Warriors Excel on Home Mats
FREMONT, Neb. – No. 19 Midland University hosted nearly 200 wrestlers from around the region in the Warrior Open on Saturday inside the Wikert Event Center.
Highlighting the day was the 100th career win for Esther Walker. The No. 5-ranked wrestler in NAIA at 101 pounds finished third in her bracket, picking up her centennial victory along the way. Walker's day started shaky, as she suffered a loss in her first-round match to Mia Siqueiros of Iowa Western, by fall, at 5:31. Walker's momentous victory came in anti-climactic fashion, by injury default, over Olivia De Georgio of Hastings, in consolation round one. Walker moseyed through the consolation round with a second-round victory over Mana Chanthasone of Chadron by technical fall, 12-2. In consolation round three, Walker defeated Savannah Siqueiros of Iowa Western, by fall, at 0:08. Walker continued her winning ways in the consolation semifinals by downing Jalen Bets of Grand View, by technical fall, 10-0. Walker topped off her day in front of the home crowd with a third-place victory over her teammate, No. 13-ranked Zoe Omura, by technical fall, 10-0.
Omura finished fourth in the 101-pound bracket. In round one, Omura defeated Alanis Serrano-Rois of Waldorf by technical fall, 10-0. In the quarterfinals, Omura defeated Mana Chanthasone of Chadron by technical fall, 10-0. Omura missed out on an appearance in the championship when she suffered a loss to No. 17-ranked Karina Vang of Doane, by fall, at 1:36. Omura bounced back in the consolation semifinals with a win by fall over Britley Lopez of Chadron, at 0:27. Omura dropped the third-place match to Walker, to end her day.
The Warriors took control of the 123-pound bracket with a pair of teammates advancing to the championship match. Emily Paulino, who is ranked No. 4 in the NAIA, received a victory in round one via forfeit over Rosa Campos of Northwest Kansas Tech. In round two, Paulino won by fall over Joseline Perez of Iowa Western, at 0:22. In the quarterfinals, Paulino won by fall over Adilene Delgadillo of Morningside, at 1:58. Paulino advanced to the championship with another win by fall, this time in the semifinals over Julia Donnelly of Grand View Wrestling Club, at 0:32. In the championship, Paulino was to face her teammate Taylor Hood, however both wrestlers double forfeited, thus both claimed second place.
Hood began her day with a win by fall in the first round over Maria Perez, who wrestled unattached, at 0:26. In round two, Hood pinned Madelyn Plotz of Iowa Western, at 1:52. Hood picked up another victory via fall, in the quarterfinals, by pinning Shania Wear of Chadron. In the semifinals, Hood defeated Kailyn Younger of Iowa Central, by fall, at 2:35, to advance to the championship.
At 136 pounds, Eny Bravo dropped her first-round match to McKenna Hendrickson of Sioux Falls, by fall, at 1:32. Bravo advanced through consolation round one, receiving a forfeit. In consolation round two, Bravo lost to Emma Gruenhagen of Victory School of Wrestling, by fall, at 0:37.
Andrea Frisque wrestled at 143 pounds. In round one, Frisque lost to Olivia Cotton of Cornell, by decision, 9-8. After receiving a consolation round one bye, Frisque defeated Krystol Luna of Iowa Central, by fall, at 1:28. Frisque's day ended in consolation round three with a loss to Haidyn Snyder of Grand View, by technical fall, 10-0.
Makena Schramm returned to the mat at 155 pounds, after an injury earlier in the season. In round one, Schramm defeated Melany Vry of Grand View, by fall, at 3:49. In round two, Schramm defeated Elizabeth Hubbard of Missouri Valley, by fall, at 3:24. In the quarterfinals, Schramm lost to Kuuipo Chan of Waldorf, by a 10-4 decision. In consolation round four, Schramm lost to Lila Bloomer, wrestling unattached, by a score of 4-1.
At 191 pounds, Jasmin Ballesteros finished in third place. She began the day with a win over Skyler Bruno of Waldorf, by fall, at 1:27. Ballesteros dropped her quarterfinal round match to Makaela Simpson of Iowa Western, in a 9-6 decision. After Ballesteros earned a consolation round two victory via an injury default, she won her third-round match over Isabella Canada of Iowa Central, by technical fall, 10-0. In the consolation semifinals, Ballesteros defeated Makinzie Parsons of Iowa Western, by fall, at 2:32. Ballesteros finished off the day with a victory in the third-place bout, over Zoe Adam of Sioux Falls, by fall, at 2:07.
The Warriors will tune-up for their next event, the KCAC Championships. The competition will be on Saturday, February 24 in Crete, Nebraska. Competition is scheduled to begin at 9:00 a.m.