BRISTOL, Tenn. – The fourth-ranked King University women's wrestling hosted seventh-ranked Colorado Mesa University, third-ranked Emmanuel College and second-ranked McKendree University on Sunday in the Student Center Complex. After putting up strong matches against Colorado Mesa and Emmanuel the Tornado fell short against McKendree in the day's finale. Throughout the day several wrestlers picked up numerous wins against nationally ranked opponents but the biggest story of the day was
Jaclyn McNichols. She weighed in this morning ranked fourth at 101 pounds and before lunch had beaten the top three wrestlers in the nation.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: King 23, Emmanuel 17; King 33, Colorado Mesa 12; McKendree 27, King 16
LOCATION: Student Center Complex; Bristol, Tenn.
RECORDS: King 3-1; Emmanuel 1-2; Colorado Mesa 2-3; McKendree 3-0
HOW IT HAPPENED – EMMANUEL COLLEGE
- No. 4 McNichols got the first Tornado win against No. 2 Angie Gomez by an extremely close score of 3-2.
- At 109 pounds No. 6 Aleeah Gould also had a tough matchup against No. 2 Maria Vidales and was able to lock in a close 7-6 victory.
- At 116 pounds, unranked Freshman Melanie Mendoza kept the streak going with a huge victory over nationally ranked No. 6 Kasey Baynon.
- No. 2 Cheyenne Sisenstein walked away early with a 10-0 tech fall in the first period at 123 pounds.
- At 130 pounds No. 2 Allison Petix won a 4-0 decision to increase the Tornado lead to 16-3.
- No. 5 Ana Luciano continued the Tornado pressure as she punished her way to a 6-2 decision.
- No. 3 Ashlynn Ortega upped the tempo with a 10-0 tech fall win in one minute.
- Tory Torres put up a solid fight but No. 3 Kayla Marano would get the win by 6-0 decision.
- At 170 pounds the Tornado would give a forfeit.
- At 190 pounds Nia Crosdale would fall to No. 3 Christina Santoyo. Nia is currently ranked third at 170 pounds.
HOW IT HAPPENED – COLORADO MESA
- At 101 pounds McNichols had another great matchup against No. 3 Jennesis Martinez. McNichols grabs another nationally ranked victory by score 5-2.
- Gould received a forfeit at 109 pounds.
- At 116 pounds Mendoza won by fall over No. 7 Anja Tschohl. This is her second nationally ranked win of the day as a true freshman.
- At 123 pounds Sophia Mirabella also picked up a massive win against No. 3 Marissa Gallegos .
- Petix started a streak of pure dominance for the Tornado with a 11-0 tech fall at 130 pounds.
- Next, Luciano tore through her opponent for another 10-0 tech fall at 136 pounds.
- At 143 pounds Ortega also showed her opponent no mercy. She won by pin in 1:04.
- Torres continued the steam roll into 155 pounds with a 10-0 tech fall of her own.
- At 170 pounds the literal Tornado subsided with a forfeit for CMU.
- Crosdale had her hands full at 190 as she fell in the second period .
HOW IT HAPPENED – MCKENDREE
- At 101 pounds McNichols had already been tested all day and for her final matchup squared away with No. 1 Pauline Granados. The positioning and pressure McNichols applied today in the Student Center Complex looked national championship level as she professionally managed and tamed several Granados scoring attempts. She walks away today the best wrestler in the country at 101 pounds with a 4-1 victory.
- Gould follows with another nationally ranked win against No. 8 Natalie Reyna at 109 pounds by score 5-0.
- At 116 pounds Mendoza wrestled a tough matchup very well but dropped a 6-2 decision to No. 2 Felicity Taylor.
- At 123 pounds No. 2 Sisenstein won by pin over No. 7 Payton Stroud to keep the Tornado's dual hopes alive.
- Phoenix Dubose falls to Cameron Guerin of McKendree at 130 pounds.
- At 136 pounds Luciano makes a serious statement with an 12-2 win by tech fall against No. 3 Brenda Reyna early in the second period.
- Undoubtedly the highest ranking matchup of the day occurred between two World Team Qualifiers Ortega and Emma Bruntil at 143 pounds. The handfight was very impressive and the attacks even more so. Both ladies wrestled an extremely exciting match but Bruntil came out on top by score 5-0.
- Torres had her hands full against No. 2 Alara Boyd at 143 pounds. She would go down by tech fall.
- At 170 pounds McKendree takes a forfeit.
- The final match of the day would be at 190 pounds between Crosdale and No. 1 Sydnee Kimber. Kimber would win the match by pin.
UP NEXT
- The Tornado will travel to Tiffin, Ohio to take on sixth-ranked Tiffin University on February 6 at 9:00 a.m.
