ST. CHARLES, Mo. – The No. 8 Colorado Mesa women's wrestling team had all 10 wrestlers advance to day two of the NCAA Region VI Tournament at Lindenwood on Saturday (Feb. 21) afternoon. The Mavericks were one of two teams in the field to have all ten of their wrestlers advance to day two of the tournament.
 
Colorado Mesa is currently in fourth place in the team standings with 51 points and is in the hunt to reach second place with McKendree running away in first place. The Bearcats have all ten wrestlers in the semifinals.
 
Mia Zuniga made it into the semifinals at 103 pounds after winning her lone match of the day. The Granger, Wash. native pinned Lindenwood's Sienna Caruso in the quarterfinals near the end of the first period.
 
Zuniga, the No. 2 seed at 103 pounds, will take on Juliana Alejandro of William Jewell in the semifinals with a trip to the National Tournament on the line.  
 
Redshirt sophomore Adriana Gomez is on to the semifinals after winning her lone match of the day at 110 pounds. Gomez earned a technical fall win over Taylen Babas-Masuno of Pacific 10-0 at the 3:24 mark of the bout.
 
The No. 3 seed at 110 pounds, Gomez will now take on William Jewell's Emily Mendez for a shot at the championship and a trip to the NCAA National Tournament.
 
Sophomore Lorianna Piestewa took another step closer to becoming a two-time All-American after winning her lone match of the day. The 124-pounder picked up a technical fall over Ana Rojas Zamora of Chadron State at 1:29 to move onto the semifinals.
 
The top-seed at the weight, Piestewa will now take on Fort Hays State's Morgan Maschmann for a spot in the final and the ticket to the NCAA Tournament.
 
Gretchen Donally advanced to the semifinals after winning her first two matches of the day. The sophomore from Ballantine, Mont. opened the tournament with a pin of Vanguard's Piper Hall at the 2:41 mark of the match.
 
In the quarterfinals, the No. 2 seed at 145 pounds, Donally, picked up a 6-2 decision victory over Madeline Haynes of Lindenwood to send her into the semis.
 
Donally will now take McKendree's Alexandra Szkotnicki for a shot at the title and a trip to the NCAA National Tournament.
 
Redshirt senior Jayleen Sekona is moving onto the semifinals at 207 pounds after earning a win in her lone match of the day. The Anchorage, Alaska native posted a pin in the waning seconds of her quarterfinal match with Zoe Adam of Sioux Falls.
 
Sekona now has a rematch of the RMAC Tournament Championship bout with Simon Fraser's Julia Richey in the semifinals with a ticket to the NCAA Tournament on the line.
 
The final five wrestlers have a little bit of an uphill battle as they fight their way through the consolation bracket.
 
117-pounder Sophia Cornish dropped her quarterfinal bout to Loretta Lopez of Vanguard 8-6 to drop in to the consolation bracket. Cornish will now take on Chadron State's Adrianna Lopez, the RMAC Co-Freshman of the Year, in her first bout on Sunday.
 
Senior Hania Halverson won her opening match at 131 pounds as she defeated Cadence Finneran of Linfield 12-1 before falling in her quarterfinal bout to Piper Cadden of Chadron State 10-8.
 
The Kalispell, Mont. native bounced back with a win over Lovey Beebe of Minot State 12-3to advance to day two of the tournament. Halverson will face Talia Lee of Lindenwood in her first match on Sunday.
 
Keyla Ajoleza made it into day two of the tournament at 138 pounds after losing her first bout of the day to top-seeded Haylie Jaffe of McKendree by technical fall. The redshirt junior came back to defeat Haleigh Lematta of Minot State by decision 7-1.
 
Ajoleza will now face Audrey Diaz of Pacific to start things off on Sunday.
 
Senior Celina Preston is still alive at 160 pounds after finishing the day 2-1. Preston earned an early pin of Oyinkansola Adeogun of Schreiner before falling to Fort Hays State's Alexis Burton 5-0 in the quarterfinals. Preston picked up a medical forfeit win in her final match of the day.
 
The Sparks, Nev. native will take on Adams State's Angella Van Valkenburg in her first match on Sunday.
 
Maggie Smith moved on to day two at 180 pounds after going 2-1 on the day. Smith opened the tournament with a win over Chadron State's Cosette Derosiers 5-2 before falling to Simon Fraser's Paige Maher 6-0 in the quarterfinals.
 
Smith bounced back with an 11-0 win over William Jewell's Jianna Chavez and will now face Madilyn Schuck of Minot State to open tomorrow's action.
 
The tournament resumes tomorrow at 10am.