The Wayland Baptist women's wrestling teams picked up an impressive win over Oklahoma City on Wednesday night at Hutcherson Center. The Pioneer women edged out the Stars 22-20.
"It was an outstanding night for WBU wrestling," said Johnny Cobb, head of the young Pioneer wrestling program, about Oklahoma City's women's program which is the four-time defending national champion and top-ranked against this year.
"OCU may not have had all their top women here, but there were still plenty that competed who are nationally ranked, and so what our women did tonight was still plenty impressive,"."
The women's dual was tied at 19 going into the 191-pound match between OCU's Heather O'Connor, number five in the latest WCWA rankings, and WBU's Miriam Moreno, who is ranked second. The freshman from Hereford, Texas took the bout 6-4, 6-0 to give the Pioneers the victory.
Other Pioneer winners on the women's side were Akira Pena, Samantha Gonzales, Tamyra Mensah and Valerie Rosales.
Pena, a sophomore from El Paso, won the 101-pound class by forfeit. A sophomore from Lakin, Kan., Gonzales was the winner by technical fall – 9-3, 7-0 – in the 116-pound division.
Mensah, a freshman 143-pounder from Katy, Texas who is currently ranked fourth in her weight class, pinned her opponent with 21 seconds remaining in the first period, and Rosales, won a tight 0-2, 2-0, 1-0 decision at 155 pounds. Rosales, who is ranked fifth, is a freshman from El Paso.
WAYLAND BAPTIST WOMEN 22,
OKLAHOMA CITY 20
101: Akira Pena, WBU, by forfeit (WBU leads 5-0)
109: Estheafnia Jimenez, OCU, dec. Ofelia Valez, 2-0, 3-0 (WBU leads 5-3)
116: Samantha Gonzales, WBU, tech. fall Tozia Possemoto, 9-3, 7-0 (WBU leads 9-4)
123: Logan Rich, OCU, pinned Jessica Von Behern, 1:49 (Dual tied 9-9)
130: Audrey Morehouse, OCU, dec. Tarkyia Mensah, 2-1, 2-0 (OCU leads 12-10)
136: Beatrize Martinez, OCU, dec. Jeneshia Woods, 5-2, 0-2, 3-2 (OCU leads 15-11)
143: Tamyra Mensah, WBU, pinned Amber Rodriguez, 1:39 (WBU leads 16-15)
155: Valerie Rosales, WBU, dec. Demi Strub, 0-2, 2-0, 1-0 (WBU leads 19-16)
170: Britteny Roberts, OCU, dec. Brenda Mendoza, 3-0, 4-0 (Dual tied 19-19)
191: Miriam Moreno, WBU, dec. Heather O'Connor, 6-4, 6-0 (WBU wins 22-20)
