COSTA MESA -- The first wrestling awards in the history of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation were released today and the Lions were honored with Abbeygael Cabuag being named the Women's Wrestler of the Year.
 
It is the first major award for Cabuag in her time at VU and the sophomore was the best wrestler in terms of record on the Vanguard roster.  She is currently 9-3 with one tournament to go and has tallied four pins and one technical fall victory.  Cabuag was the 103-pound champion in the MPSF after beating Menlo's Angelique Cervantes 8-7, with the Lion scoring eight unanswered points to claim the first trophy in MPSF women's wrestling history.  She started her 2024-25 campaign with a sixth-place finish at the Menlo Open before netting the only win against Menlo against Micaela Correa on November 25.  She also beat Diamond Lopez of Southern Oregon, who recently finished seventh at the NAIA Tournament, on January 19, which was the only VU victory against the SOU squad that finished seventh at the NAIA Tournament.  Cabuag also got two victories during home duals against Westcliff and Cerritos College and this season showed marked improvement from her freshman season, during which Cabuag went 12-13 and finished fourth at the Cascade Collegiate Conference Tournament and went 0-2 at the NAIA National Tournament. 
 
"Abbeygael has been a leader and a model student-athlete who has done everything in the world to deserve this recognition.  It caps a wonderful year for her and for us as a program," said Head Coach Joe Evano.

Cabuag and the crew will compete in the Mt. SAC Invite on March 29, as the late addition to the schedule will close out the year for Vanguard.