LA GRANDE, Ore. -- Sunday saw the Cascade Collegiate Conference Women's Wrestling Tournament, presented by U.S. Bank, take place on the campus of Eastern Oregon University, with 11 Vanguard wrestlers taking part for the first time in program history.  The team finished fifth and Lily El-Masri (FR/Novato, CA) qualified for the first-ever NAIA National Championships by finishing in a team-best second in the 170-pound class.  Marissa Ritchie (FR/Riverside, CA) also qualified by finishing third in the 116-pound bracket, with the rest of the Lions hoping for at-large bids to get to the NAIA Tournament.  Southern Oregon won the CCC Team Championship.

What Happened

170 Pounds:  El-Masri was the torch bearer for the Lions and she started her bracket with a dual against Olivia Robinson of Eastern Oregon.  The contest went the distance, with Robinson making two takedowns in the first period to lead 4-0.  El-Masri returned with a vengeance in the second frame, racking up eight unanswered points.  Robinson snuck in one last takedown with 10 seconds left but El-Masri held on for the 8-6 win.  Joye Levendusky of Southern Oregon would be the foe that El-Masri faced in the title bout, but it would not fall in favor of the Blue and Gold.  Levendusky pinned El-Masri in the first period but by finishing with the silver, El-Masri qualified for the National Tournament.

116 Pounds:  Ritchie started her venture with a pin of Paige Chafin of Easter Oregon in the first period.  That brought her up against Ashley Gooman of Providence and Gooman would win 10-0 in the first period.  Ritchie did not give up the fighting spirit and bounced back with a pin of Lily Grismer of Providence in her next bout.  That put her in the third-place fight and Ritchie would blank Glory Konecny of Southern Oregon 10-0 in the first period to take the bronze.  The CCC was given three spots in the 116-pound class for the NAIA Championships, putting Ritchie in the dance with her finish.  Julie Garcia (FR/Ontario, CA) lost both of her matches, falling via pin to Gooman in her first contest and then getting pinned by Chafin in her second bout.

136 Pounds:  Piper Hall (FR/Plymouth, PA) was taken out in her fist bout by Erin Redford of Eastern Oregon 11-1.  Despite moving to the consolation side of the bracket, Hall, jumped all over Madelyn Mazemke, also a Mountie, winning 11-0.  That put her in the third-place meeting and Bella Amaro of Southern Oregon would be her opponent.  Hall did her best but could not score a point, losing 10-0 but placing fourth.

143 Pounds:  Mariz Soliman (FR/Lake Elsinore, CA) tried to bypass Morgan Shines of Eastern Oregon to start but Shines rolled away to a 10-0 win.  Soliman lost by the same score to Menlo's Desiree Jones, putting her in the match for fifth.  Her opponent would be fellow Lion Jo Snider (SO/Huntington Beach, CA), who had been pinned by Liv Wieber in her first bout before falling 12-2 to Shines later on in the consolation bracket.  With a Vanguard wrestler guaranteed to finish fifth, the two went at it, with Soliman winning 10-0.

155 Pounds:  Ireri Mares (FR/Selma, CA) lost to Sadie Antoque of Providence 10-0 but rebounded by pinning Rosa Ramirez of Eastern Oregon.  However, top-seeded Bailey Dennis of Southern Oregon fell to the consolation side and quickly pinned Mares in their bout to send the Lion to the fifth-place matchup.  It would again be an all-VU affair, with Reyna Montenegro (FR/San Jacinto, CA) also entered into the bout for fifth.  She had been pinned by Alexandra Lopez of Menlo but made a second-period pin against Amara Halverson of Eastern Oregon to stay alive.  Montenegro then got flipped by Menlo's Shannon Workinger to put her in the match against Mares.  It took a couple of minutes but Montenegro got the pin on Mares to take fifth.

101 Pounds:  Viviana Davalos (FR/Santa Ana, CA) lost to Esthela Trevino of Southern Oregon via pin and then exited the bracket against Tianna Fernandez of Menlo, falling 10-0 in the first period.

123 Pounds:  Nevaeh Chambers (FR/Anaheim, CA) was blanked 11-0 by Haley Narahara of Menlo and then bowed out of the tournament as Alicia Frank of Providence pinned her in the first period.  Jade Cabrera (FR/Riverside, CA) also went 0-for-2, getting pinned by Frank in her first dual and then getting shutout by Narahara later on in the consolation bracket 10-0.

What was said?  "I'm so proud of this team.  This conference is one the best in the nation and these athletes layed it all on the line.  We are developing something amazing," said Head Coach Joe Evano.