MARSHALL, Mo. -- Vanguard women's wrestling ventured east and participated in the Missouri Valley Open the past two days.  The Lions had a strong showing from a lot of wrestlers and got top-eight finishes from Lily El-Masri (fourth), Piper Hall (fifth), and Abbeygael Cabuag (sixth).
 
What Happened?  The Lions had only one wrestler at 101 pounds, but Cabuag grabbed two wins to start the tournament on Friday.  She took down Kiona Conner of McKendree 8-4 after leading 7-1 after one period, and then pinned Emma Lewis of Iowa Central CC.  She faced Sterling Dias of Iowa and the Hawkeye would prevail via pin, which set Cabuag up against Karly Scott of Southern Oregon on the consolation side of the bracket.  Cabuag opened Saturday with a big 10-0 decision over Scott to pit her against Isabella Morales of Colorado Mesa.  Cabuag put up the first six points of the contest but Morales responded with the next four.  However, Cabaug made one more takedown in the second period to win 8-5 and get another step closer to third.  Unfortunately, Alysaa Quezaire put a damper on that effort by taking the next bout 7-1.  That moved Cabuag into the fight for fifth and she wrestled as best she could after such a long event, but Esther Walker of Midland (Neb.) would take fifth with a 10-0 victory.  Yet did Cabuag recorded her second-straight finish inside the top eight at a tournament with her sixth-place result.
 
At 123 pounds, Loretta Lopez snagged two wins on Friday, starting with a tight affair against Allison Hynes of Central Methodist.  The two ended regulation tied at 6-6 and Lopez made the takedown in sudden victory to advance.  Her next opponent was Zoe Shariq of Baker and Lopez dispatched her with a quick pin.  She then took on top-seeded Maya Davis of Grand View and she made one takedown but could not find any others, losing 12-2.  Lopez  tried to avenge herself in the consolation side of the bracket, but Julia Vidallon upended her 10-0.
 
Leilani Lazaro was one of four wrestlers in the 130-pound bracket for the Blue and Gold and she was ahead 14-13 against Cameron Ortiz of Campbellsville in the second period, but Ortiz would make a late pin to advance.  Lazaro then racked up a 12-2 victory over Alyssa Jackson of Colorado Mesa and followed that up with a pin of Valeria Acevedo-Hernandez of Texas Women's University.  But Iowa's Lilly Luft would take the next bout 10-0 to give Lazaro her second defeat of the tournament.
 
Elena Ramirez took on top-seeded Bella Williams and while Rameriz gave it her all, Williams prevailed 10-0.  She was able to take some revenge against Samara Lusk of GV, pinning the Viking in the first period.  She also put up a tech-fall victory, 11-0, over Mckenna Deckelman of CMU.  Unfortunately, Ortiz would defeat her second VU wrestler of the day by pinning Rameriz in the first period, as Rameriz finished the event 2-2.    Katelynn Hernandez opened her day with a pin of Abigail Mattson of Missouri Baptist and followed that up with another pin, this time over Madelynn Griffin of Ottawa (Kansas).  She then squared off against Devin Patton of William Penn (Iowa) and despite a spirited effort, Patton would win 10-0.  Yet again, Ortiz showed up in the path of a VU wrestler and Hernandez finished the first period ahead 4-0.  However, Ortiz poured it on in the second half and would collect a pin to advance.
 
Lily Avalos was also in the bracket and she drew Joanna Vanderwood of WPU to start.  Though Avalos collected a takedown, she would fall to Vanderwood 12-2.  But her journey was far from over, as she rebounded with a 16-8 thumping of Laura Alcantor Soto of Simon Fraser.  She then blanked Mikyah Cain of Baker (Kansas), Laisha Rios of Texas Women's, and Willow Barnes of Missouri Valley 10-0 to stay alive and fight again on Saturday.  The second day brought Alexandra Baudhuin of Iowa for Avalos and she got off to a slow start, as the Hawkeye tallied eight unanswered points early on.  Avalos desperately tried to counter, picking up one takedown late, but was unable to make up more ground and bowed out on 8-2 decision.
 
Hall ran through her first two opponents in the 136-pound bracket.  She won 11-0 in the first period against Tatiana Bermudez of Tiffin and then upended Grace Valadez of Wayland Baptist via pin.  She then pinned Katrina Cortez of Lourdes despite trailing early in the first period, but top-seeded Aileen Lester of Ottawa was a tougher battle.  Hall would win the first period 6-4 but Lester would take the second frame 3-0 to sneak by with an 8-6 decision.  Hall then faced Gabriella Perez on Saturday and Hall would make a takedown early on, but Perez responded with one as well to tie things at 2-2.  But Hall carried the day in the second period, scoring all four points to advance with a 6-2 decision.  Hall then pinned Jade Trolland of Simon Fraser in the first period to advance again and then squared off against Alexandra Szkotnicki of McKendree. Hall held a 4-0 advantage in the first but Szkotnicki then rolled off four points to tie things up, with Szkotnicki unfortunately pinning Hall later in the first period.  Hall then fought for fifth in a rematch against Lester and this time, the Lion would not be denied.  She bashed her way to an 11-0 victory in the first period to claim fifth and a second-straight top-eight finish.
 
River Todd got the first takedown in her match with Mattison Parker of Texas Wesleyan but Parker would score the next six points.  Todd struck back with a takedown in the second but Parker found one more to narrowly edge out the Lion 7-4.  But Todd wanted to wrestle on Saturday and she would accomplish that goal, ripping through her next four matches with only one point scored against her.  She garnered 10-0 wins over Isabel Jues of Iowa Lakes CC, Aliza Leander of Sacred Heart, and Anayka Besco of Iowa.  She also tallied an 11-1 win over Julianna Kilroy of McKendree during the run, setting her up against Valerie Glenn of Colorado Mesa.  Todd picked up right where she had left off on Saturday morning, pinning Glen in the first period.  Her next opponent was Mattison Parker of Texas Wesleyan and Todd was ferocious in the first period, leading 8-2 at the horn.  But Parker had something up her sleeve and was able to pull a pin out of nowhere on Todd to shock her just shy of the top eight.
 
Reyna Montenegro was in the 143-pound bracket and took on Emma Walker of Campbellsville in her first match.  However, the Tiger would win 12-0, as Montenegro moved to the consolation side of the bracket.  She put up a pin of Kaydence Bonewell of Ottawa and then advanced because her next opponent had to withdraw.  Miggy Ramos came down the bracket to face her and a low-scoring affair ensued, but Montenegro took advantage of her chances and made the lone takedown in the second period to advance.  However, Anna Stephens of Westminster would pin Montenegro in the opening period to give the Lion her second loss.
 
Abena Adu took down Lila Bloomer with a pin to start her Friday in the 170-pound bracket but Aime Hernandez Perez of York would pin Adu for her first loss of the day.  She would put up a tough battle against Jennifer Curtin of Colorado Mesa, bagging four points right out of the gate.  But Curtin would rally and score the next six points before pinning Adu late in the first. 
 
El-Masri started her Friday with a victory over Alissa Dubois of Tiffin via pin within a minute of the start of the match.  She went down 4-0 against Ruby Rios of McKendree in the first period, but El-Masri would outscore her opponent 17-2 the rest of the match for a 17-6 tech-fall victory.  She then took on Jewel Gonzalez of Gannon and Gonzalez held a 3-0 edge after one period.  But El-Masri responded with three unanswered points of her own to tie the bout at 3-3.  With no other scoring, sudden victory was needed and El-Masri would expertly jump first and secure the win.  That set her up against Kylie Welker of Iowa and despite putting up her best against a NCAA DI foe, Walker would take the bout 10-0.  Down but not out, El-Masri needed two wins to finish third and took care of business against Annabelle Helm of Gannon.  El-Masri was ahead 8-2 after one and finished the job in the second period, winning via pin with just 20 seconds left.  El-Masri was ready to take on another Hawkeye for the bronze, but the first period did not go her way, as she would trail 6-2 to Haley Ward.  But El-Masri would show the best she had in the second half, as she would take the frame 4-2, though she ended up just short and finished fourth on an 8-6 decision.
 
What was Said?  "We wrestled well," said Head Coach Joe Evano.  "This team loves to compete.  It was fun to watch.  There are no easy matches at this tournament and this team went after every opponent."
 
What's Next?  The Lions will have their first home event in program history on Saturday, December 2, at 10:00 a.m. against Menlo.