ATHERTON, Calif. – Vanguard women's wrestling started the season on Sunday with six wrestlers traveling to the Menlo Open. A trio VU participants placed at the event and
Alexis Garza grabbed the first podium of the year for the program with a third-place finish.
What Happened? Garza and
Abbeygael Cabuag wrestled for the Lions at 110 pounds and Garza started against Emma Baertlein of Southern Oregon University and Garza was able to hold her for the most part in the first period. She trailed 4-0, but though she fought well, Baertlein would find a pin in the second period. Meanwhile, Cabuag opened against Domonique Lopez of SOU and she rolled through the Raider, leading 8-3 after one frame and picking up a pin in the second to advance. She then faced Kayla McKinley-Johnson and while Cabuag battled hard, McKinley-Johnson would win in the second period 12-2. Garza defeated Chelsea Becera of Southwest Oregon CC 9-1 in her next bout, which then pitted the two Lions against each other in the consolation bracket. With a deep knowledge of each other, the two went the distance, with Garza getting the lone takedown with 41 seconds left to advance 2-1. That put her in the bout for third and Garza faced Rubie Winterburn of Southwestern Oregon and she did not falter with a podium on the line. Garza put the pedal down and tallied six unanswered points in the first to lead 6-2, tacking on four more in the second to claim bronze with a 10-2 decision. Cabuag had reached the placing rounds as well and tussled with Leilah Patel of MC for fifth but she could not find a way around the Oak, as Cabuag placed sixth for Vanguard in the bracket.
Mya Crespo was the lone VU wrestler at 117 pounds and she threw all that she could against Morgan Johnson of Texas Wesleyan in her first match. But despite her hard effort, Johnson would make a pin of Crespo in the first period. Crespo responded with a strong pin of Rebecca Fletcher in her next bout to keep her tournament going and her next opponent was Briseis Serrano of SOU. Though Crespo showed her tenacity again, Serrano made a pin in the first period to advance in the bracket.
Mikayla Marquez made her VU debut at 131 pounds and faced Chloe Herrick of Missouri Baptist in her first collegiate bout. She got a takedown in the second period but could not overcome Herrick, who won 11-2. Marquez then had to face Myia Weiler of SOU to stay alive and she showed that desperation, but Weiler came away with a 10-0 win to advance.
Julie Garcia represented the Blue and Gold at 138 points and her first foe was Valynn Kwan of Menlo, who unfortunately made a pin in the first period. Garcia then faced SOU's Eliza Goodwin and Garcia trailed 2-0 after one frame. She continued to wrestle smartly but Goodwin found a late opening that allowed her to make a pin.
Johanna Forman started her run in the 160-pound bracket with a meeting with Aubrey Yauger of Texas Wesleyan and Forman stormed away for a 14-5 rout to collect her first win of the day. But her next opponent was Shannon Workinger and the former MC wrestler wrestled as well ash she did last year, as she beat Forman 10-0 despite Forman giving a good accounting of herself. Froman responded well by fighting hard against Sariah Zepeda of SOU. The two combatants were tied at 7-all when Forman made her lunge and rolled Zepeda for a pin to advance in the consolation side of the bracket. She then dispatched Anastasia Hardin of MBU in the first 30 seconds of the match with a pin to set up a date with Josette Partney of MBU. Forman tried her best, but Partney was able to prevail 10-0. However, Forman had done enough to place and she easily beat Alana Ontiveros of Menlo with a pin inside of 22 seconds to take fifth in one of the biggest brackets at the event.
What was said? "We wrestled very well for our first tournament of the year and there are a lot of great things to come for this program," said Head Coach
Joe Evano.
What's Next? The team will travel to Montana for individual and team events on the eighth and ninth at the University of Providence.
