FHSU Athletics
CORALVILLE, Iowa – Fort Hays State sophomore Isabella Renfro notched her place in history as the first-ever NCAA All-America performer in Fort Hays State Women's Wrestling history. She finished fourth at 180 pounds in the inaugural NCAA NC Women's Wrestling Championships. Renfro's name will also be etched among the first 80 All-Americans in NCAA Women's Wrestling history.
After a 2-0 performance on day one of the championships to reach the semifinals, Renfro met McKendree's Destiny Rodriguez for the third time this season. It was the rubber match between the two for the season as both had a win, but unfortunately Rodriguez won the final battle. Renfro led 1-0 and 3-2 in the match. Briefly after Renfro took the lead for a second time, Rodriguez was able to get leverage and scored a pin with seven seconds remaining in the first period.
Renfro bounced back well in the consolation semifinals, making quick work of Azariah Moore of Lock Haven with a fall in 50 seconds. She then matched up against Shenita Lawson of North Central in the consolation final. Renfro led 2-1 through one period, but Lawson was able to score three times in the second period to take the match by a 7-2 decision.
Renfro finished her impressive season at 32-5 overall, setting a new program record for wins in a season, topping Nichole Moore's 31 wins from the previous season. Renfro was also ranked No. 1 for a while during the season when she was undefeated. She started her season with 26-straight wins before taking her first loss.
Moore (145), Leiannah Landreth (117), and Alexis Burton (160) also competed for FHSU at the championships but were eliminated on day one of the tournament. Moore and Burton each notched one win. The trio joins Renfro as the first NCAA national qualifiers in program history for FHSU. Renfro and Moore were NCWWC national qualifiers the year before, but women's wrestling became an NCAA championship sport starting this season.
Fort Hays State generated 19.5 team points to finish 19th in the team standings. The team placing was one notch better than their 20th-place finish in the NCWWC Championships last season.