York, Neb.—USM men's and women's wrestling started the 2026 portion of the season on the road in York, Nebraska to face-off against the Panthers of York University on Sunday, January 4^th. The (RV) Spire women's wrestling team started the new year off with a bang as they defeated the Panthers 28-20.

Destiny Jones (103), who remains at the #5 spot in all of NAIA, continues on with her hot streak winning in a two-and-a-half-minute fall over Prado to really kick-off the afternoon for the USM women. Alexsys Jacquez (110) followed suit with a head-turning twenty-three second tech fall over Grace Conner for YU. Redshirt Freshman Skylur Lewis in the 138lb weight-class kept the ball rolling with another one-minute tech fall (12-0) over Ryanne Dunn with teammate Kristal Zamora (160) adding to the Spire tally with a fall over Kunnap.  

Allison King fought a tough battle against Madison Davis of the Panthers, but it would not end in her favor as she fell in the 145lb-weight class match. Between York and USM, five matches resulted in forfeits including Eyvori Jacquez's match in the 117lb-weight class, Ka'aulani Hew-Len at 124 as well as the 131, 180, and 207 matches.  

No rest for the women's squad as they will travel to Avila University in Kansas City, Missouri to dual the Eagles on Thursday, January 8th at 6:00 p.m. 

To stay up to date on all NAIA individual rankings, please follow along at The Open Mat.