QUINCY, Ill. – Coming off a historic 2025-26 campaign, the Quincy University women's wrestling team will enter the 2026-27 season among the nation's best, earning the No. 9 spot in the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Preseason NCAA Women's Coaches Poll, released Friday (Oct. 23). The Hawks also made history in the individual rankings, as reigning national champion Xochitl Mota-Pettis became the first wrestler in program history to earn a No. 1 national ranking.
Quincy's ninth-place ranking matches the highest mark in program history, a position the Hawks previously reached during the fifth NWCA Coaches Poll of the 2025-26 season. Quincy received 22 points in the preseason tournament rankings, placing the Hawks among the nation's top 10 entering their fifth season of competition.
The recognition comes after a historic 2025-26 campaign that saw the Hawks finish ninth out of 54 teams at the NCAA Women's Wrestling National Championships, accumulating 41.0 team points. Quincy also secured a third-place finish out of 15 teams at the regional championships, continuing the program's rapid rise on the national stage.
Defending national champion McKendree claimed the top spot in the preseason poll with 98 points, followed by national runner-up Iowa with 89. Presbyterian (64), North Central (38), and King and Lehigh (36 each) rounded out the top five, with King and Lehigh tied for fifth.
Three Hawks Earn National Rankings
Quincy placed three wrestlers in the preseason individual national rankings, highlighted by Mota-Pettis claiming the No. 1 position at 131 pounds.
After capturing the national championship at 124 pounds last season, Mota-Pettis moves up to the 131-pound weight class for the 2026-27 campaign. Her No. 1 ranking marks another milestone for the program, making her the first Hawk ever to sit atop an individual NWCA national poll. She is also one of six returning national champions to open the season ranked No. 1 in their respective weight classes.
Joining Mota-Pettis in the national rankings are Alexandra Tchekounova and Maddy Barton, both checking in at No. 8 in their respective weight classes.
Tchekounova enters the season ranked eighth nationally at 110 pounds, while Barton opens the campaign eighth at 138 pounds. Both wrestlers were national qualifiers a season ago and return as key pieces of a Quincy lineup looking to build upon last year's success.
Nine Hawks Appear in Regional Rankings
Alongside the national poll, the NWCA also released its preseason individual regional rankings, with Quincy placing nine wrestlers among the top five in their respective weight classes in Region 5.
Mota-Pettis leads the way with the top regional ranking at 131 pounds, while Tchekounova checks in at No. 2 at 110 pounds.
Taylin Long (124), Siobhan Rogers (145), and Lillian Baynes (160) each open the season ranked fourth in their respective weight classes, while Madisynn Crawford rounds out Quincy's regional representation with a fifth-place ranking at 180 pounds.
The Hawks compete in Region 5, a 17-team region that includes national powerhouse Iowa, which enters the season ranked second nationally, along with programs such as Augsburg, Wartburg, Augustana, Upper Iowa, and Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
Quincy will look to build upon last season's third-place regional finish, with nine wrestlers already receiving preseason recognition.
The Hawks will officially begin their 2026-27 campaign on Sunday, November 1, when they travel to Indianola, Iowa, for the Luther Hill Open. Competition is scheduled to begin at 9:00 AM.
