From Las Cruces to the National Stage: Alyssa Sedillo Reaches Inaugural NCAA Women’s Wrestling Championships

When the first-ever national champions in NCAA women’s wrestling are crowned this weekend, a freshman from Las Cruces will be part of that historic moment.

Former Las Cruces High School Bulldawgs standout Alyssa Sedillo has qualified for the inaugural NCAA Women’s Wrestling Championships, continuing a rapid rise in her first collegiate season.

Sedillo earned her place at nationals while competing for the D’Youville Saints women’s wrestling during the Region I qualifying tournament in Elmira, New York. Wrestling at 103 pounds, the freshman entered the regional as the No. 2 seed and went 3–0, securing her national berth and advancing to the championship match before medically forfeiting because of a lingering knee injury in order to protect herself for the national tournament.

D’Youville Saints women’s wrestling, Sedillo pictured center.(Courtesy D’Youville Athletics)

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The performance helped lead D’Youville to a fifth-place team finish among 16 schools at the regional qualifier.

Now Sedillo steps into a much larger spotlight.

The 2026 tournament, held at Xtream Arena in Coralville, Iowa, represents a milestone for the sport. Just over a year after the National Collegiate Athletic Association approved women’s wrestling as its 91st championship sport, the inaugural national tournament will feature 180 wrestlers across 10 weight classes drawn from NCAA Divisions I, II and III.

Sedillo enters the bracket unseeded with a 19–3 record and will face a daunting first-round matchup Friday morning against top-seeded Heather Crull of McKendree Bearcats women’s wrestling, who arrives at nationals with a 30–3 record.

In tournament wrestling, the margins are thin but the opportunities remain wide open.

Four consecutive victories would carry Sedillo to the national championship bout. A loss at any point sends wrestlers into the consolation bracket—commonly known in wrestling as “wrestlebacks”—where competitors may fight through as many as six additional matches for a chance to finish as high as third place.

For Sedillo, simply reaching the national tournament marks a significant milestone in a sport experiencing rapid growth.

Women’s wrestling was added to the NCAA’s Emerging Sports for Women program in 2020, a pathway designed to expand athletic opportunities for female student-athletes. By the time the NCAA approved the sport as a full championship in 2025, participation had already surged, with more than 95 NCAA schools sponsoring women’s wrestling and over 1,700 athletes competing nationwide.

The inaugural championship tournament will unfold over two days, with preliminary rounds beginning Friday morning and national champions crowned Saturday night.

For Sedillo, the moment represents both a personal achievement and a reflection of the sport’s expanding stage.

Just one season removed from the mats of Las Cruces High School, the freshman now finds herself competing for the first NCAA titles ever awarded in women’s collegiate wrestling—a sign of how quickly both her career and the sport itself are moving forward.