bernabe earned a two-point takedown and got her opponent on her back for the fall win at 3:59 securing seventh place.

Southern Orgeon took home the team title with 160 points, followed by Life in second with 139.5 points to lead the Mid-South. Cumberlands placed the second highest among MSC teams in sixth and Campbellsville rounded out the top-ten.
 
For the latest and most up-to-date information on University of the Cumberlands Athletics. Please visit www.cumberlandspatriots.com. Follow us on Twitter- @UC_Patriots and @UCPatsGameday, Instagram- @UCPatriots, TikTok- @ucpatriots, Youtube- Cumberlands Patriots, and Facebook by searching