SOU in 1st place with 7 semifinalists after Day 1 at NAIA Championships

TEAM SCORES (top-5 of 35) – 1. Southern Oregon 101.5, 2. Life (Ga.) 96, 3. Menlo (Calif.) 86, 4. Grand View (Iowa) 85.5, 5. Providence (Mont.) 66.5

JAMESTOWN, N.D. – The Southern Oregon University women’s wrestling team will enter the final day of the NAIA Championships in pole position to win its first title after pushing seven individuals through to the semifinals on Friday at Newman Arena.

The No. 3-ranked Raiders’ top-end dominance left them with 101 ½ points through Day 1 – 5 ½ up on top-ranked Life (Ga.), which has eight wrestlers still alive with four in the semifinals. SOU entered the tournament with 12 qualifiers; its five others were eliminated in consolation action. Third-place Menlo (Calif.) and fourth-place Grand View (Iowa) also advanced eight individuals to Day 2 with 86 points and 85 ½, respectively.

Individual championship hopes are still alive for 101-pound senior Esthela Trevino, 109-pound senior Natalie Reyna, 123-pound sophomore Carolina Moreno, 136-pound freshman Bella Amaro, 143-pound senior Emily Se, 170-pound senior Joye Levendusky, and 191-pound senior Grace Kristoff. All seven have assured themselves of top-six finishes after rolling through the quarterfinals.

Collectively, the Raiders won 23 of 33 matches on the day, including 11 by fall and eight by technical fall.

Moreno, their lone No. 1 seed and the defending champion at 123, recorded a fall and two technical falls. Their No. 2 seeds, Se and Levendusky, combined for four pins and two techs. And their No. 3 seeds, Trevino and Reyna, combined for a pin and four techs.

Kristoff, seeded No. 10 at 191, pulled off back-to-back upsets by fall to reach her semifinal – finishing off No. 7 Catherine Palmieri of Life with 31 seconds left in the first round, then knocking off No. 2 Jesse Kirby of Cumberlands (Ky.) in 4:04. Amaro, seeded No. 6 at 136, also advanced in upset fashion, taking an 8-6 quarterfinal decision from No. 3 Paige Respicio of Providence (Mont.), who’d defeated Amaro at the Cascade Conference Championships. Amaro won by fall in her Round of 32 matches, then moved on with a 6-1 decision over No. 11 Eunique Davis of Missouri Baptist.

When the Raiders finished second in the team standings a year ago, they produced three semifinalists.

Glory Konecny, a senior 116-pounder, was the eighth Raider to advance to the quarterfinals. Senior 191-pounder Karrah Smith contributed two pins in the 191 consolation bracket, and Macie Stewart added a consolation victory at 109.

Saturday’s first session begins at 8 a.m. Pacific Time with the semifinals. The championship rounds are scheduled to begin at 5 p.m.

COMPLETE SOU RESULTS
101 – No. 3 Esthela Trevino
Round of 16 – Trevino tech. fall Jolie Lucas, Texas Wesleyan, 10-0 (4:30)
Quarterfinals – Trevino tech. fall No. 6 Esther Walker, Midland, 10-0 (2:21)

109 – No. 3 Natalie Reyna
Round of 32 – Reyna tech. fall Jenna Gerhardt, Jamestown, 12-1 (5:45)
Round of 16 – Reyna p. Alyssa Poe-Hatten, Providence, 5:22
Quarterfinals – Reyna tech. fall No. 11 Kory Phillips, Life, 11-0 (4:35)

109 – No. 6 Macie Stewart
Round of 16 – No. 11 Kory Phillips, Life, p. Stewart, 4:44
Consolation – Stewart dec. Barbara Greenberg, Menlo, 6-1
Consolation – No. 8 Faith Cole, Iowa Wesleyan, tech. fall Stewart, 10-0 (1:13)

116 – No. 12 Glory Konecny
Round of 16 – Konecny dec. Emma Jones, Indiana Tech, 4-3
Quarterfinals – No. 4 Camille Fournier, Texas Wesleyan, dec. Konecny, 7-2
Consolation – Jamesa Robinson, Brewton Parker, dec. Konecny, 6-0

123 – No. 1 Carolina Moreno
Round of 32 – Moreno tech. fall Alisha Van Scoy, Saint Mary, 12-0 (2:28)
Round of 16 – Moreno p. Alicia Frank, Providence, 3:42
Quarterfinals – Moreno tech. fall No. 9 Larissa Kaz, Hastings, 20-10 (5:33)

130 – Jordynn Robson
Round of 16 – No. 2 Sarah Savidge, Life, p. Robson, 1:08
Consolation – Olivia Branson, Baker, dec. Robson, 8-4

136 – No. 6 Bella Amaro
Round of 32 – Amaro p. Byanca Cook, Avila, 1:44
Round of 16 – Amaro dec. No. 11 Eunique Davis, Missouri Baptist, 6-1
Quarterfinals – Amaro dec. No. 3 Paige Respicio, Providence, 8-6

143 – No. 2 Emily Se
Round of 32 – Se p. Mariz Soliman, Vanguard, 1:17
Round of 16 – Se p. Migdayls Ramos, Brewton Parker, 1:30
Quarterfinals – Se tech. fall No. 10 Desiree Jones, Menlo, 10-0 (5:08)

155 – No. 12 Bailey Dennis
Round of 16 – No. 5 Madison Diaz, Grand View, dec. Dennis, 10-1
Consolation – Sierra Chavez, Campbellsville, dec. Dennis, 4-3

170 – No. 2 Joye Levendusky
Round of 32 – Levendusky p. Aalyah Villarreal, Texas Wesleyan, 1:16
Round of 16 – Levendusky p. Danielle Saldivar, Missouri Valley, 1:53
Quarterfinals – Levendusky tech. fall No. 10 Bob Geibe, Siena Heights, 10-0 (5:04)

191 – No. 10 Grace Kristoff
Round of 16 – Kristoff p. No. 7 Catherine Palmieri, Life, 1:29
Quarterfinals – Kristoff p. No. 2 Jesse Kirby, Cumberlands, 4:04

191 – Karrah Smith
Round of 32 – No. 5 Jaycee Foeller, Central Methodist, tech. fall Smith, 10-0 (3:14)
Consolation – Smith p. No. 6 Riley Dempewolf, Indiana Tech, 1:19
Consolation – Smith p. Gracie Goldsmith-Ding, York, 1:59
Consolation – No. 8 Olivia Brown, Grand View, tech. fall Smith, 10-0 (4:22)

Content used with permission, compliments of SOU Sports
Photo by Al Case, Ashland Daily Photo.