USAFA, Colo. – The No. 7 Colorado Mesa women's wrestling team had 13 wresters place in the top-6, including three champions, at the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Championships on Saturday (Jan. 31) afternoon at Cadet Gymnasium on the campus of the United States Air Force Academy.
The Mavericks were the runners-up as a team with 247 total points as the finished 100 points better than third-place Adams State. Simon Fraser won the team title with 309.5 points.
Adriana Gomez was the Mavericks first individual champion. Gomez captured the 110-pound title with a 7-7 criteria victory over Chadron State's Rylee Balcazar. Gomez went 2-0 on the day as she earned a pin of Adams State's Katelyn Faczak in the semifinal at 1:17.
It was an All-Maverick final at 117 pounds as
Sophia Cornish faced off with her teammate
Jojo McDaniel with an RMAC title on the line. Cornish was able to outlast McDaniel as she came away with a 5-4 decision victory. Cornish also defeated Chadron State's Adrianna Lopez 9-0 in the semifinal and a first period pin of Adams State's Sequoia Renshaw in her first round bout.
McDaniel reached the final after upsetting Adams State's Flavia Nagatani by pin at 4:16. The Orting, Wash. native fell to Nagatani as a part of the RMAC Dual in Alamosa last week.
The Mavericks final individual champion came at 207 pounds where
Jayleen Sekona earned an injury default victory over Simon Fraser's Julia Richey. Sekona led 6-0 when Ritchey had an apparent shoulder injury.
Senior
Celina Preston finished as the runner-up at 160 pounds after falling to Simon Fraser's Lene McCrackin in the title bout. Preston pinned Texas Woman's Poorna Babu in the semifinal for her third win over her rival this season.
Colorado Mesa had a pair of third-place finishers in
Lorianna Piestewa at 124 pounds and
Keyla Ajoleza at 138 pounds. Piestewa fell in the semifinal before bouncing back with two wins including a 10-0 technical fall win over Julia Donnelly of Adams State in the third-place bout.
Ajoleza took the long way as she fell in her opening bout then rattled off three straight wins with a 6-0 decision victory over Meredith Nash of Chadron State in the third-place match.
The Mavericks had four wrestlers fall in the third-place match and were one spot from finishing on the podium.
Kinlee Brandley (103),
Brooke McCurley (131),
Valerie Glenn (160), and
Maggie Smith (180) all finished in fourth-place at their respective weights.
Kim Carlin placed fifth at 180 pounds while
Thalia Vogelsang placed sixth at 131 pounds.
Colorado Mesa will be back in action for their final regular season matches of the season on Saturday as they host Chadron State. It will also be senior day for the Maverick seniors as they will compete for the final time in Brownson Arena.
