Women’s Wrestling Earns Upset Win over #17 Ottawa
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – (RV) Avila women's wrestling scored a major victory for the program on Thursday night in Mabee Fieldhouse, earning a 30-18 victory over (17) Ottawa, one of the top teams in the conference and in the NAIA, in the Eagles' first KCAC dual of the 2023-24 campaign.
The Braves were operating at less than full strength, to be sure, but it was still a landmark victory for an Eagle program on the rise in just the third year of the program. It was only Avila's second dual event of the season against a big step up in competition compared to their first dual against William Woods. But the Eagles, who were also operating short of their full lineup, have gained some critical experience over their last couple of open events which proved critically important in this primetime showdown between two local conference rivals.
Avila set the tone early with three straight match wins to start the night, building up a 14-0 team lead that they would ultimately need to carry for the distance in an eventual 12-point win. Freshman Asha Pearson kicked things off with a first-period pin of Patience Okemba at 101, and freshman Jordyn Smith, in her season debut, followed with an 11-0 tech fall over two-sport Brave Erin Wetterstrom at 109. That set the stage for Markayla Lottie, Avila's nationally-ranked standout, to make her home debut in 2023 at 116, and she swiftly built a 6-0 lead before finishing off Addison Saporito with a pin to stake the home team to an early lead.
Ottawa was never going to stay down for long, though. The Braves earned wins in three of the next four weights – a pin and two techs – to score 13 team points and get right back into the dual. But three weight classes were the inflection points in an eventual Avila victory: nationally-ranked Aileen Lester was unable to go at 136, giving Byanca Cook a forfeit victory and five team points for the Eagles, and Avila won the pre-match coin toss – an often unimportant detail of a dual match that became critically important on this night – which forced the Braves to first declare the combatant at 155.
Ottawa put forth nationally-ranked Abigail Sebesta at that weight, so Avila elected to forfeit that weight and bump up Kirsten Bruegel to wrestle at 170 against Ingrid Beltran, and Bruegel quickly proved that that was the right decision from head coach Zach Revier and company: Bruegel pinned Beltran in the first period to give Avila five more points and lock in a team victory. Shannon Briggs then put that result beyond all doubt with a first-period revenge pin over Siara Arrington at 191, wrapping up an exciting 30-18 victory for the Eagles over the Braves.
Up next, a small crew of Eagles will make the trip out to Nebraska to compete in the Doane Open this Saturday, December 2, before Avila returns to Mabee Fieldhouse to take on Saint Mary in another KCAC dual next Thursday, December 8, at 7 PM. For details on how to watch and follow along, stay tuned to our website, avilaathletics.com.
