Photo features OCU wrestlers Lene Wood, Nicole Woody, Ashley Sword and LeAnn Barney

OKLAHOMA CITY - Oklahoma City University will be offering a live video stream of the first women's wrestling duals ever in the school's history Saturday, Nov. 10 when the Stars meet the Univ. of the Cumberlands (Ky.) on its athletics web site.

Duals between the Stars and defending national champion Cumberlands will be at noon, 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. at Abe Lemons Arena. It will be the first OCU event ever video streamed via the new OCU athletics web site, OCUsports.com.

The video stream will cost $8.95 and includes audio of the 2 p.m. dual. The 2 p.m. dual will also be broadcast via live audio free of charge. Rance Stein and Rich Tortorelli will have the call.

"We are proud to provide a live video of the first women's college wrestling dual in the history of our state," OCU athletic director Jim Abbott said. "We are excited to have this new feature on our web site. This is the next step in the development of our new web site."

The Stars made their debut in women's wrestling when they competed in the Sunkist International Open on Oct. 27. LeAnn Barney and Ashley Sword became OCU's first place winners ever in an open tournament there, as Barney won a silver medal at silver at 51 kg/112.25 lbs. and Sword placed fourth at 67 kg/147.5 pounds.

OCU coach Archie Randall said he anticipates between 1,500 and 2,000 spectators for the duals Saturday.

"This is our first home dual meet ever, and we are wrestling the top team in the nation," Randall said. "If you want to be the best, you have to wrestle against the best. Our goal is to knock them off, and to be as competitive as possible. We want to show the rest of the nation that OCU wrestling is for real."

-- press release by Rich Tortorelli, Oklahoma City Univ.

OCU vs. Cumberland dual meet receiving major promotional push
By Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling

Oklahoma City University is pulling out all of the stops in promoting its first-ever women's college wrestling dual meet on campus.

It has been a very busy week for coach Archie Randall and members of the OCU women's wrestling team, which is competing in its first season as a college varsity program.

The university has printed up a commemorative poster for the dual meet which has been distributed. The school designed a commemorative ticket for the match, with the photo of athlete Samantha Phillips on it. Coach Randall had a drawing among his team members to determine which athlete would be on the ticket, and Phillips won.

Randall and his athletes have been all over the media in the Oklahoma City community. 
 
He said there were tickets given away on radio stations, ads in the Daily Oklahoman, appearances on local radio talk shows and television stations. He said one of the athletes was selected to report the weather on a local radio station.

"It has been unreal," said Randall. "I have never done so much publicity in my life. This is one of the most promoted events in school history. We want women's wrestling to be a big success."

Randall has done eight radio interviews, and has been on all of the local television stations, including the CBS, ABC, NBC and FOX affiliates, plus on Cox Cable. In fact, Randall has appeared on Channel 9 two times already. 

With the match being streamed live on the internet, and a large media turnout expected for the match, Randall is excited that wrestling is being promoted to the general public. He is equally excited about his men's team, which is becoming a stronger program within NAIA wrestling.

"We are really promoting wrestling here at OCU. In addition, our men's program is doing well. We were ranked No. 10, but we just beat the No. 3 team when we upset Missouri Valley last week with the men's team."

There will be three dual matches between OCU and Cumberland, as both teams will put many of their athletes on the mat. The 2:00 p.m. dual meet will feature the varsity teams, where the No. 1 athletes on each squad battle in all 10 weight classes. Many expect this dual meet to set the tone for the season within U.S. women's college wrestling.

TENTATIVE DUAL MEET LINEUPS

Noon
44: Stephanie Waters (OCU) vs.Shuntil Snyder (Cumberlands)
48: Helen Timmons (OCU) vs.Kayla Brooks (Cumberlands)
51: Julie Huang (OCU) vs.Shannon Reeves (Cumberlands)
55: Erica Torres (OCU) vs.Antonesia Giles (Cumberlands)
59: Emma Mercer (OCU)  vs. Rachel Hubbard (Cumberlands)
63: Sheila McCabe (OCU) vs.Krystal Kiyuna (Cumberlands)
67: Briana Conway (OCU) or Sara Hilliard (OCU) vs.Lauren Knight (Cumberlands)
72: Melissa Simmons (OCU) vs. Megan Wade (Cumberlands)
82: TBD (OCU) vs.Teri Milkoff (Cumberlands)
95: Karon Scott (OCU)  vs. Theresa Fennell (Cumberlands)

2 p.m. - VARSITY DUAL MEET
44: Lene Wood  (OCU) vs. Melissa Girard (Cumberlands)
48: Nicole Woody  (OCU) vs. Jackie Stiles (Cumberlands)
51: Jennifer Peabody  (OCU) vs. Jessica Medina (Cumberlands)
55: Ashley Hudson  (OCU) vs. Sandy Do (Cumberlands)
59: Samantha Phillips  (OCU) vs.Othella Lucas (Cumberlands)
63: Marina Piccolotti (OCU) vs. Megan Agajanian (Cumberlands)
67: Ashley Sword  (OCU)or Briana Conway (OCU) vs. Paige Rife (Cumberlands)
72: Lacey Novinska (OCU) vs.Sherolynn Eppinger (Cumberlands)
82: Carrie Clark  (OCU) vs. Christen Paysse (Cumberlands)
95: Karon Scott (OCU) vs. Theresa Fennell (Cumberlands)

4 p.m.
44: Stephanie Waters (OCU) vs. Shuntil Snyder (Cumberlands)
48: Helen Timmons (OCU) vs. Kayla Brooks (Cumberlands)
51: Jennifer Peabody (OCU) vs. Linda Debak (Cumberlands) 
55: Erica Torres (OCU) vs. Norma Rueda (Cumberlands)
59: Samantha Phillips (OCU) vs. Breisja Macera (Cumberlands) or Misha Furni (Cumberlands)
63: Marina Piccolotti (OCU) or Sheila McCabe (OCU) vs. Nena Garcia (Cumberlands)
67: Sara Hilliard  (OCU) vs. Lauren Knight (Cumberlands)
72: Melissa Simmons  (OCU) vs. Megan Wade (Cumberlands)
82: Carrie Clark  (OCU) vs. Teri Milkoff (Cumberlands)
95: Karon Scott  (OCU) vs. Theresa Fennell (Cumberlands)