MARSHALL, Mo. – The No. 5 Colorado Mesa women's wrestling team finished with eight wrestlers moving onto day two of the prestigious Missouri Valley Open after a grueling opening Friday (Nov. 21) in the Burns Athletic Complex.
 
Redshirt sophomore Adriana Gomez was the lone Maverick that advanced to the semifinals as she did so at 110 pounds. After receiving a bye, Gomez opened her day with a pin of Aurie Sneed of Wayland Baptist just 42 seconds into the match. She headed into the quarterfinals after an 11-0 technical fall of Reagan Thoms of Lindsey Wilson College, ranked No. 16 in NAIA.
 
Gomez then earned a decision victory 8-6 over No. 9 NAIA Elaina Martinez of Grandview in the waning seconds of the match. The Laveen, Ariz. native took a 6-4 lead before Martinez tied it with 1:30 to go in the bout and owned the criteria advantage. Gomez was able to take down Martinez with 11 seconds left to secure the win and the spot in the semifinals.
 
She is now set to take on McKendree's Gabrielle Tedesco in the semifinals. Gomez enters the bout ranked No. 10 in the NWCA National Rankings while Tedesco checks in at No. 2 at the weight.
 
Redshirt Mia Zuniga took the long route at 103 pounds. Zuniga fell in her opening match of the day by pin to Iowa Central's Kameyah Young. After the loss, the Granger Wash. native ripped off three straight wins with two going for technical falls and one by pin.
 
Zuniga will need to win two matches to finish in the top-8 of the weight and will start tomorrow off with Quincy's Abigail Mendoza.
 
Sophia Cornish reached the quarterfinal at 117 pounds before falling to Wayland Baptist's Mariah Dillard by pin early in the bout. Cornish opened her day with a 10-3 decision over Lindsey Wilson's Callie Payton followed by a 12-2 technical fall over Albion's Ryleigh Ruiz. She then had a come-from-behind 7-6 victory over Fiona Smith of Tarleton State to send her to her quarterfinal bout.
 
The Mission Viejo, Calif. native will need to win one match to place in the bracket. She awaits the winner of the bout between Zao Estrada and Addison Saporito of Ottawa.
 
Sophomore Jojo McDaniel took the long way to her position in the 117-pound bracket. McDaniel dropped a tough 6-2 decision to unattached wrestler Mia Palumbo before going on a tear. The Orting, Wash. native earned a forfeit win in her first consolation bout before a 53 second pin and a 14-2 technical fall win.
 
McDaniel will need to win two matches to place in the tournament and will begin with a bout against No. 5 ranked Alex Waitsman of William Jewell. If she were victorious against Waitsman, a rematch with Palumbo is looming.
 
Like her teammates, Brooke McCurley took the long way at 124 pounds after dropping her first bout of the day by technical fall. McCurley rattled off four straight wins with one decision, a default, and three technical falls. The Round Rock, Texas native defeated Lehigh's Shannon Govern 10-0 to push her through to day two.
 
McCurley will matchup with McKendree's Gabriella Gomez in her first match tomorrow with a matchup with Wayland Baptist's No. 11 Tessa Barnett awaiting the winner.
 
Gretchen Donally reached the quarterfinals at 145 pounds before falling in a tough match with Simon Fraser's Liv Weiber 3-3 by criteria. Donally led 3-0 before being put on the shot clock in the second period. She surrendered a takedown and the passivity point in the same move to fall late.
 
Earlier in the day, the Ballantine, Mont. native earned a 10-0 technical fall of Genesis Gilmore of Cumberlands and a narrow 3-2 win over Cadence Diduch of Iowa.
 
The sophomore awaits the winner of Adams State's Angella Van Valkenburg and Oklahoma State's Kalulani Garcia. Donally needs just one win to place at the tournament for the second straight season.
 
Maggie Smith earned a pair pins over her opponents from Oklahoma State and Missouri Baptist in her first two matches at 180 pounds. Smith then fell to Iowa Central's Mahlia Adams by technical fall 11-0 to drop into the consolation bracket. There, she worked a 9-7 decision victory over Madisyn Crawford of Quincy where she scored the final seven points of the bout in the final 1:58 of the match.
 
She will matchup with NAIA No. 6 Payton Sholander of Wayland Baptist in her first match of the day needing to win twice to place.
 
Redshirt senor Jayleen Sekona is another Maverick taking the long route to placement at the tournament. Sekona opened the day with a technical fall win over her opponent from Hastings before falling on criteria to Phoebe Burt of William Penn to drop into the consolation bracket.
 
The Anchorage, Alaska native earned a 10-2 decision, an 11-0 technical fall and a 10-0 technical fall over Grand View's Ariana Chavez to move onto day two. Awaiting her is a matchup with Rylee Ferranti of McKendree in her first match.
 
With a win, No. 3 ranked Sekona would matchup with NAIA No. 5 Naomi Duenas of Cumberlands with a spot on the podium on the line.
 
Wrestling is scheduled to begin tomorrow at 8am MST and you can catch all the action on FloWrestling.