SACRAMENTO, Calif.  -- The Vanguard women's wrestling team competed in its final event in the calendar year at the West Coast Tournament of Champions yesterday.  VU was led by Angie Dill, who finished second, and Lily Avalos, who finished third.  The two podiums ties last year's outing at the event and the team finished fifth in the standings out of 19 teams.
 
 
What Happened?  Jade Cabrera was one of four Lions in the 116-pound bracket and she was able to get the only takedown of the first period to lead 2-1 against Sierra Gonzales of Eastern Oregon.  But the EOU wrestler outscored Cabrera the rest of the match 4-0, denying the Lion an opening win.  Cabrera reloaded and fought hard against Samantha Memmott of Snow College, but Memmott would pin Cabrera in the first period.  Julie Garcia gave her maximum effort against (#13) Joneisha Kennedey of Wayland Baptist but was pinned in the first frame.  She pushed Kadence Beck of EOU a little longer in her second match of the day but again would fall via pin.
 
Beck had opened her bracket run by unfortunately defeating Kaylie Lara-Villagrana 10-0 in the first period, but the Lion rebounded for her first win at VU after that.  She drew Lissette Lomeli and pinned her in 24 seconds into the contest to advance.  Kennedey would be her next opponent and though Lara-Villagrana tussled well, Kennedey would advance with a 13-0 win.

Dill made quick work of her first two opponents, as she pinned (#16) Hayden Fry of Menlo and Irma Retano of EOU within 50 seconds.  It took a little longer against Jaquelin Negrete-Morales, as the Oak was able to survive until the second period.  But Dill still finished matters with ease with a pin 1:22 into the second half to advance to the championship bout.  Menlo's Ajayzee Zaballos scored the only points in the opening frame to lead 6-0, but Dill did not fold.  She launched herself back into contention with two takedowns early in the second to tie things at 6-6, but Zaballos stole the fun with a takedown with two seconds left to win 8-6.
 
Elizabeth Morales Diaz was the lone Lion in the 123-pound tournament and pinned Cheyenne Cummings of Snow in the first few seconds of the opening frame to advance.  She gave a good account of herself against (#8) Alana Vivas of Menlo but Vivas made a pin in the first to put Morales Diaz in the consolation side of the bracket.  While Riley Omonaka of Linfield University made the first four points of their meeting, Morales Diaz would outscore her 8-6 the rest of the way, eventually pinning her in the first period.  However, Victoriana Kim of South Western Oregon CC, her next opponent, proved to be too much.  Morales Diaz was ahead 2-1 in the first but could not get in control again, as Kim would pin her soon thereafter.
 
VU again had four wrestlers in one class, with Leilani Lazaro starting off her run in the 130-pound bracket with a win.  She pinned Juliana Raabe of Umpqua CC in the first period and Makayla Heymann would be her next opponent.  The two engaged with almost equal force but Lazaro trailed 6-3 at the end of the first.  However, she then outscored Heymann 6-4 in the second and got a takedown to close the gap to 10-9 with seconds remaining, but could not flip Heymann one more time, as Lazaro lost 10-9. 
 
VU then had three elimination matches in a row that were comprised of Vanguard wrestlers.  Mya Crespo had been pinned by Anna Rodriguez of EOU and Elena Ramirez had been pinned by Anjolina Espinoza of Umpqua.  Ramirez and Crespo locked horns and Ramirez would emerge with a pin of Crespo to face Lazaro.  The two Lions almost went the distance but though Ramirez would score first, Lazaro would score the next 10 points and win 10-2 at the end of regulation. 
 
Avalos had put up a valiant effort against Louisa Schwab of Menlo but had lost 11-0.  But she was just getting started, as she quickly pinned Arianna Dominguez in her next match and blanked An Vo 12-0.  That is what got her to the bout against Lazaro, and in the third all-VU meeting, Avalos would win 12-2.  She continued her run by winning by that same score against Espinoza to reach the third-place match, where Zainab Ibrahim of Umpqua waited. Avalos was able to secure the bronze by rolling off 12 points in the first period, pinning Ibrahim with just shy of 30 seconds left in the frame.
 
At 143 pounds, Vanguard had Anatli Smalley and Noemi Nunez engaging in the bracket.  Smalley would be pitted against (#6) Desiree Jones of Menlo and though she fought well, Jones would pin Smalley in the first period.  Nunez faced Naomi Cortez and gave her all but would be pinned in the opening period.  Fate brought the two Lions against each other in the consolation bracket and Nunez would take the contest 10-0.  She moved on to face Alondra Hernandez of Simpson University and despite her best effort, Nunez would be pinned in the first period. 
 
The Blue and Gold had two wrestlers in the 155-pound bracket but Reyna Montenegro would lose her opening match to Trinity Bouchal via pin in the first frame.  She took that out on Leslie Sanchez of Umpqua, pinning her in 12 seconds to stay alive.  She then fought hard against Eleni Fakaosi but ended up on the wrong side of a 12-1 score.  Jo Snider showed moxie in her match against Leilani Sanchez but ended up getting pinned and though she tried to give it a go against Sanchez, she could not make the bout and had to pull out.
 
 
What was Said? "Such a fun day on the mat," said Head Coach Joe Evano.  "Several of our wrestlers got their first college wins.  We executed stuff we've been working on at practice.  And we got meaningful matches that just help us get better.  I couldn't have asked for a better way to conclude the fall semester."
 
What's Next?  The squad will have two duals on January 21 at Southern Oregon, taking on the Raiders and Simon Fraser of British Columbia.