Statesmen Fall in Home and Heart Opener
Oskaloosa–In a top-10 battle featuring a large number of ranked wrestlers, the William Penn women’s wrestling team fell 32-12 to #3 Grand View in a Heart of America Athletic Conference dual meet Wednesday.
#8 WPU (2-3, 0-1 Heart) started slowly on the program’s inaugural Senior Night as Samantha Ruano (Sr., Romeoville, Ill., Business Management) and Mya Turnmire (Sr., Machesney Park, Ill., Sports Management) were honored. The hosts did, however, put together a string of wins near the end in a matchup that teetered on being much closer than the final score indicated.
After the hosts came up empty in the first three bouts, Grecia Martinez (So., Horizon City, Texas, Engineering) finally got the Statesmen on the board as she scored a team point in a 12-2 loss to Catherine Campbell at 123 pounds. William Penn trailed 17-1 at that juncture.
In a matchup that could have turned the tide, Joanna Vanderwood (Jr., Graham, Wash., Nursing) was one back exposure away from a quick victory over Maya Davis at 130 pounds, but unfortunately was caught in a move shortly thereafter and lost.
Two weight classes later, Isabelle Hawley (So., Winchester, Calif., Sociology) started the aforementioned navy and gold run as she held off Madison Diaz 4-1 at 143 pounds.
Adaugo Nwachukwu (Jr., San Jose, Calif., Exercise Science) then brought the crowd to its feet as she jumped up two weight classes and still shut out Mahealani Ramirez 10-0 at 155 pounds.
Finally, in likely the most-anticipated contest of the evening, Ashley Lekas (So., Plano, Texas, Business Management), who had been on the mat just four times this season due to injury, met up with #1 Abby McIntyre. Lekas dominated from the opening whistle and defeated the top-ranked Viking by a 10-0 technical fall.
Unfortunately, the Statesmen rally came too late and was too small to make up the difference as Grand View improved to 11-2 on the year (4-0 Heart).
“We competed pretty well for the most part against the #3 team in the country,” Head Coach Jake Kadel said. “We showcased a lot of good things in our performance and had some minor details that were the difference in a lot of matches.”
“Grecia Martinez did a great job of staying in the match and improved since the last match she had against the same opponent, while Joanna Vanderwood was one turn away from tech-falling the #3 wrestler in the country,” Kadel added. “I am proud of the selflessness of some of our wrestlers to bump up some weight classes. Isabelle Hawley also had a big win over her #6-ranked opponent, while Adaugo Nwachukwu’s dominance up two weight classes showcased her fan-favorite status by tech-falling the #12 ranked girl at that weight class. Ashley then wrestled lights-out and had an outstanding performance against the #1 wrestler in the nation.”
Next Up: William Penn travels to Forest City next Monday to face Waldorf and Missouri Valley in a pair of Heart dual meets beginning at 6 p.m.
101–Jalen Bets (G) won by technical fall over Teya Garner, 10-0 (0-4)
109–Judy Sandoval (G) won by fall over Mya Turnmire, 1:23 (0-9)
116–Mayangelie Colon (G) won by technical fall over Catherine Steinkamp, 10-0 (0-13)
123–Catharine Campbell (G) won by technical fall over Grecia Martinez, 12-2 (1-17) (WPU scored a team point by scoring in the match)
130–Maya Davis (G) won by fall over Joanna Vanderwood, 1:35 (1-22)
136–Andrea Schlabach (G) won by fall over Devin Patton, 2:39 (1-27)
143–Isabelle Hawley (W) won by decision over Madison Diaz, 4-1 (4-28) (GVU scored a team point by scoring in the match)
155–Adaugo Nwachukwu (W) won by technical fall over Mahealani Ramirez, 10-0 (8-28)
170–Ashley Lekas (W) won by technical fall over Abby McIntyre, 10-0 (12-28)
191–Olivia Brown (G) won by technical fall over Samantha Ruano, 11-0 (12-32)
