WICHITA, Kan. – Shannon Workinger (Sr.) from The Evergreen State College finished in second place in the 160-pound weight class as the 2026 NAIA Women's Wrestling Championships ended on Saturday, March 14 at the Heartland Credit Union Arena. Haley Le (So.) of Evergreen took fifth place in the 138-pound weight class. Workinger and Le earned All-American honors.

Workinger has achieved NAIA All-American three times. She previously earned All-American while competing for Menlo College (Calif.). She took fifth place at 155 pounds in 2022-23 and placed third at 155 pounds in 2023-24. This was her first time competing at the NAIA Championships for Evergreen after redshirting last season.

"I'm extremely proud of our athletes for earning two more All-American honors," Evergreen Head Women's Wrestling Coach Fan Zhang said. "Shannon (Duckie) Workinger made history as the first Washington resident in about 30 years to become a national finalist in women's wrestling while competing for a college from her home state. Haley Le also had an incredible performance, returning after nearly a two-year break and fighting her way to a fifth place finish. Their toughness and commitment showed on the national stage."

In the championship semifinals on Saturday, Workinger defeated Bo Geibe from Indiana Tech, 7-4. Workinger trailed 4-1 after the first period but added four points with just over two minutes left to take the lead, and tacked on two more points just before time expired.

The championship match at 160 pounds featured Workinger, seeded #2 and ranked #4 in the final NAIA regular season ratings, and Mercy Adekuoroye of Wayland Baptist University (Texas), seeded #4 and ranked #3 in the final NAIA ratings. It was a close match, with Workinger losing to Adekuoroye 6-3.

Adekuoroye took a 2-0 lead in the first period. Workinger received a point with 1:44 left in the second period when Adekuoroye stepped out of bounds. Workinger added two points to take a 3-2 lead with 1:11 left as she brought Adekuoroye to the mat. Adekuoroye regained the lead with two points at the 44-second mark and added two more points with 14 seconds left.

Le began Saturday's action in the fifth consolation round. She defeated Skylur Lewis from University of St. Mary (Kan.) on criteria after Le and Lewis were tied 8-8 after two periods. Le held a 2-0 lead early in the match but fell behind 8-4 entering the second period. Le evened the score by adding two points twice during the second period.

In the consolation semifinals, Le was defeated by Samantha Barragan of Texas Wesleyan University with a fall at the end of the first period. The score was tied 10-10 as Barragan earned the pin. Both of Le's losses during the tournament were to Barragan, who finished in third place.

Le won the fifth place match at 138 pounds with a 10-0 technical fall just under two minutes into the action. She defeated Aileen Lester from Ottawa University, forcing Lester into sixth place.

Evergreen placed 15th in the team standings with 33.5 points. Life University (Ga.) took first place. Overall, 36 teams participated in the tournament.

A total of four Geoducks competed for Evergreen at the 2026 NAIA Championships. In addition to Workinger and Le, Evergreen was represented by Nizhoni Tallman (Sr.) in the 110-pound weight class and by Ellabelle Taylor (Jr.) in the 124-pound weight class.