Brazel Marquez has literally been around the world through the sport of wrestling.
She has most recently been to Madrid, Spain to coach the U.S. senior women’s team. She also took Team USA teams to Istanbul, Turkey, in 2023 and Medellin, Colombia, in 2022. She’s competed and coached during many international tours.
Marquez was a two-time college All-American, a three-time California high school state champion, a four-time Fargo All-American, a Cadet World Team member and more.
She has coached at every level from youth to high school, club, NCAA Divisions II and III. She has paved new paths for the sport of girls/women’s wrestling.
“It’s what I was called to do,” Marquez said, “to push women’s wrestling, to be a first-generation person, to push women’s wrestling, to travel internationally and compete. My Latin community and culture, we tend to stay and work and not really pursue university.
“It’s special for me to push these envelopes and barriers. Being a pioneer is really nothing new. These guys are the pioneers now.”
These guys are the members of the Lehigh women’s wrestling program who will make history Sunday with its inaugural competition as a varsity sport at the East Stroudsburg Open.
“Last year, our practices were very similar,” Bangor resident and sophomore Morgan Edwards said. “We had the same caliber of training. But this year, the only difference is that we get to reap the benefits of being a varsity program and finally be recognized by everyone around us.”
That recognition came in the form of white backpacks, which are worn around Lehigh’s campus by male and female varsity sports team members.
Edwards, who graduated from Blair (N.J.) Academy, was a 2024 All-American at Fargo Junior Nationals, a three-time National Prep champion, a two-time All-Tournament Team member at Junior National Duals and a Team Pennsylvania member from 2018-24.
She is one of two locals who are expected to figure prominently in Lehigh’s first season. Easton’s Aubre Krazer was 101-1 in her four years for the Red Rovers. She was a four-time regional and state champion and a two-time PIAA outstanding wrestler award winner. She was ranked No. 1 nationally at 130 pounds and seventh pound-for-pound, a four-time Fargo All-American (two-time finalist; one-time champion), a 2024 Pan-American gold medalist and a 2024 women’s nationals runner-up.
Sophomore Audrey Jimenez is another of the Mountain Hawks’ leaders. The Arizona resident has a stellar resume before her first college varsity match. She is a four-time World medalist, including a silver medalist a 2024 Olympic alternate, a three-time Senior National team member, a three-time Arizona girls state champion who also won an Arizona boys state title as a senior; a 2023 and 2025 U.S. Open champion, a 2024 Pan-American bronze medalist and 2025 Pan-American gold medalist.
Lehigh’s roster represents Marquez’s national travels well with wrestlers from California, Arizona, Nebraska, Indiana, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Michigan, Rhode Island, Virginia, Utah, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
“Last year we were a really small [club] program so we were extremely, extremely tight-knit,” sophomore Genevieve An said. “But I don’t think that’s changed at all. I love every single one of my teammates, and I think we all have deeply personal relationships with each other. I don’t think I’ve ever felt this much love in my entire life, and I’m extremely grateful for that.”
After Sunday’s historic event, the Mountain Hawks have three more road trips in November before making its Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall debut Dec. 4, against East Stroudsburg and Delaware State at 5:30 and 7 p.m., respectively.
Marquez’s club makes only one other home appearance this season – Jan. 30, against Presbyterian.
Lehigh’s inaugural season concludes with the NCAA regional tournament on Feb. 21-22, followed by the NCAA Women’s Wrestling Championships on March 6-7, in Coralville, Iowa.
“We’ve been training for this our whole lives,” Julia Fongaro, a freshman from New Jersey, said. “Our first tournament is an open tournament so it’s not really too official yet. But it is for us. It means the world to us just to be recognized as a D-I program.”
Lehigh was the sixth Division I school to add women’s wrestling, first in Pennsylvania. There are more than 100 women’s wrestling programs nationally at various levels, 24 in Pennsylvania.
Lehigh offers 26 varsity sports, including 14 for women. Women’s wrestling was the first varsity program added since women’s rowing in 2003.
Senior writer Tom Housenick can be reached at thousenick@mcall.com
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