ARLINGTON – Wayland Baptist's men's and women's wrestling teams competed here Saturday, the women in a pair of duals and the men as part of the Southwest Open. Both WBU teams shined.
"I'm proud of how we performed this weekend," WBU coach
Aaron Meister said.
The Pioneer women defeated Lyon College (Ark.), 28-20, and Ottawa (Kan.), 31-16.
Picking up wins for fifth-rarnked Wayland, which benefited from a handful of forfeits, against Lyon were
Daysha Woods in the 109-pound division,
Lauryn Bruggink in 116s,
Tarkyia Mensah in 136s,
Rachel Bates in 143s and
Rhina Lopez in 155s. WBU's
Tamyra Mensah won an exhibition match.
Against Ottawa, WBU winners were
Rizpah Umi at 130,
Tarkyia Mensah and Lopez, in addition to several byes.
"I felt it was a really good, solid performance by the team," Meister said. "The girls are continuing to perfect the things that we've been focusing on, and they're gaining a lot of confidence and showing a lot of courage. I really like the direction we're heading."
In the men's Southwest Open, No. 19 Wayland earned victories in seven of 10 weight classes, including two by graduate assistant coaches and one by an unattached wrestler.
Claiming titles were
Victor Thomas in the 149s,
Kane Lovvorn in 157s and
Mich Napier in 184s. Wrestling unattached,
Drake Lovvorn (174s) and
Markese Christian (285s) were first, as were WBU GAs
Albert Tapia (133s) and
Bradley Mason (165s).
Other results for WBU were
Jacob Palmgren, third in 125s;
Julian Perez, fourth in 184s; and
Travis Morgan, third in heavyweights. Another unattached wrestler,
Cesar Alvarez, was third in 141s.
"We had 11 people place, and of those 11, seven were first," Meister pointed out.
Other competing schools were Lyon, Ottawa, University of Texas-Arlington, UT-Austin, The Apprenctice School (Va.), Texas A&M, Arkansas Baptist, Central Baptist (Ark.), North Texas and Wichita State (Kan.).
"It was nice to go wrestle somewhat in our backyard and showcase our Texas talent within the state," Meister said.
"Our No. 1s wrestled to their potential and the people behind them really showed the depth of our roster."
The coach offered special recognition to GAs Tapia and Mason.
"Not only do they wrestle and practice every day but they still have the desire to go out and compete. That shows the guys on the team that the stuff that we're teaching them, we use this in competition ourselves. They're proof that it works."
The WBU men and women next compete on Dec. 5 at home against North Texas.
