TOURNAMENT CENTRAL
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – Friday's gut-punch of a loss did little to slow down the No. 5-ranked Southern Oregon women's wrestling team the rest of the way at the NWCA National Dual Meet Championships.
The Raiders won their second and third consecutive consolation duals Saturday at University of Northern Iowa's UNI-Dome to capture fifth place in the NAIA bracket a year after taking the title. They first took a 22-20 affair from No. 12 Cumberlands (Ky.) on the strength of five consecutive triumphs in the middle weights, then used three wins by fall to upset No. 3 Grand View (Iowa) 24-16 in the fifth-place dual.
SOU went 4-1 at the tournament – its only loss decided by one point on a heavyweight pin against No. 4-ranked Providence (Mont.) in the quarterfinals – and brought its overall record to 5-1 entering next Friday's clash in Ashland with No. 2 Menlo (Calif.).
The Raiders trailed Cumberlands 8-4 when No. 2-ranked Fernanda Lopez started their rally with a 10-8 decision over No. 14 Kaitlin Castro at 123 pounds. The next four Raiders on the mat – No. 1 Carolina Moreno (130), No. 14 Desinee Lopez (136), No. 3 Bella Amaro (143) and No. 1 Caitlyn Davis (155) – outscored their opponents 40-1 combined, putting SOU up 22-10 to clinch the outcome.
Against Grand View, two pins in particular stood out: Marissa Kurtz, wrestling unranked at 116, brought down No. 6 Cailin Campbell a minute into their match. Two matches later, the top-ranked Moreno ended a prestigious showdown with No. 3 Maya Davis in 1:29. Emma Baertlein, ranked No. 4 at 109, had SOU's other fall over Judy Sandoval. Wins for Amaro by decision over No. 6 Madison Diaz and Davis by technical fall over Leilani Rodriguez wrapped up the victory.
Amaro, Baertlein, Davis and Moreno all went unbeaten at the tournament. Davis and Moreno have yet to lose this season.
SOUTHERN OREGON 22, CUMBERLANDS 20
101 – Angelina Castaneda, UC, tech. fall Karly Scott, 10-0. (0-4)
109 – No. 4 Emma Baertlein, SOU, dec. No. 13 Gracie Elliott, 4-2. (3-5)
116 – Presley Anderson, UC, dec. Marissa Kurtz, 4-3. (4-8)
123 – No. 2 Fernanda Lopez, SOU, dec. No. 14 Kaitlin Castro, 10-8. (7-9)
130 – No. 1 Carolina Moreno, SOU, tech. fall Amy Algaier, 10-0. (11-9)
136 – No. 14 Desinee Lopez, SOU, tech. fall Migdalys Ramos, 11-0. (15-9)
143 – No. 3 Bella Amaro, SOU, dec. Micah Fisher, 8-0. (18-9)
155 – No. 1 Caitlyn Davis, SOU, tech. fall Ariana Pereira, 11-1. (22-10)
170 – No. 8 Saiheron Preciado-Meza, UC, p. No. 20 Desi Matheny, 1:55. (22-15)
191 – No. 13 Naomi Duenas, UC, p. No. 9 Shenita Lawson, 2:44. (22-10)
SOUTHERN OREGON 24, GRAND VIEW 16
101 – No. 13 Jalen Bets, GVU, dec. Lia Ferreira, 7-6. (1-3)
109 – No. 4 Emma Baertlein, SOU, p. Judy Sandoval, 4:06. (6-3)
116 – Marissa Kurtz, SOU, p. No. 6 Cailin Campbell, 1:02. (11-3)
123 – No. 9 Catharine Campbell, GVU, dec. No. 2 Fernanda Lopez, 4-0. (11-6)
130 – No. 1 Carolina Moreno, SOU, p. No. 3 Maya Davis, 1:29. (16-6)
136 – No. 3 Andrea Schlabach, GVU, dec. No. 14 Desinee Lopez, 8-0. (16-9)
143 – No. 3 Bella Amaro, SOU, dec. No. 6 Madison Diaz, 6-2. (19-10)
155 – No. 1 Caitlyn Davis, SOU, tech. fall Leilani Rodriguez, 10-0. (23-10)
170 – No. 1 Abby McIntyre, GVU, dec. No. 9 Shenita Lawson, 7-4. (24-13)
191 – No. 3 Olivia Brown, GVU, dec. No. 20 Desi Matheny, 7-0. (24-16)