ATHERTON, Calif. – Vanguard women's wrestling began its second competitive season Sunday at the Menlo Open and VU tallied three podium finishes.  Lily El-Masri and River Todd each finished second, while Piper Hall finished third, giving the Blue and Gold one more medal than what the team garnered at the same event last year.
 
What Happened?  El-Masri scored a pin and a 10-0 victory to start the 170-pound bracket and reached the championship match after a 9-1 decision victory over Nikita Dhaliwal of Menlo.  Kalila Shrive, another Oak, was the opponent for El-Masri in the final and both wrestlers picked up four points in the opening period.  However, Shrive made a four-point move in the second frame and El-Masri could only counter with a two-pointer, leaving Shrive on the right side of the 9-6 final score.  El-Masri picks up her fourth podium finish in her VU career. 
 
The Lions were quite strong in the 136-pound bracket, as VU claimed two podium spots.  Todd made a pin to start her day and then picked up a 12-1 victory and a 7-0 decision.  It was much closer against Riley Dalrymple of Life in the semifinal, as she saw a 6-2 lead at the end of period one slowly dry up.  Dalrymple made a four-point takedown towards the end of regulation, but Todd had done enough to win 10-9. She then tangled with Waipuilani Estrella-Beauchamp of Providence and the Argo would pin Todd early on to take the gold, with Todd finishing in a very respectable second place.
 
Piper Hall beat Alexus Chavira of Fresno State via pin to open her journey in the 136-pound bracket, but top-seeded Dalrymple beat her 10-0.  Undeterred, Hall blasted through the consolation side of the bracket with three wins, pitting her against Janiah Jones in the tussle for third.  Hall was up 4-1 after one period and won the second half 5-3 to take the bronze with a 9-4 decision.  Leilani Lazaro picked up an 11-1 over Edna Fuentes of SOU but then lost her next meeting 11-0.  Moving to the consolation side of the bracket, Lazaro battled Jalynn Patino of Texas Wesleyan and was up 4-2 at the end of one period.  However, Patino flipped the script in the second half, taking the frame 6-3 and the bout 8-7.
 
Abbeygael Cabuag lost her opening match to Erin Hikiji of the University of Providence at 101 pounds but beat Isabella Bocanegra, another Argo, 2-0 in the consolation side of the bracket with a just one takedown in the first period.  Falling to Devyn Gomez of Life (Ga.) via pin, Cabuag was turned things around against Lillian McCollum of Missouri Baptist to pin the Spartan to secure a fifth-place finish.
 
At 123 pounds, Loretta Lopez racked up a 10-0 win over Carolina Rios of Texas Wesleyan to start her VU career but was then pinned by Alicia Frank of Providence.  Lopez pushed through the setback and was able to pick up a 9-6 victory over Mia Bonotan of Southern Oregon and followed that up with a pin of Kivah Caballero of Providence.  Her run then ended, as Menlo's Alana Vivas pinned her in the second period to keep her from reaching a top-five finish.
 
Lily Avalos had a good start in the 130-pound bracket with a 10-0 win over Myia Weiler of SOU.  However, Sarah Savidge of Life pinned her quickly in the first period to send her to the consolation side of the bracket.  She put away Menlo's Valynn Kwan with a 10-0 decision but unfortunately, Elizabeth Duvall of Texas Wesleyan pinned her in the first period of her next match.  Elena Ramirez also started with a win in the same weight class, as she beat Candace Wilson of Umpqua CC 10-0.  Louisa Schwab of Menlo won 12-0 in the next battle to put Rameriz in the consolation side of the bracket.  However, she was then able to rattle off two wins, as She pinned Juliana Raabe of Umpqua and beat Riley White of Missouri Baptist.  Sophie Sarver of Life was her next opponent and the Eagle would nab a pin in the first period.
 
Sadie Forman was pinned in her first fight at 143 pounds but did respond with an 8-7 win over Zitali Sarmiento of Westcliff.   Forman took  Eliza Goodwin of SOU to the end of regulation but Goodwin would prevail 7-0.  Meanwhile, Reyna Montenegro picked up two dominating wins over Zitlali Sarmiento and Isabel Guerreo, but Mea Mohler of Texas Wesleyan would win the next engagement 10-0.  She then held a 4-2 lead against Aspen Dodge of Providence at the end of one period, but Dodge made a pin late in the second to steal the win. 
 
Abena Adu was pinned in her first matchup of the day at 170 pounds but returned to the mat to pin Destiny Ware of Umpqua.  Unfortunately, she could not overcome Jennifer De La Torre, another Umpqua wrestler, who won via pin. Viviana Davalos lost to Tianna Fernandez of Menlo 10-0 and then to Arianna Rodriguez of Texas Wesleyan 11-0.  Jade Cabrera was bested by Isabelle Asuncion of Providence via pin and despite a valiant effort, then lost to Hayden Fry of Menlo. 

Norma Can was pinned by Andrea Karagiannis of MBU and though she got a takedown of Liv Villanueva, the SOU Raider went on to win 12-2.   Julie Garcia lost 10-0 to Juliana Diaz of MBU and then was pinned by Menlo's Jaquelin Negrete-Morales. Mya Crespo lost to Carolina Moreno of SOU 13-1 and then Sara Vela of Menlo 10-0.  Ireri Mares was pinned in her first dual of the day against top-seeded Latifah McBryde of Life but sadly, got injured her next bout and could not return.
 
 
What was Said?  "We beat some highly-ranked wrestlers," said Head Coach Joe Evano.  "It is so exciting to see the difference that a year makes.  This is an exciting team."