GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – The No. 4 Colorado Mesa women's wrestling team came away with five individual champions and 12 qualifiers for the NCWWC National Championships at the NCWWC Region V Tournament on Sunday (Feb. 19) in Brownson Arena.
The 12 national qualifiers helped the Mavericks to their first-ever regional title with 178 total team points. They held off a late charge by Simon Fraser who placed nine in the championship finals and finished with 152 team points. Chadron State was third with 123.5 points and one champion.
The dynamic duo of
Jennesis Martinez and
Isabella Morales staked their claim as the top lightweight duo as they made their way to the final at 101 pounds. Martinez won her lone contested bout of the day as she defeated Kinsey Smith of Chadron state by fall at 2:43.
Morales drew a first-round match and made quick work of Britley Lopez of Chadron State at 42 seconds before a 4-2 win over Odelia Lope of Schreiner to head to the finals.
Morales forfeited to Martinez in the final bout, but both are scheduled to be seeded at the NCWWC National Championships in two weeks. Martinez was ranked No. 3 heading into today as Morales was eighth headed into the regional.
At 123 pounds, redshirt junior
Marissa Gallegos claimed the region title at 123 pounds after a dominating performance in the final. The Denver native pinned Emily Sullenger of Linfield with a pancake at 1:46 to pick up the title and stay unbeaten on the season. Gallegos need less than three minutes of mat time to pick up her three wins on the day.
Gallegos had company at 123 pounds as freshman
Hania Halverson placed third at the weight in her first trip to the regional tournament. The Kalispell, Mont. native went 3-1 in the tournament with all three wins coming by fall. She pinned Minot State's Jazmin Gorder in 1:26 to claim third place.
Speaking of strong duos, freshman
Hailey Chapmann and redshirt sophomore
Lizzie Miller formed a great pairing at 130 pouns all year. Chapman claimed the weight's championship with a pin of Simon Fraser's Marquesis Haintz at the 2:24 mark of the bout.
The Lake Arrowhead, Calif. native went 3-0 with two pins and a technical fall. She pinned Minot State's Annika Gotlieb at 1:26 in the semifinal to reach the title bout.
Miller fell to Haintz in the semifinals with a1706 setback. She rebounded with a 7-0 win over Josephine Wearmouth of Chadron State to reach the third-place bout. Miller picked up the pin win in the third place match after a quicker pin of Gotlieb.
Holly Beaudoin claimed the title at 136 pounds after getting everyone going during her title bout. The Poulsbo, Wash. native scored quickly and earned the pin at 2:43 for the title over Jade Trolland of Simon Fraser. Beaudoin finished the day with three pins.
At 155 pounds,
Dalia Garibay claimed a forfeit win at 155 pounds over Simon Fraser's Paige Maher. Garibay once again dominated her way into making after she earned three technical falls on her way to the title.
Erica Schroeder and
Celina Cooke teamed up at 143 pounds for another duo. Both qualified as Cooke placed third and Schroeder was the weights runner-up at the weight. Schroeder fell to Kayley Garcia in the final by technical fall, 11-0.
Cooke bounced back to claim third after falling to Garcia as well. Cooke beat top seeded Serena Cervantes in the consolation round.
Sophomore
Jayleen Sekona placed third at 191 pounds to make a return trip to the NCWWC National Championships. Sekona reached the semifinals after defeating Faith Perez of Schreiner by pin at 1:09. She fell to Simon Fraser's Katja Osteen in the semifinals before bouncing back with a 4-1 win over her teammate
Isabeau Shalack.
Isabeau Shalack placed fifth at 191 pounds in her first competition of the year. The Evergreen Park, Ill. native defeated Faith Perez of Texas Woman's 7-0 in the fifth-place match.
At 170 pounds, the Mavericks had two wrestlers battle their heart out and it went all the way to the true fourth-place match where they had to face each other.
Melena Jones came away with the 7-7 criteria win over
Samantha Vasquez to claim the national qualifier spot. Vasquez had to settle for fifth-place after a fantastic first regional tournament at one of the toughest weights in the field.
In her first regional tournament,
Carissa Epling placed sixth at 116 pounds.
Following the tournament, head coach
Travis Mercado was awarded the NCWWC Region V Coach of the Year Award. Mercado led the Mavericks to a 14-2 dual record, a top-four finish at the NWCA National Duals, and today's regional title.
Mercado won the Region IV Coach of the Year award at last season's tournament at McKendree.
