LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – The No. 8 Lock Haven women's wrestling team is set to host the 2023-24 National Collegiate Women's Wrestling Championships (NCWWC) Region I Tournament on Saturday, Feb. 24.
 
Action in Thomas Fieldhouse is set for a 10 a.m. start and the finals are slated for 6 p.m. Saturday.
 
The event will serve as a qualifier for the national championships, which are scheduled for March 8-9 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The top-four women in each of the 10 weight classes will advance to the 2024 National Collegiate Women's Wrestling Championships.
 
This will mark Lock Haven's first time ever hosting this event.
 
Region I is the largest of the six regions and features five nationally-ranked teams, including three top-10 teams - in No. 7 Sacred Heart, the eighth-ranked and host Bald Eagles, and No. 10 New Jersey City. The 12-team field could potentially feature over a dozen ranked individuals and six returning region champions.
 
Three of those nationally ranked individuals headline the projected Lock Haven lineup that also features three returning regional champions.
 
Kaelani Shufeldt is ranked No. 5 at 109 and Stella Steigler is ranked No. 10 at 170. Grace Stem, is ranked No. 5 at 143, but she's projected to compete at 136 this weekend.
 
Both Shufeldt and Stem are returning regional champions along with Lily Sherer. All three also went on to earn All-American status last season.
 
Along with Shufeldt, Stem and Sherer, both Madison Matta and Trinity Monaghan are returning national qualifiers. Sherer and Matta are both two-time national qualifiers as they, along with Jessica Johnson and Carly Gross booked trips to the national championship event back in 2022.
 
All season long, Heslin and Shufeldt have powered the Bald Eagles from the start at 101 and 109 pounds, respectively. Heslin has a team-best 21 wins, which includes nine pins and nine tech falls. Shufeldt is an impressive 20-3 on the season with 12 pins.
 
Sherer (130) and Matta (136) enter the weekend with 18 and 14 wins, respectively on the season.
 
Stem, who is projected to return to the lineup this weekend, is 16-2 on the season with 13 tech falls. She's won 14 straight matches dating back to the opening weekend of the season.
 
Steigler recently returned to the lineup and she's a perfect 8-0 on the season.
 
Fans can follow all the action Saturday – live – at GoLHU.com.
 
Lock Haven's Projected Region Championship Lineup (13):
101: Fr. Emma Heslin (Marlborough, Conn./RHAM), 21-12
109: #5 So. Kaelani Shufeldt (Huntington Beach, Calif./Marina), 20-3
116: Fr. Jayleah Pletz (Shillington, Pa./Governor Mifflin), 14-13
123: Jr. Carly Gross (York, Pa./West York), 9-10
130: Jr. Lily Sherer (Shohola, Pa./Delaware Valley), 18-7
130: Fr. Isabella DeVito (Apollo, Pa./Kiski Area), 8-7
136: #5 So. Grace Stem (Snow Shoe, Pa./Bald Eagle), 16-2
136: Jr. Madison Matta (Blue Ridge, Pa./Waynesboro), 14-2
143: Fr. Paige Jackson (Harpers Ferry, W.Va./Spring Mills), 11-15
155: Fr. Azariah Moore (Montross, Va./Westmoreland), 13-6
170: #10 Fr. Stella Steigler (Orange County, Va./Orange County), 8-0
191: So. Trinity Monaghan (Harleysville, Pa./Souderton), 16-9
191: Fr. Lindsay Laws (Halifax, Mass./Silver Lake), 8-5
 
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