It should be an exciting and unpredictable year for women's college wrestling during the 2003-04 season. As the sport of women's wrestling continues to develop, there will be some growth pains and some surprises, as the college community learns more about this exciting new sport.    The 2003-04 season ended with perhaps the closest team race for top rankings ever, with Cumberland College claiming the final No. 1 ranking of the year, just ahead of perennial power Missouri Valley College. Both teams had very strong recruiting classes, and Missouri Valley hired a full-time women's wrestling coach. These facts should keep these two teams well ahead of the field in the upcoming season.    Two teams that should see continued improvement this year are Pacific Univ. and Menlo College, both which had issues with depth last year. Both had solid recruiting classes, boosting their chances to move up in the standings.    Adding a women's team this year will be Lassen College, a junior college in California. MacMurray College, a Div. III program in Illinois, will have women wrestlers, including a few top transfers.    The Univ. of Minnesota-Morris, which was the first college in the United States to start a varsity women's wrestling team, has announced that it will be dropping both men and women's wrestling at the conclusion of this year. The wrestling community is fighting that decision hard, but at this time, this could be the last year that UM-Morris fields a women's team. Neosho County CC discontinued its women's team after two seasons.    There should also be a variety of women wrestlers who are participating on their men's college team, and these athletes will be included in the individual rankings published monthly by TheMat.com. Last year, Cal-Bakersfield and Princeton featured some top individuals who were active on the national levels.    Cumberland College    Last year's top ranked team returns 10 wrestlers from its squad, including its three top stars, and Coach Kip Flanik added a strong recruiting class of 13 incoming freshman. Leading the way is two-time World silver medalist Toccara Montgomery at 158.5 pounds, a junior, who continues to be the best women's college wrestler. She is also a tremendous leader, almost like another coach to her teammates.    Two other wrestlers who were No. 1 ranked in their divisions in college last year, junior Jessi Shirley at 121 pounds and sophomnore Alaina Berube at 138.5 lbs., are also back for the Patriots. Berube earned a No. 6 national ranking on the Senior level at her division. Berube could potentially drop down a division as well, which could potentially strengthen the lineup even more.     Cumberland lost very little from last year, but graduated senior Sarah Hayes and sophomore Brooke Bogren, who transferred to Missouri Valley, were among the top athletes in the room last year.    Cumberland's veterans will take on some talented freshmen in battles that give the team tremendous depth. Many of these athletes could compete in a variety of weight divisions as well. A good battle could occur at 105.5 pounds with junior Becky D'Ambrosio and freshman Aquilla Hills. Perhaps the most respected of the freshmen in freestyle is Othella Lucas of California, who placed at the U.S. Senior Nationals last year. She could fit nicely between Shirley and Berube in a dual lineup.     Some of the veterans on the team include Issa Alvarez (130), Jaimie Alvesteffer (138 or 147), Aja Smith (138) and Jessi Clifton (147). Flanik raided Texas for recruits, bagging five young talents, led by Suekoiyla Shelly (121), Lauren Lindsay (121) and Diana Mato (147). Other top recruits include Megan Nevill of Michigan (147) and Iris Mucha of Alaska (112). Who will compete at the highest weight class (169.5) is a bit of a question mark for dual meets. Truly, this team will be much different at the end of the season than the beginning, as all the newcomers sort themselves out. With all of its depth, it will be able to put up some big points in tournaments.     Cumberland College projected started lineup  (with state, year and final '03 U.S. college ranking)  105 - Becky D'Ambrosio (OH, jr.) or Aquilla Hills (PA, fr.)  112 - Iris Mucha (AK, fr.) or Ashley Sturgeon (IN, fr.)  121 - Jessi Shirley (OH, jr.. No. 1)  130 - Issa Alvarez (FL, sr., No. 7) or Othella Lucas (CA, fr.)  138 - Alaina Berube (MI, soph., No. 1)  147 - Jaime Alvesteffer (MI, sr., No. 4)  158 - Toccara Montgomery (OH, jr., No. 1)  169 - Jessi Clifton (GA, soph., No. 4)     Cumberland College depth chart  105 - D'Ambrosio, Hills, Daisy Callado (TX, fr.), Kristen McKenna (FL, fr.), Rene Mortenson (CA, fr.)  112 - Mucha, Sturgeon  121 - Shirley, Suekoiyla Shelly (TX, fr.), Lauren Lindsay (TX, fr.), Maggie Klauck (FL, fr.)  130 - Alvarez, Lucas, Brenda McDaniels (MA, sr.)  138 - Berube, Aja Smith (IN, soph.), Allison Hooper (TX, fr.),   147 - Alvesteffer, Megan Nevill (MI, fr.), Sherri Hilliard (ND, fr.), Diana Mato (TX, fr.)   158 - Montgomery  169 - Clifton, Wendy Hunter (OH, jr.)    Missouri Valley College    The Vikings have been the most successful program since joining the women's college ranks. After a year where they were challenged by Cumberland College, the school hired a full-time women's coach, Carl Murphree from California. Murphree helped bring in a strong recruiting class with 18 new athletes. Add in the veteran wrestlers returning, and Missouri Valley should be big and bad once again this year.    Where to start? How about with the veterans back from last year? The team lost some seniors to graduation, including Rachel Bernardes, Tina Arnds and Donell Bradley, but brings back at least 16 athletes from last year.     Among the returnees are captains Mollie Keith (147), Leigh Jaynes (130) and Kiersten Hyatt (121). All have placed at the U.S. Senior Nationals and World Team Trials in past years, with Keith earning a spot on Women's Team USA two seasons ago. In spite of their experience, all three will be challenged by others for a spot on the "A" team lineup. The Vikings will have at least one returning athlete, and in some weight classes, a number of returnees, who are capable of making the starting lineup. A few to note include Christie Rafanan (121), Emille Murphree (138), Kelly Branham (147) and Hillary Leith (169).    How about the transfers? Stephany Lee (147), who attended college in Hawaii last year and qualified for Women's Team USA by taking third at the World Team Trials, comes in as a sophomore. Brooke Bogren (130), who transferred from Cumberland, has been nationally ranked on the Senior level since high school. Kelly Hinton (121), a sophomore, moves over from UM-Morris.    Then what about the freshmen? Debbi Sakai of Hawaii, who was fourth in the U.S. Nationals and made the Junior World Team, looks to take over at 112 pounds. A total of eight of the new freshman were placewinners at the high school folkstyle nationals last year. Among the ones with the best past achievements are Maika Watanabe (112) and Sylvia Cortez (121) of California and Selina Perez (158) of Hawaii. However, it will be a few months before we know which freshmen will make an immediate impact. While the newcomers develop, Missouri Valley will have much experience to maintain a high level of success.    Missouri Valley College projected started lineup  (with state, year and final '03 U.S. college ranking)  105 - Jessica Dougherty (CA, jr., No. 8)   112 - Debbi Sakai (HI, fr.) or Danielle Bowen (TX,, soph.)  121 - Kiersten Hyatt (CA, sr., No. 5) or Christie Rafanan (CA, soph., No. 7)  130 - Leigh Jaynes (NJ, sr., No. 2) or Brooke Bogren (KS, soph., No. 1)  138 - Emilee Murphree (CA, soph., No. 3)  147 - Stephany Lee (HI, soph., No. 2), Mollie Keith (IA, sr., No. 4) or Kelly Branham (AZ, soph., No. 5)  158 - Alecia McCoy (TX, fr.), Selina Perez (HI, fr.) or Samantha Goodale (IA, fr.)  169 - Hillary Leith (Canada, sr., No. 3)    Missouri Valley College depth chart  105 - Dougherty, Monica Harris (TX, jr.), Angelee Homma (HI, fr.), Kayci Thompson (MO, fr.)  112 - Sakai, Bowen, Maika Watanabe (CA, fr.), Becky Cisneros (IN, jr.),   121 - Hyatt, Rafanan, Ophelia Pickard (CA, jr.), Ke