Freshmen Rise Up in 27-19 Top-10 Win Over Missouri Valley

Oskaloosa--The Statesmen women's wrestling team enjoyed a youth movement Thursday as it cruised past #9 Missouri Valley 27-19 in a Heart of America Athletic Conference dual meet.

#6 WPU (1-1, 1-1 Heart) won six of the evening's 10 matches, all by bonus points to claim its first victory of the campaign.

A trio of freshmen collected victories, beginning with 103-pounder Lily Zapata (Fr., Lewisville, Texas, Sociology).  Zapata, who is ranked #12, opened the night by pounding #9 Sage Beltran with a 14-4 technical fall at 103 pounds.

MVC (2-5, 0-2 Heart) answered with a win at 110 pounds, but the hosts then took over with four consecutive victories, beginning with a 10-0 technical fall by Zao Estrada (Fr., Bluffton, S.C., Sociology) over Jaylenn Hudlemeyer at 117 pounds.

124-pounder Joanna Vanderwood (Sr., Graham, Wash., Nursing) then followed that with her own 10-0 technical fall against Ashtyn Sagely.

The 131-pound matchup presumably could have been the showdown of the dual, featuring the top two rated wrestlers in the league who are also both ranked in the top five in the NAIA.  #3 Devin Patton (Jr., Plano, Texas, Business Management) had other plans, however, as she dominated #5 Ashley Whetzal 10-0 in a bout that was over in less than a minute.  The junior's match was highlighted by scoring six immediate points right off the first whistle.

Kendall Bostelman (Jr., Napoleon, Ohio, Exercise Science) closed out the Statesmen run by collecting a forfeit at 138 pounds.

Naida Abdijanovic (Jr., St. Louis, Mo., Biology) nearly extended the streak, but fell just shy in a 5-4 decision to Sevreign Aumua.

Fortunately, unranked Alexa Wolf (Rogers, Ark., Business Management) got WPU back on track as she upset #18 Aniseta Acosta by fall in 2:57 at 160 pounds.

The Statesmen dropped the final two matches, but the win was already locked up at that point.

"Our ladies brought some good fight tonight," Head Coach Jake Kadel said.  "Kudos to our freshmen for rising to the occasion with some really good wins.  Coach Cash Wilcke did a great job getting these ladies prepped this week and it paid off.  Overall, it was a pretty dominating performance; I think we could have won a couple more matches as well."

Next Up: William Penn travels to Crete, Neb. Saturday to compete in the Doane Open at 9 a.m.

103--Lillian Zapata (W) won by technical fall over Sage Beltran, 14-4 (MVC scored one team point by scoring in the match) (4-1)
110--Hailey Holland (M) won by fall over Teya Garner, 1:38 (4-6)
117--Zao Estrada (W) won by technical fall over Jaylenn Hudlemeyer, 10-0 (8-6)
124--Joanna Vanderwood (W) won by technical fall over Ashtyn Sagely, 10-0 (12-6)
131--Devin Patton (W) won by technical fall over Ashley Whetzal, 10-0 (16-6)
138--Kendall Bostelman (W) won by forfeit (21-6)
145--Sevreign Aumua (M) won by decision over Naida Abdijanovic, 5-4 (WPU scored one team point by scoring in the match) (22-9)
160--Alexa Wolf (W) won by fall over Aniseta Acosta, 2:57 (27-9)
180--Elise Falcetti (M) won by fall over Grace Gray, 2:35 (27-14)
207--Kelani Corbett (M) won by fall over Daisy Cabriales, 1:13 (27-19)