ADRIAN, Mich. -- The Adrian College women's wrestling team is gearing up to send
Mia Gaetjens and
Carleigh Czerneski to the NCAA Women's Wrestling National Championship on Friday and Saturday in Coralville, Iowa for the first official time.
The Bulldogs will be facing D1-D3 school this year until D3 gets their own championship in a couple seasons. This year, the window got smaller to qualify for the national championship as only the top 3 in each region qualified for the first official NCAA championship, which has made it significantly harder for the Bulldogs this year as they're in the hardest region.
"Our girls both have good draws going into the first round, so I'm excited for that to hopefully set the tone into the rest of the tournament." Head Coach Autumn Rux speaks in excitement for her girls.
Mia Gaetjens has punched her ticket to the 2026 NCAA National Championships after a stellar performance at the NCAA Regional on February 21, where she secured a third-place finish and a team-high 19.5 points.
"Mia Gaetjens who is 32-8 on the season who is a returning National Qualifier will have to revenge a loss she had at the QCD3 tournament earlier in the semester, in the first round. We have been working really hard in improving any flaws she had in that match. We are confident and in the right place going into the championship this weekend." Rux says on Gaetjens.
Carleigh Czerneski has also punched her ticket to the 2026 NCAA National Championships after her stellar performance at the NCAA Regional on February 21, where she secured a runner-up performance at 117 pounds. Entering the weekend with a 36-6 record, Czerneski opened with a quarterfinal decision over Kiely Tabaldo (Grand Valley State), 3-0, before dominating Zhivanna Magdaleno (Northern Michigan) with an 8-0 decision in the semifinals. She advanced to the championship bout before falling to Riley Rayome (North Central College) by technical fall to secure a second-place finish and 13 team points.
"Carleigh Czerneski is a returning All-American for college and team USA will be headed into the first ever official NCAA tournament, as well as it will be her last eve NCAA Championship. We have been training the right way and are excited to make an impact while making history." Rux on Czerneski.
Adrian College is the only D3 school from Michigan to have National Qualifiers as well as there was only 2 D2 schools from Michigan, and only 3 Ohio programs have National Qualifiers, 1 D2, and 2 D3s, with fewer National Qualifiers than Adrian. In fact, the only programs with more National Qualifiers than Adrian are 4 D1 schools, 14 D2 schools, and 7 D3 schools, with Adrian College standing out and sending more girls than almost all of the D1, D2, and D3 schools in the country.
Rux is very excited for this opportunity as she says, "I'm super excited to make history this feels surreal that this has come to fruition. Being a retired athlete that loved this same dream is such a rewarding experience to watch this now happen for my athletes."
Gaetjens and Czerneski are now poised to begin their quest for a National Title tomorrow at 11:00 AM EST. Gaetjens will face Maryam Ndiaye from Augustana (IL) in the first round, while Czerneski will face Dianna Pineda from Alfred State (N.Y.) in the first round.
