Brenda Mendoza was one busy Wayland wrestler Wednesday evening.
Not long after she interviewed for a physical therapy internship position at Covenant Hospital Plainview, Mendoza was on the mat at the Laney Center where Wayland Baptist met up with Oklahoma City University in a wrestling dual.
"I was pretty busy," said Mendoza, who said she arrived at the dual following her interview at 5:59 p.m. – one minute before the meet started.
Coaches arranged the order of matches so that Mendoza, competing in the 170-pound weight class, was the last match of the evening for the women. All of Mendoza's frantic running around paid off…at least on the mat where she won her bout over OCU's Heiley Garcia, 13-3.
"A big shout-out to Brenda for hustling back after her interview and doing what she did," Wayland coach
Johnny Cobb said.
"I wrestled pretty well today, so I was happy," Mendoza  said.
She'll be even happier if she gets the internship at the hospital.
Unfortunately, Mendoza's win was one of only three for WBU women as the fourth-ranked Pioneers fell to third-ranked Oklahoma City, 31-16. The Stars are the defending national runners-up after their run of five straight titles came to an end.
The 15
th-ranked Wayland men, meanwhile, had a much closer dual with OCU as the Pioneers narrowly fell to the No. 18 Stars, 22-21.
Cobb was disheartened by the women's outcome, especially for
Angela Vyborny in the 191s and
Tarkyia Mensah in the 130s, both of whom lost their matches after owning large leads.
"They wound up making a few mistakes and it cost them, which was disappointing," Cobb said. "That was a huge turning point. Had we won those, (the dual) would have turned out differently."
Cobb couldn't have been happier, however, with
Samantha Villegas and
Tamyra Mensah, both of whom easily won their matches, 10-0, at 136 and 143 pounds, respectively.
"They really looked good…simply outstanding," Cobb said.
The coach also praised 116-pounder
Lauryn Bruggink, who fell, 17-6, to second-ranked Kristi Garr.
"Lauryn was in the match with her in the beginning, but let it get away from her in the end," Cobb said.
So, too, did
Vanessa Smith, who took on top-ranked Emily Webster in the 101s.
"Vanessa wrestled really well with her for a while," he said.
Michele Guerrero fought through an ankle injury and wrestled "really tough" against third-ranked Cody Pfau. "I was proud of her," Cobb said.
Also,
Valerie Rosales in 155s squared off against Stephanie Geltmacher, the defending national runner-up, and did an admirable job, according to Cobb.
On the men's side, the dual came down to the final match between 133-pounders
Andrew Porras of Wayland against Travon Smith. With OCU holding a 22-17 advantage going into the match, Porras prevailed by major decision, 14-3, to pick up four points for the Pioneers. Wayland needed at least five to win the dual.
"Andrew did another exceptional job tonight," Cobb said. "He dominated his opponent."
Wayland won half of the 10 matches. Besides Porras, other victories for the Pioneers were posted by
Chris Hart in the 141s,
Jacob Stock in the 174s,
Mich Napier in the 184s and heavyweight
Markese Christian.
Cobb called Hart, who competed with a possible broken thumb and still won by technical fall, 24-8, "a takedown machine. That was a gutty effort."
Stock, subbing for injured national runner-up
Jose Alvarez, trailed 11-2 before coming up with the only men's pin of the evening.
"Jacob really came through," Cobb said. "That was one of the highlights for us."
The coach said Napier "keeps rolling up the 'Ws.' He did another good job tonight. And Markese came through with another 'W.' He's starting to put a lot of those together."
Cobb also spoke highly of 197-pounder
Cody Lindberg, "a true freshman who wrestled a one-point match against the No. 10-ranked kid in the country," as well as 125-pounder
Justin Williamson, who fell, 10-7, as he makes his way back from an injury. "He's not in top wrestling shape yet, but he will be," Cobb said. "Justin gave it all he had."
Both Wayland teams next compete on Saturday at the Beauty and the Beast Duals hosted by Northwest Kansas Technical College in Goodland, Kan. Wayland and Northwest Tech will be joined by Lindenwood-Belleville (Ill.) as well as Midland (Neb.) for the women and a Kansas State club team for the men.
(Men) Oklahoma City University 22, Wayland Baptist 21
141:
Chris Hart, WBU, def. James Landoll, OCU, by tech. fall, 24-8; 0-5.
149: Trevor Anderson, OCU, def.
Victor Thomas, WBU, by tech. fall, 13-1; 5-5.
157: Hunter Muskrat, OCU, won by forfeit; 11-5.
165: Zach Skates, OCU, def.
Wyatt Hardy, OCU, by tech. fall, 23-7; 16-5.
174:
Jacob Stock, WBU, def. Jared Bass, OCU, by pin, 1:04; 16-11.
184:
Mich Napier, WBU, def. Derek Sivertsen, OCU, by dec., 9-4; 16-14.
197: Cody Sivertsen, OCU, def.
Cody Lindberg, WBU, by dec., 2-1 (riding time); 19-14.
Hwt:
Markese Christian, WBU, def. Desten Theus, OCU, by dec., 3-2; 19-17.
125: Adrian Gaines, OCU, def.
Justin Williamson, WBU, by dec., 10-7; 22-17.
133:
Andrew Porras, WBU, def. Travon Smith, OCU, by major dec., 14-3; 22-21.
(Women) Oklahoma City 31, Wayland Baptist 16
191: Heather O'Conner, OCU, def.
Angela Vyborny, WBU, 9-6; 4-1.
101: Emily Webster, OCU, def.
Vanessa Smith, WBU, 10-0; 8-1.
109: Cody Pfau, OCU, def.
Michele Guerrero, WBU, by pin; 13-1.
116: Kristi Garr, OCU, def.
Lauryn Bruggink, WBU, 17-6; 17-2.
123: Shelby Morrison, OCU, won by forfeit; 22-2.
130: Carla Ponce, OCU, def.
Tarkyia Mensah, WBU, by pin; 27-3.
136:
Samantha Villegas, WBU, def. Natalia Hinojo, OCU, 10-0; 27-7.
143:
Tamyra Mensah, WBU, def. Kayla Aggio, OCU, 10-0; 27-11.
155: Stephanie Geltmacher, OCU, def.
Valerie Rosales, WBU, 6-1, 30-12.
170:
Brenda Mendoza, WBU, def. Heiley Garcia, OCU, 13-3; 31-16.
2013-14 NAIA Wrestling Coaches' Top 20 Poll – No. 1 (Nov. 20)
|
Rank |
Previous Rank |
School |
Total Team Points |
|
1 |
1 |
Grand View (Iowa) |
149.5 |
|
2 |
2 |
Montana State-Northern |
117.5 |
|
3 |
3 |
Missouri Valley |
86.5 |
|
4 |
4 |
Campbellsville (Ky.) |
85.5 |
|
5 |
5 |
Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) |
73 |
|
6 |
6 |
Great Falls (Mont.) |
67 |
|
7 |
8 |
Southern Oregon |
56.5 |
|
8 |
7 |
Simpson (Calif.) |
56 |
|
9 |
9 |
Midland (Neb.) |
55.5 |
|
10 |
12 |
Bethany (Kan.) |
54 |
|
11 |
11 |
Indiana Tech |
50 |
|
12 |
T15 |
Cumberland (Tenn.) |
49 |
|
13 |
13 |
Menlo (Calif.) |
39 |
|
14 |
14 |
Baker (Kan.) |
35 |
|
15 |
T15 |
Wayland Baptist (Texas) |
30.5 |
|
16 |
T17 |
Dickinson State (N.D.) |
29 |
|
17 |
T17 |
Missouri Baptist |
25 |
|
T18 |
10 |
Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) |
23 |
|
T18 |
RV |
Oklahoma City |
23 |
|
T18 |
20 |
York (Neb.) |
23 |
Others receiving votes: Morningside (Iowa) 22; Cumberlands (Ky.) 17.5; Concordia (Neb.) 16; Life (Ga.) 16; Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) 15; William Penn (Iowa) 13; Calumet (Ind.) 11.5; Briar Cliff (Iowa) 9.5; Benedictine (Kan.) 4; Waldorf (Iowa) 4; Hastings (Neb.) 2.5; Jamestown (N.D.) 2; Lindenwood-Belleville (Ill.) 2.
Individual Men's Rankings
