GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – The Colorado Mesa women's wrestling team turned the Maverick Open into a statement weekend on Sunday (Nov. 8) afternoon. The Mavericks crowned seven champions, put 19 wrestlers on the podium and placed at all 10 weights.
Three of the title bouts never left the Colorado Mesa room. At 103, 124 and 131, two Mavericks met in the final, guaranteeing the top two places at three weights before the whistle blew.
Serah Yogi set the tone at 103. She teched Veronika Hafer 11-0 and Texas Woman's Alexa Rodriguez 11-1, then got past teammate
Alissa Perez by a 12-2 technical fall in the semifinals. Waiting in the final was another teammate, Maddison Heinzer, and Yogi blanked her 4-0 for the title.
Adriana Gomez was Colorado Mesa's lone entry at 110, and she carried the team alone all the way to the top. Back-to-back 10-0 technical falls over Fatima Delgado and Lilly Lake sent her to the semifinals, where she pinned Adams State's Kyler Menza in 1:32. She sealed the championship with a 7-4 decision over Peggy Sue Dean.
At 117,
Sophia Cornish navigated a 32-wrestler bracket without much resistance. She teched Utah Tech's Hannah Coyne 10-0, beat Catalina Brown of Arizona Christian 15-6 and teched Presley Pearson 12-2. The final against Adams State's Flavia Nagatani was a scoring affair, and Cornish pulled away to win 16-9.
Jojo McDaniel pinned her way through 124. She stuck Stella Dymon in 3:24, advanced past Julia Schnell by injury default and pinned Western Colorado's Alora Martinez in 2:05. In another all-Maverick final, she pinned teammate
Amelia Bacon in 4:27.
Thalia Vogelsang may have been one of the most dominant wrestler in the building. Every one of her wins at 131 came by fall or technical fall: 10-0 over Elaina Morgan, a 59-second pin of Sonia Rubio and a 10-0 semifinal over teammate
Bella Terrian. She then shut out teammate
Lauren China Zaragoza 11-0 for the crown.
Delarie Juarez needed barely three minutes of mat time to reach the 145 final. She pinned Aubriana Ducommun in 23 seconds, Jazlyn Chandler in 17 and Adams State's Angella Van Valkenburg in 2:11. The final was the tightest of the day for the Mavericks, and Juarez edged Texas Woman's Mackenzie Blue 4-3 avenging her loss in the dual to Blue the night before.
Gretchen Donally closed the championship run at 160, winning five bouts. She pinned Esperanza Rios in 23 seconds, teched Madilyn Gitke and Londyn Jefferson 10-0 each and pinned Utah Tech's Sky Cloud in 28 seconds. She finished with a 5-2 decision over Adams State's Alison Evans.
The runners-up were nearly as impressive. Heinzer beat Jessica Dean, Adams State's Mia Siqueiros and teammate
Kinlee Brandley before meeting Yogi. Bacon handled Mia Shepard, Elizabeth Padilla and teammate
Brooke McCurley on her way to the 124 final. Zaragoza knocked off Makenzi McCoy, London Woods and Adams State's Lilyana Lamothe. At 180,
Taylor Colangelo pinned three straight opponents before falling 10-1 to Utah Tech's Avari Johnson in the final.
McCurley showed resilience at 124. After her semifinal loss, she shut out teammate
Kylee Golz 8-0 and pinned Alora Martinez to finish third. Brandley (103),
Eloise Woolsey (160) and
Alena Bartley (207) each battled back through the consolation bracket to place fourth.
Golz rebounded to take fifth at 124 with a pin of Padilla while Terrian (131) and
Jaclyn Dehney (138) also finished fifth. Perez rounded out the podium haul with a sixth-place finish at 103.
Colorado Mesa will send a group of wrestlers to the Cornerman Luke Tournament in Ephraim, Utah and hosted by Snow College, on Saturday November 14.
