CORALVILLE, Iowa – Freshmen Esther Peters and Rylee Balcazar each won multiple matches on Friday evening and are on the precipice of All-American status after the first night of the NCWWC women's wrestling national championships in Iowa. 

Both Peters (2-1 at 207 pounds) and Balcazar (3-1 at 110 pounds) are in the consolation bracket but have advanced to be among the final 12 wrestlers at their respective weights. Both had season-defining victories, with Peters topping a top five ranked wrestler and Balcazar defeating a top-10 wrestler from an RMAC rival.

Both freshmen will each compete Saturday morning in what is essentially a winner-take-all bout for an All-American berth, as the field will narrow from 12 to the top eight finishers that receive All-American honors. 

Junior Brianna Vollendroff, who went 1-2 at 103 pounds, and freshman Ella Shevlin, who went 0-2 at 180 pounds, each saw their seasons come to an end after competing at nationals for the first time in their careers. 

The Eagles set a new program record with three wrestlers winning at least one match at the national tournament. Previously, the Eagles had had only one wrestler win a match in 2022 and 2023 and two wrestlers (Kamila Montenegro and Mana Chanthasone) got 1-2 in 2024. 

This is also the first time in program history that the Eagles have had more than one wrestler make the second day of the tourney and more than one wrestler win multiple matches, as Montenegro in 2023 was previously the only-ever Eagle to do so. 

Both Peters and Balcazar took different paths to remain in the tournament. Peters won her first two matches to advance all the way to the quarterfinals of the championship bracket before suffering her first loss and sits at 2-1 in the tourney, while Balcazar fell in the first round but has now won three consolation matches to reach the final 12. 

Peters, who was given the No. 11 seed at 103 pounds and is CSC's highest-seeded wrestler of the tournament, got off to a perfect start with a first-round fall over No. 22 seed Emma Lavalle, with Peters taking just 37 seconds to pin the York (Pa.) wrestler. That set up a second-round bout against North Central's Dasia Yearby, who was seeded No. 6 and ranked No. 5 in the nation by the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA). 

Peters fell behind 6-0 early to Yearby but rallied to tie the score at 6-6 after the first period. The two wrestlers continued to battle and were tied 10-10 before Peters took control, scoring six points to go up 16-10 and putting an exclamation point on the match by pinning Yearby, who was 29-4 entering the bout, with just nine seconds remainin to advance to the quarterfinals.

In the quarters, Peters met returning All-American and No. 3 seed Sara Lake of Lindenwood University. Lake handed Peters her first loss of the tournament via an 8-1 decision. 
Peters will face her third straight top 10 opponent Saturday morning in No. 9-ranked Rewa Chababo of Wartburg College. Chababo is 3-1, with her only loss of the tournament coming to Simon Fraser's No. 8-ranked Julia Richey, who defeated Peters in both the RMAC and Region VIII championships. 

Rylee Balcazar is earning a reputation for wrestling the best when the lights are brightest. After finishing fifth at the RMAC Championships, Balcazar vaulted into national qualification with a third-place finish at regionals. Now, as the No. 25 seed at nationals, Balcazar has fought her way into the top 12 and potentially farther. 

The freshman lost her first match of the day to No. 8 seed Dianna Holmes of King University, who pinned the Chadron wrestler in 46 seconds. Undettered, Balcazar won her first consolation match over No. 24 seed Alanna Barberio via a 10-0 tech fall. 

Next up in the second consolation round was No. 10 seed Sophia Cornish of Colorado Mesa University, the top seed at February's RMAC Championships. Balcazar trailed 4-1 but earned four points in the final 1:10 of the first period to take a 5-4 lead at the break, then practically beat the buzzer by earning a two-point takedown with two seconds left to beat Cornish via a 7-5 decision. 

Balcazar earned another tech fall in the third consolation round over Simpson's Sarah Zimmerman. Again, Balcazar trailed in the early going, 4-2, but stormed back with an avalanche of points in the second period to earn the 14-4 tech. 

Balcazar will need to spring one more upset to clinch All-America honors, as the University of Iowa's No. 5-ranked Emilie Gonzalez awaits her on Saturday morning. The Iowa wrestler is 2-1 and will be coming off a quarterfinal loss to the No. 4 seed. 

Brianna Vollendroff also faced an Iowa wrestler on Friday. Given the No. 32 seed, Vollendroff battled hard with No. 1 seed Rianne Murphy before losing 17-6 in a tech fall that took 4:48. Vollendroff recovered with a 57-second pin of Sacred Heart's Tiffany Stoshak, the No. 16 seed, but Stoshak's teammate Ahsia Torres pinned Vollendroff in 1:38 to end the Chadron junior's day. 

Ella Shevlin, the third and final freshman from Chadron State to qualify for this year's national tournament, earned the No. 26 seed at 180 pounds. Shevlin lost via 12-2 tech fall to Presbyterian's Henlee Haynes and via 7-0 decision to Augustana (Ill.)'s Sawyer Graham. 

Session 3 of the national championships is set to begin at 10 a.m. Central time, with live streaming available on FloSports and live results available on Trackwrestling.