WBU finishes 4th at National Duals

FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Wayland Baptist finished in fourth place out of 14 teams at the NWCA Multi-Divisional National Duals held Thursday and Friday at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum.

"We've done that a number of times," Wayland coach Aaron Meister said of finishing fourth. "We were really hoping for better. The girls believe in their hearts they can do better. Ultimately, though, we're still really proud of them."

The fifth-ranked Pioneers, seeing their first match since the Wayland Invitational more than a month ago, won matches Thursday over Southwestern Oregon, 35-11, and eighth-ranked Grays Harbor, Wash., 30-13.

Those victories placed Wayland in Friday's final four mix where the competition got stiff.

The Pioneers first bowed to third-ranked McKendree, Ill, 43-4, before falling in the third-place match to sixth-ranked Emmanuel College, Ga., 23-21.

"We came out great on the first day. Unfortunately, we weren't able to keep that momentum going on the second day," Meister said. "We ran into a tough McKendree team that had a little more flexibility in how they could set their lineup and wrestle us. Things didn't go our way and they out-wrestled us."

The Pioneers were disappointed by that defeat, and it might have carried over to the third-place match against Emmanuel.

"The girls had their hearts on getting to the championship. When they didn't it took some wind out of our sails," Meister said. "Against Emmanuel we made two too many mistakes. We gave up two falls for bonus points, and you can't expect to be in the top two or three and make mistakes. You just can't afford that.

"Today wasn't our day."

McKendree went on to fall in the finals to Campbellsville, Ky., ranked second behind Simon Fraser, Canada, 34-19. Sixth-ranked King, Tenn., which had won the previous four National Duals titles, finished fifth, beating No. 11 Life, 31-15. No. 9 Oklahoma City beat Grays Harbor, 26-20, for seventh.

Wayland dominated against Southwestern Oregon, earning wins in all but two of the 10 matches. The Pioneers then won all but three against Grays Harbor, the same team Wayland defeated in its season-opener Oct. 18 in Plainview, 30-16.

Freshman Asia Ray was the only WBU wrestler to get a win against powerful McKendree, taking out her 101-pound opponent by 6-2 decision.

Against Emmanuel for third place, each team won five matches, but the Lions escaped with the two-point match win. Winning matches for WBU were Gabriela Ramos-Diaz (123), Brittany Bates (136), Skylar Brock (155), Brittany Marshall (170) and Alexis Tarango (191). Ray dropped her match by 6-4 decision.

"We wrestled a little bit below what I think we're capable of," Meister said. "We have to get back to work and work on those things we need to get better at and wrestle to and hopefully above our potential at nationals."

Next up for the WBU women, who are 3-2 in duals on the season, are outings against Bacone and Missouri Baptist on Jan. 25 in Muskogee, Okla.
  Thursday's Results
Wayland Baptist defeated Southwestern Oregon Community College 35-11

• 101 - Asia Ray (Wayland Baptist) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf
• 109 - Marie Seely (Southwestern Oregon Community College) over Evelynn Simmons (Wayland Baptist) Fall 1:20
• 116 - Rhonda Johnson (Wayland Baptist) over Deanna Silva (Southwestern Oregon Community College) Dec 14-6
• 123 - Leah Olguin (Wayland Baptist) over Eyza abbas (Southwestern Oregon Community College) Fall 1:04
• 130 - Asia Igafo (Wayland Baptist) over Jahnesia Edwards (Southwestern Oregon Community College) TF 10-0
• 136 - Brittany Bates (Wayland Baptist) over Olivia DeMars (Southwestern Oregon Community College) Fall 2:24
• 143 - Marina Briceno (Wayland Baptist) over Caitlyn LaMouree (Southwestern Oregon Community College) Fall 0:52
• 155 - Skylar Brock (Wayland Baptist) over Unknown (Unattached) TF 10-0
• 170 - Brittany Marshall (Wayland Baptist) over Taj Vierra (Southwestern Oregon Community College) TF 10-0
• 191 - Serena Rayon (Southwestern Oregon Community College) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf

 
Match #2 Quarterfinal
Wayland Baptist defeated Grays Harbor College 30-13

• 101 - Asia Ray (Wayland Baptist) over Nina Pham (Grays Harbor College) TF 10-0
• 109 - kateri Rowell (Grays Harbor College) over Evelynn Simmons (Wayland Baptist) Dec 6-4
• 116 - Rhonda Johnson (Wayland Baptist) over Sophia Hernandez (Grays Harbor College) TF 13-2
• 123 - Gabriela Ramos-Diaz (Wayland Baptist) over Brittany Wynn (Grays Harbor College) TF 10-0
• 130 - Rebekah Cordova (Wayland Baptist) over Alexis Morfin (Grays Harbor College) TF 12-0
• 136 - Brittany Bates (Wayland Baptist) over Deni Kroeze (Grays Harbor College) Fall 0:52
• 143 - Desiree Zavala (Grays Harbor College) over Marina Briceno (Wayland Baptist) TF 11-0
• 155 - Skylar Brock (Wayland Baptist) over Veronica Coppolino (Grays Harbor College) Dec 15-10
• 170 - Brittany Marshall (Wayland Baptist) over Kacie Moorehouse (Grays Harbor College) Fall 1:09
• 191 - Paige Baynes (Grays Harbor College) over Alexis Tarango (Wayland Baptist) TF 10-0

 
Match #3 Semifinal
McKendree defeated Wayland Baptist 43-4

• 101 - Asia Ray (Wayland Baptist) over Genae Sampract (McKendree) Dec 6-2
• 109 - Vanessa Ramirez (McKendree) over Evelynn Simmons (Wayland Baptist) Fall 3:39
• 116 - Tayler Resuriz (McKendree) over Rhonda Johnson (Wayland Baptist) Fall 1:56
• 123 - Gabrielle Weyhrich (McKendree) over Gabriela Ramos-Diaz (Wayland Baptist) Dec 2-1
• 130 - Brenda Reyna (McKendree) over Rebekah Cordova (Wayland Baptist) Fall 1:06
• 136 - Megan Black (McKendree) over Brittany Bates (Wayland Baptist) Fall 1:13
• 143 - Alexis Porter (McKendree) over Marina Briceno (Wayland Baptist) Fall 4:07
• 155 - Andrea Sennett (McKendree) over Skylar Brock (Wayland Baptist) Fall 0:17
• 170 - Brandy Lowe (McKendree) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf
• 191 - Destane Garrick (McKendree) over Alexis Tarango (Wayland Baptist) TF 10-0

 
Match #4 3rd Place Match
Emmanuel College defeated Wayland Baptist 23-21

• 101 - Iesha Washington (Emmanuel College) over Asia Ray (Wayland Baptist) Dec 6-4
• 109 - Maria Vidales (Emmanuel College) over Evelynn Simmons (Wayland Baptist) TF 12-0
• 116 - Cody Pfau (Emmanuel College) over Rhonda Johnson (Wayland Baptist) Fall 4:25
• 123 - Gabriela Ramos-Diaz (Wayland Baptist) over Victoria Gutierez (Emmanuel College) TF 12-2
• 130 - Abigail Nette (Emmanuel College) over Rebekah Cordova (Wayland Baptist) TF 10-0
• 136 - Brittany Bates (Wayland Baptist) over Astrid Silva (Emmanuel College) Dec 4-2
• 143 - Kayla Marano (Emmanuel College) over Marina Briceno (Wayland Baptist) TF 10-0
• 155 - Skylar Brock (Wayland Baptist) over Felicity Bryant (Emmanuel College) Fall 3:08
• 170 - Brittany Marshall (Wayland Baptist) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf
• 191 - Alexis Tarango (Wayland Baptist) over Briana Jordan (Emmanuel College) Dec 5-2