MARSHALL, M.O. – The first-ranked University of Iowa women’s wrestling team finish strong in day one of the Missouri Valley Open, sending 11 to the semifinals and seven still alive in the wrestle backs, in the Burns Athletic Complex.
At 101 pounds, fifth-ranked Sterling Dias and second-ranked Emilie Gonzalez go undefeated on the day, winning every match via fall or technical fall. Dias started off in round one with a pin against Oklahoma City’s Sofia Abramson in just 1:50. Dias notched a 11-0 tech. fall in round two, then secured her spot in the semifinals with another win over Abbeygael Cabaug of Vanguard, via pin in 1:09. Gonzalez earned two 10-0 tech. falls on the day, leading her to her quarterfinals match where she secured her last tech. fall over Midland’s Esther Walker, 10-0.
Second-ranked Ava Bayless made quick work at 109, outscoring her opponents 32-0. Bayless opened the day with a 10-0 tech. fall over Samantha Yap of Sacred Heart. She then moved into the quarterfinals with another 10-0 tech. fall, defeating Iowa Lakes CC Kylie Hessenius. Bayless advanced to the semifinals, defeating Jasmine Howard of Texas Wesleyan, via 12-2 TF.
At 116, fourth-ranked Brianna Gonzalez opened with a tech. fall over Campbellsville’s Icart Galumette, 12-2. Moving to round three, Gonzalez notched a 4:37 pin downing Camille Fournier of Texas Wesleyan. In the quarterfinals, Gonzalez fought to take her spot in the semifinals, defeating Baker’s Katherine Heath via decision, 6-0.
The Hawkeyes had a strong showing at 123, sending one of three to the semifinals. Ava Rose started strong with a 12-1 tech. fall downing Kaitlin Castro of Cumberlands, but fell in the second round to Simon Fraser’s Victoria Seal via 10-0 tech. fall. Rose continued to fight in the wrestle backs notching two tech. falls, but fell short in round four of consolations, ending her tournament run. Bella Ngo fought through to the third round of competition before falling to the backside, where she faced Caxton Smyth of Central Christian and came out on top via 10-0 tech. fall, helping her to stay alive in the consolation rounds.
Second-ranked Felicity Taylor secured her semifinals position, starting her tournament run with a win via an 8-2 decision over Grand View’s Catharine Campbell. Taylor continued into round three securing a victory over Jayden Bazemore of Gannon, via tech. fall, 10-0. In the quarterfinals, Taylor fought through the match to come out on top against Ella Jauregui with a decision, 3-0, to send her forward to the semifinals.
The Hawkeyes also had a strong showing at 130, with four Hawkeyes to start and two now heading to a third-place finish. Cali Leng and ninth-ranked Emily Frost both fought through the consolation rounds, but fell short ending their tournament run. Leng went 0-2 on the day, while Emily Frost secured two victories before falling to Skye Realin of Central Methodist via 16-4 tech. fall and teammate Lilly Luft via a 9-1 decision. Lilly Luft and Alex Baudhuin both secured a win before dropping to the backside, where they went 3-0 moving to round four of consolations.
At 136, Anakya Besco, Esther Han, and Sierra Brown Ton had a strong showing for the Hawkeyes. Both Besco and Brown Ton earned two wins before falling on the backside, ending their tournament run. Han went undefeated in her first showing this year, topping every opponent via pin. Han started in round one downing Camryn Brown of Gannon, via fall in 1:58. In round two, Han continued with another pin in 4:27 over McKendree’s Estella Gutches. Han advanced to the quarterfinals defeating Gabriella Perez of Campbellsville, with a 2:23 pin. To end the day, Han notched her last pin in 1:31 over Texas Wesleyan’s Mattison Parker.
First-ranked Reese Larramendy and second-ranked Ella Schmit both advanced to the semifinals at 143 going 4-0 on the day. Larramendy’s deciding match was a hard-fought win, via a 9-2 decision over Bella Amaro of Southern Oregon. Schmit’s victory in round three over ninth-ranked Sacred Heart’s Khadijah Sanusi sent her to the quarterfinals, where she defeated Serenity De La Garza of Missouri Valley College with an 11-0 tech. fall.
At 170, first-ranked Kylie Welker and seventh-ranked Haley Ward went undefeated as well, both going 3-0. Ward downed two ranked opponents, starting in round three with a pin downing fourth-ranked Cara Broadus of Sacred Heart. In the quarterfinals, Ward defeated Sacred Heart’s second-ranked Love Daley via 10-0 tech. fall. Welker finished every match with a 10-0 tech. fall, outscoring her opponents 30-0.
Fifth-ranked Alivia White went 3-0 as well at 191, opening in round two downing Lexiana Garcia of Campbellsville with a 10-0 tech. fall. After an injury default in round three, White went into the quarterfinals, finishing the match quick with a fall in 1:33 over Baker’s Elisa Robinson.
Sam Calkins outscored her opponents 18-0 at 235, starting off round one with a victory via 8-0 decision over Melissa De La Torre of Morningside. Calkins finished the day notching a 10-0 tech. fall in the quarterfinals over Baker’s Madi Hargett.
HEAR FROM HEAD COACH CLARISSA CHUN
“We came here to get our hands on anyone and everyone across the country, and the Missouri Valley Open always has great competition. We’ve got almost 500 student athletes competing from over 45 schools, so you just never know what you’re going to get. 10 out of 12 weight classes getting to the semifinals is awesome, and really we are here to learn and grow, get competition in to see where we’re at in the beginning of the season, and to see the areas we need to work on.”
UP NEXT
The Hawkeyes will continue the competition tomorrow morning, starting at 9 a.m.
RESULTS
Day One
101lbs – #5 Sterling Dias
WIN – Sofia Abramson (Oklahoma City), Fall 1:50
WIN – Audalie Cruz (Wayland Baptist), TF 11-0
WIN – Abbeygael Cabaug (Vanguard), Fall 1:09
101lbs – #2 Emilie Gonzalez
WIN — Malarie Dominguez (Wayland Baptist), TF 10-0
WIN – Sage Beltran (Missouri Valley), TF 10-0
WIN – Esther Walker (Midland), TF 10-0
109lbs — #2 Ava Bayless
WIN – Samantha Yap (Sacred Heart), TF 10-0
WIN – Kylie Hessenius (Iowa Lakes CC), TF 10-0
WIN – Jasmine Howard (Texas Wesleyan), TF 12-0
116lbs – #4 Brianna Gonzalez
WIN – Icart Galumette (Campbellsville), TF 12-2
WIN – Camille Fournier (Texas Wesleyan), Fall 4:37
WIN – Katherine Heath (Baker), Dec. 6-0
123lbs – #2 Felicity Taylor
WIN – Catharine Campbell (Grand View), Dec. 8-2
WIN – Jayden Bazemore (Gannon), TF 10-0
WIN – Ella Jauregui (Unattached), Dec. 3-0
123lbs – Ava Rose, DNP
WIN – Kaitlin Castro (University of Cumberlands), TF 12-1
LOSS – #5 Victoria Seal (Simon Fraser), TF 10-0
WIN – Mia Lozano (Texas Women’s), TF 10-0
WIN – Kailyn Younger (Iowa Central), TF 12-2
LOSS – Alexandra Fitzgerald (Sacred Heart), Dec. 8-4
123lbs – Bella Ngo
WIN — Trinity Howard (Montreat), TF 10-0
WIN – #10 Julia Vidallon (McKendree), Dec. 15-14
LOSS – Carissa Qureshi (Unattached), Dec. 3-0
WIN – Caxton Smyth (Central Christian), TF 10-0
130lbs – #9 Emily Frost, DNP
WIN – Bayley Trang (Sacred Heart), TF 10-0
WIN – #8 Nichole Moore (McKendree), TF 10-0
LOSS – Skye Realin (Central Methodist), TF 16-4
LOSS – Lilly Luft (Iowa), Dec. 9-1
130lbs – Cali Leng, DNP
LOSS – Elizabeth Duvall (Texas Wesleyan), Fall 2:05
LOSS – Bronwyn Brenneman (Iowa Central), Fall 1:59
130lbs – Alex Baudhuin
WIN – Zoe Gaetjens (Gannon), TF 10-0
LOSS – #4 Jennifer Soto (McKendree), Fall 2:11
WIN – Araya Boday (University of Saint Mary), TF 12-1
WIN – Bayley Trang (Sacred Heart), TF 10-0
WIN – Emily Paulino (Midland), TF 10-0
130lbs – Lilly Luft
WIN – Samara Lusk (Grand View), TF 10-0
LOSS – Bella Williams (Unattached), Dec. 7-4
WIN – Livier Dubon (Texas Womens), TF 10-0
WIN – Leilani Lazaro (Vanguard), TF 10-0
WIN – #9 Emily Frost (Iowa), Dec. 9-1
136lbs – Anakya Besco, DNP
WIN – Morgan Cope (McKendree), Dec. 6-4
WIN – Eny Bravo Torcios (Midland), TF 10-0
LOSS – Aileen Lester (Ottawa), Fall 2:21
LOSS – River Todd (Vanguard), TF 10-0
136lbs – Sierra Brown Ton, DNP
LOSS – Keilani Guillermo (Wayland Baptist), Fall 4:27
WIN – Eny Bravo Torcios (Midland), TF 10-0
LOSS – Addison Messerly (Campbellsville), Forfeit
136lbs – Esther Han
WIN – Camryn Brown (Gannon), Fall 1:58
WIN – Estella Gutches (McKendree), Fall 4:27
WIN – Gabriella Perez (Campbellsville), Fall 2:23
WIN – Mattison Parker (Texas Wesleyan), Fall 1:31
143lbs – #1 Reese Larramendy
WIN – Esther Hughes (Central), Forfeit
WIN – Shelby Davis (Grand View), TF 10-0
WIN – Makayla Munoz (Oklahoma City), Fall 1:04
WIN – Bella Amaro (Southern Oregon), Dec. 9-2
143lbs – #2 Ella Schmit
WIN – Josie Biffar (Morningside), Fall 0:39
WIN – Markaela Pugh (Unattached), Fall 0:47
WIN – #9 Khadijah Sanusi (Sacred Heart), TF 11-0
WIN – Serenity De La Garza (Missouri Valley), TF 11-0
143lbs – Danni Swihart (Unattached), DNP
LOSS – Maegan Flaherty (Texas Womens), TF 10-0
WIN – Alondra Guzman-Turango (Friends), TF 12-2
WIN – Ariana Mercado (University Saint Mary), Dec. 6-2
WIN – Brisa Salas (York), Fall 2:26
LOSS – Makayla Munoz (Oklahoma City), TF 13-3
170lbs – #7 Haley Ward
WIN – Audrey Lockhart (Wayland Baptist), Fall 1:03
WIN – #4 Cara Broadus (Sacred Heart), Fall 2:17
WIN – #2 Love Daley (Sacred Heart), TF 10-0
170lbs – #1 Kylie Welker
WIN – Annabelle Helm (Gannon), TF 10-0
WIN – Faith Macharia (Missouri Baptist), TF 10-0
WIN – Abby McIntyre (Grand View), TF 10-0
191lbs – #5 Alivia White
WIN – Lexiana Garcia (Campbellsville), TF 10-0
WIN – Marissa Patterson (Hastings), Injury
WIN – Elisa Robinson (Baker), Fall 1:33
191lbs – Jaycee Foeller (Unattached)
WIN – Kali Butts (Grand View), TF 10-0
WIN – Lessly Sandoval (University of Saint Mary), Fall 2:34
LOSS – Noami Duenas (University of the Cumberlands), Fall 2:00
235lbs – Sam Calkins
WIN – Melissa De La Torre (Morningside), Dec. 8-0
WIN – Madi Hargett (Baker), TF 10-0