Briggs, Lottie Take the Mat at NAIA Championships
JAMESTOWN, N.D. – For the third straight year in the young history of the program, Avila women's wrestling was represented on the sport's biggest stage: junior Markayla Lottie and freshman Shannon Briggs competed at the 2024 NAIA Women's Wrestling National Championship in North Dakota this weekend.
One week after Daryus Webb won a half dozen matches to become the first All-American in Avila Athletics history, both Briggs and Lottie went 0-2 at their event, meaning the quest for the first national placer and All-American in Avila women's wrestling history will have to wait for at least one more year. Still, the Eagles have now been represented on the national mat in each of the first three years of the program, as the team and program continue to reinforce the ranks and build into a nationally renowned squad.
In 2021-22, Avila's first year sponsoring women's wrestling, the sport was still considered an Invitational sport, rather than a championship sport, like men's had been. Thanks to the widespread growth of the sport at all levels across the country, the NAIA adopted women's wrestling as an official championship sport ahead of 2022-23, year two of wrestling at Avila. This meant that the nationals field would only get smaller, more exclusive, and more prestigious. Avila has certainly experienced this firsthand: only two Eagles have qualified for the event in each of the last two years, but that's more than many schools, and certainly more than many young programs.
Competing on the national stage for the third time in as many seasons, Markayla Lottie was one of the first wrestlers to take the floor when action began on Friday morning in Jamestown. She was assigned to one of just two first-round matches in the 116 bracket, and first had to face Irma Retano of Eastern Oregon. Only the top eight wrestlers in each bracket earned seeds, meaning this was an unseeded matchup, and also a rare matchup against someone who qualified for the field despite not appearing in the final individual rankings of the season.
And the pair put on a real show to begin the competition with a nail-biter. The match was tied 5-5 after the first period, and though Lottie vaulted in front with a near fall with two minutes left in the second, Retano retaliated with a takedown with about a minute left and Lottie could not punch back. Retano prevailed 10-9 to advance, sending Lottie into the consolation bracket.
After a bye, waiting for her there was a familiar face, Ottawa's Addison Saporito, ranked No. 19 to Lottie's No. 20 in the final national ratings. The two local foes have faced off quite a bit this season, and after a high-scoring first period, Saporito strung together three takedowns in the second to wrap up a win by fall, ending Lottie's run in the national championships. Neither of her opponents ended up placing on the final podium.
The newcomer to Lottie's mainstay, Shannon Briggs was a force for Avila at the heaviest weight this season and parlayed that success into a spot on the nationals mat as a true freshman, just as Byanca Cook did last season for the Eagles. Unseeded in the 191 bracket, Briggs drew a familiar face in round one: Grand View's Olivia Brown. The No. 8 seed in the bracket, Brown lost only a couple of times all year long – including famously to Briggs on her home mat, the most impressive victory by an Eagle this season and, in all likelihood, what helped Briggs earn an at-large spot in the national field.
Brown was clearly motivated to ensure this matchup would go differently than the last one did, wrapping up a pinfall win in the first period. That sent Briggs into the consolation bracket, where she faced off with Agatha Andrews from local school Jamestown. Andrews was not seeded in the bracket, which belied the fact that she was ranked No. 3 in the final national poll, and she made quick work of the Eagle freshman, ending her first trip to nationals with a first-period pin. Andrews lost her next match, while Brown would go on to place third in her weight.
As he wraps up his third full year with the program, and his first as the official head coach of the women's squad, Zach Revier has done a remarkable job building this group from the ground up. Avila is one of the most fully-stocked women's teams in the region and figures to have a ton of returning talent heading into year four. Now armed with even more experience at the national level, women's wrestling figures to once again be one of the better squads at Avila University in 2024-25.
