ATHERTON, Calif. -- Vanguard women's wrestling battled at the Cascade Collegiate Conference Tournament on Sunday for the second time in program history and the squad doubled its NAIA National Tournament qualifiers.  The team finished fourth out of the eight teams competing, up one spot from last year.  The Lions picked up two silvers with Lily El-Masri and River Todd, and netted three fourth-place finishers.  With eight total automatic qualifiers, up from four in the 2022-23 campaign, the Lions will start gearing up for the NAIA National Tournament on March 8-9.
 
 
What Happened?
 
101 Pounds
#20 Abbeygael Cabuag took on #11 Liana Ferreira of Southern Oregon to open her day but did not score in a 10-0 win for the Raider.  She then had to face #19 Karly Scott, another SOU wrestler, and Cabuag took a technical fall win, as she battered Scott 11-1.  Reaching the third-place bout, Cabuag had to face Ferreira for a second time.  Having seen her opponent in action, Cabuag showed she had learned from her experience by leaving the first period tied 2-2 with the Raider.  Cabuag got another takedown in the second, but Ferreira tallied six points to snag an 8-4 decision.  However, Cabuag's valiant effort still netted her fourth in the weight class and an automatic NAIA Tournament spot.
 
109 Pounds
#14 Angie Dill faced #16 Liv Villanueva of SOU and though she fought hard, Dill ended on the wrong side of a 10-0 decesion.  Like Cabuag, Dill rallied in her first match in the consolation bracket, rolling over Simpson's Melanie Salazar 11-0.  That pitted Dill against Nizhoni Tallman of Evergreen State (Wash.) and the two were tied after one period.  But Tallman was able to get past the guard of Dill in the second period, as Tallman won 9-4.  Moving to the contest for fifth, Dill gave up the first takedown of the match to #18 Nayeli Flores Roque of Eastern Oregon.  But that was it for the EOU wrestler, as Dill made a takedown and evolved that into a pin to secure fifth and an automatic bid to the National Tournament.
 
116 Pounds
Kaylie Lara-Villagrana took on Alexia Fabian of Evergreen State and the two were neck-and-neck the entire bout.  Lara-Villagrana led 8-3 after the opening period, but Fabian was able to counter that and take the second period 8-2, as Fabian narrowly escaped with an 11-10 decision victory.  Lara-Villagrana then took on EOU's Kandence Beck and though the Lion wrestled hard, Beck made a pin in the first period.
 
123 Pounds
Leilani Lazaro stood against #8 Fernandez Lopez of SOU and the Raider would hold a 4-2 lead after one period.  Lazaro fought back for two more takedowns as the clock neared zero, but she could not get the tying move, as Lopez won 8-6.  Facing Evergreen State's Ellabelle Taylor, Lazaro again trailed after one period, as Taylor picked up three points.  Lazaro rebounded with six points in the second, but Taylor matched her point for point, as Lopez would advance with a 9-6 decision.
 
#15 Loretta Lopez was equal with #14 Alicia Frank of Providence (Mont.) in her first dual, as each wrestler netted four points during regulation.  Unfortunately, Frank held the edge in tiebreakers, allowing her to advance.  Lopez then took on #20 Paige Chafin of EOU and while Lopez got two takedowns in each period, Chafin was able to take a 14-8 victory to advance in the bracket.  While it was not her best day, Lopez did qualify for the NAIA Tournament based on the allocated slots to the CCC.
 
130 Pounds
#8 Lily Avalos beat Providence's (#9) Paige Respicio with a pin in the first period to start her journey, pitting her against top-seeded and NAIA #1 Carolina Moreno of SOU.  Avalos held her ground, but Moreno slowly took over, resulting in a pin of Avalos.  Knowing she had her first defeat, Avalos crushed EOU's (#14) Anna Rodriguez 12-0 to put her in the third-place dual.  There, another Argo waited, as #4 Alyssa Randles jumped on the mat.  While Avalos showed good strength, Randles snuck around her defenses to win 10-0.  Despite that, Avalos qualified for the NAIA Tournament because of her fourth-place finish, the second fourth for VU in the tournament.
 
Elena Ramirez took on Menlo's (#3) Louisa Schwab and though she got two takedowns, Rameriz could not get any other points and took a 14-4 defeat.  In the consolation side of the bracket, Rameriz got the opening takedown against Sitlaly Macias of EOU.  However, Macias quickly revved up the engine after that and would collect a pin to advance.
 
136 Pounds
#15 Piper Hall lost to top-seeded and NAIA #4 Waupuilani Estrella-Beauchamp of Providence via pin in the first period in her opening bout of the day, which moved her to a game against Samantha Barragan of Menlo.  Hall left it all on the mat but just fell short 14-3.  But, her result still qualified her for the NAIA Tournament thanks to the number of open positions given to the CCC.
 
#7 River Todd smashed Alondra Hernandez of Simpson 13-0 to pick up her first win of the day, which drew Todd against #5 Stephanie Chavez of Menlo.  The two grappled for the duration of regulation, with each wrestler stuck on six points.  But that worked in Todd's favor, as she got the tiebreaker decision to allow her to advance.  That put Todd in the championship bout with Estrella-Beauchamp and the two put on quite the show.  The Argo scored the first five points, but Todd responded with six unanswered.  But the lead did not last, as the Argo got two points right before the end of the first to hold a slim 7-6 edge.  Estrella-Beauchamp got the first takedown of the second frame, but Todd picked up one of her own.  The Lion tried to flip the scoreboard as the seconds ticked away, but though she got one more takedown, Estrella-Beauchamp held on for a 12-10 victory.  Todd took an impressive second and netted an automatic qualifying spot for nationals in the process.
 
143 Pounds
Charlize Jewell took on second-seeded and NAIA #7 Desiree Jones of Menlo in her first bout and Jones went on to win 11-0.  Jewell reloaded and fought top-seeded (#3) Bella Amaro of SOU with all that she had, but Amaro would collect a pin to advance.  That put Jewell in the battle for fourth and Kailey Reese of Providence pinned Jewell, who finished in fifth. 
 
170 Pounds
#19 Abena Adu dispatched #10 Katelyn Lewis of Providence with a pin in the first period, which slotted Adu against top-seeded and NAIA #8 Shenita Lawson of SOU.  Adu gave it her all but the Raider made a pin in the first period.  Adu then bypassed Viktoriya Dovhoruka of Evergreen State 11-0 to put her in the engagement for third.  There she faced #3 Kalila Shrive of Menlo, and though Adu worked vigorously to make a takedown, Shrive snared a pin to pick the bronze.  But a fourth-place finish, the third for VU, gave Adu a ticket to the NAIA Tournament. 
 
Lily El-Masri easily pinned Dovhoruka in the first period to start her day and then took down her Menlo nemesis, Shrive, with a pin in 94 seconds.  That put El-Masri in the tussle for gold against Lawson but in a shocking turn of events, after each wrestler picked up four points, Lawson spotted an opening and pinned El-Masri.  Though not the result she wanted, the silver guarantees that El-Masri will be a force to be reckoned with at the NAIA Tournament.
 
 
What's Was Said?  "We got eight," said Head Coach Joe Evano.  "I'm so proud of the way we wrestled at the toughest conference tournament in the NAIA.  We are going to enjoy this success today, but we will get back to work training for the big dance.  The sky is the limit for these athletes and I'm just blessed to get the best seat in the house to watch them work.