ASHLAND – The Southern Oregon women's wrestling team's defeat of the No. 8-ranked team in the NAIA did not come as a shock. The resounding fashion in which the No. 1 Raiders did it, though, was eye-opening.
In their home debut Friday night at Riehm Arena, the Raiders came out on top in all but one match to thump Menlo (Calif.) 36-8 for just their second win in the head-to-head series. It was the team's first dual under new head coach Gabrielle Weyhrich, and she watched as all nine of the nationally-ranked individuals in her lineup held their ground.
Top-ranked Carolina Moreno (123 pounds), No. 2 Emily Se (143) and No. 6 Grace Kristoff (191) each won by fall. Third-ranked Esthela Trevino (101), No. 5 Natalie Reyna (109) and No. 3 Joye Levendusky (170) turned in technical-fall shutouts. SOU's other three victory came via decision from No. 9 Glory Konecny (116), No. 8 Bella Amaro (136) and No. 11 Bailey Dennis (170).
The Oaks had six NAIA top-20 individuals in their lineup but got a win from just one of them – No. 7 130-pounder Alana Vivas, who pinned Kelsey Bicoy-Juario in the second round.
Trevino wore out No. 11 Tianna Fernandez 10-0, Reyna blanked No. 7 Barbara Greenberg 11-0, Konecny outlasted No. 17 Ajayzee Zaballos 6-4, and Moreno pinned unranked Haley Narahara in 4:29 as the Raiders raced out to a 16-1 lead.
After Vivas' win, Amaro got SOU back on track with a 6-1 win over No. 15 Louisa Schwab. Se followed with a first-round pin of No. 20 Desiree Jones – already her seventh win by fall of the season – and Dennis came back from a 4-2 decision against No. 11 Shannon Workinger. To close out the dual, Levendusky worked a 10-0 win over Jessica Mendieta and Kristoff pinned Nikita Dhaliwal in 4:03.
The Raiders had lost all 10 duals in the series against Menlo until getting their first victory in Ashland last year. The Oaks took the next matchup and went on to win the CCC championship. They were favored over the Raiders in the coaches' poll to win it again this season.
SOU wrestles another dual Sunday at Linfield, starting at 4 p.m.
Southern Oregon 36, Menlo 8
101 – Esthela Trevino, SOU, tech. fall Tianna Fernandez, 10-0 (2:55). (4-0)
109 – Natalie Reyna, SOU, tech. fall Barbara Greenberg, 11-0, 4:59. (8-0)
116 – Glory Konecny, SOU, dec. Ajayzee Zaballos, 6-4. (11-1)
123 – Carolina Moreno, SOU, p. Haley Narahara, 4:29. (16-1)
130 – Alana Vivas, MC, p. Kelsey Bicoy-Juario, 3:48. (16-6)
136 – Bella Amaro, SOU, dec. Louisa Schwab, 6-1. (19-7)
143 – Emily Se, SOU, p. Desiree Jones, 1:23. (24-7)
155 – Bailey Dennis, SOU, dec. Shannon Workinger, 4-2. (27-8)
170 – Joye Levendusky, SOU, tech. fall Jessica Mendieta, 10-0 (1:30). (31-8)
191 – Grace Kristoff, SOU, p. Nikita Dhaliwal, 4:03. (36-8)