LEBANON, Ill. - The Colorado Mesa women's wrestling team competed in the National Collegiate Women's Wrestling Championship (NCWWC) Southwest Regional on Sunday (Feb. 20) at McKendree University with trips to the National Tournament on the line. The Mavericks will be sending 13 wrestlers to the National Tournament in two weeks after a great performance during the regional meet this afternoon.

The top five finishers at each weight earned a trip to the national tournament that will take place March 4-5 in Adrian, Mich. We will break down the Maverick qualifiers weight-by-weight.

At 101 pounds, Kaylie Catalano placed third after defeating Chadron State's Kinsey Smith 6-0 in the third-place match. Catalano reached the semifinals before falling to Odelia Lopez of Schreiner. She fought back and defeated Taylor Lindstrom of Chadron State on criteria in the consolation semifinal to reach the third-place bout.

Anja Tschohl will be making her third appearance at the national tournament after placing third at 116 pounds. Tschohl defeated William Jewell's Emalie Olson 12-11 in a wild back-and-forth bout that ended with controversy regarding the scoring. The Andover, Kan. native reached the semifinals before falling to McKendree's Aliyah Rollins by tech fall. She bounced back with a 52 second pin of Schreiner's Cristal de Santiago in the consolation semifinal to reach the third-place match.

The Mavericks had two qualifiers at the next four weights.

Redshirt sophomore Marissa Gallegos won the title at 123 pounds with a 17-4 technical fall win over Lindenwood's Cayden Condit. Gallegos won her first bout of the day with a 10-0 technical fall win followed by a pin at 2:28 over McKendree's Caitlyn Thorne in the semifinals that sent her to the championship bout. 

Redshirt freshman Lizzie Miller placed fourth at 123 pounds and took the hard way to do so. Miller had to wrestle in one of the preliminary matchups of the bracket which forced her to wrestle five matches to earn her placement. She reached the semifinals before falling to Condit but bounced back with a pin of Illyuana Martinez of Ozarks. In the third-place match, she fell to Caitlyn Thorne of McKendree to finish the day 3-2.

True freshman Claire DiCugno was the runner-up at 130 pounds after falling to McKendree's Cameron Guerin the title bout. The Lake Tapps, Wash. native opened her day with a 10-0 technical fall of Neah Finkbone of William Jewell and followed it up with a 4-2 win in the semifinals over Serena Cervantes of Schreiner to reach the final.

Fellow true freshman Lillian Broadrick will be making her first trip to the national meet after placing fourth at 130 pounds. Ironically, Broadrick fell in her first bout to Lindenwood's Athena Willden but battled all the way back to reach the third-place bout where she met up with Athena Willden. She fell in that bout as well but sandwiched in a 10-0 technical fall win over Kara Rohlf of Augustana and a 8-8 criteria win over Serena Cervantes.

Jolynn Harris and Holly Beaudoin each qualified at 136 pounds. The two were scheduled to meet up with each other in the third-place match but double forfeited to each other. Harris reached the semifinals before falling to McKendree's Emily Patneaud 9-5 but bounced back with a pin of Lindenwood's Justice Seely to reach the placement match.

Like her teammate Lizzie Miller, Beaudoin had to wrestle in a preliminary match but eventually reached the semifnials before falling to Skye Realin of McKendree. She worked her way back with her second pin of the day on Chadron State's Ryleigh Dye. 

Grand Junction product Kaylee Lacy was the runner-up at 143 pounds as she fell to McKendree's Alara Boyd in the title bout. It only took a combined one minute and 39 seconds to make her way to the final as she pinned Tristan Folkner of Westminster and Karstin Hollen of Chadron State leading up to the final.

True freshman Erica Schroeder had one of the best performances of the day as she placed third at 143 pounds after going 4-1 on the day. Schroeder won her prelim match and wound up running into McKendree's Alara Boyd in the semifinals before losing. She came back and defeated Tristan Folkner by fall and then an 8-5 decision win over Julianna Moreno of Lindenwood, her second win over Moreno on the day, to place third.

Redshirt freshman Caylee Collins placed fifth at 155 pounds after going 2-2 and will be making her first national tournament appearance. She defeated Augustana's Sawyer Graham 4-4 on criteria then won via an injury default over her teammate Mayte Villada. 

True freshman Tatum Heikkila earned a third-place finish at 170 pounds after avenging one of her few losses of the season with a 5-2 decision victory over Kamila Montenegro of Chadron State in the placement match. Heikkila made it to the semifinals before falling to McKendree's Joye Levendusky 10-0. In her consolation semifinal bout, she made quick work of William Jewell's Emma Carter, 13-2 to reach the third-place bout.

The Mavericks final national qualifier is Jayleen Sekona at 191 pounds after she placed third. Sekona made it to the semifinals before falling but rebounded with a pin of Kalyn Martinez of Schreiner in the first round to reach the third-place match. She met up with Sydni Scott of William Jewell where she won by a technical fall 11-1 to place third.

Head coach Travis Mercado was named the Southwest Region Coach of the Year after leading Colorado Mesa to an undefeated dual record. 

Mercado also led the Mavericks to a second-place team finish at the regional tournament with 117.5 points. The lone team that finished ahead of the Mavericks is second-ranked McKendree who finished with 175.5 points.