Victoria Francis won a national title, Monica Ramirez finished second, and six other Lindenwood wrestlers earned All-American status at the 2016 WCWA Women's National Championships February 12-13 at the Freede Center in Oklahoma City, Okla.  The Lady Lions finished in fifth place overall in team competition.

Francis went 5-0 in the 170 pound division to claim her individual championship.  After pinning Milagros Garcia from Southwest Oregon in the opening round, she defeated Jackie Quinones from Oklahoma City University (OCU).  A 12-7 decision over Kendall Reusing from Simon Fraser propelled her to the semis and a victory over Nadine Fiege from Life University.  In the finals, Francis topped Hanna Hall in an 11-4 decision to stand atop the podium.

Ramirez went 5-1 to take the runner-up position in the 136 pound class.  The Lindenwood junior started her run with a 12-2 decision over Kasey Kruczek from Campbellsville, then defeated Sydney Norvell from Southern Oregon in round two.  After a pin of Addie Lanning from Ottawa University, Ramirez earned a hard-fought 6-1 decision over Rachel Young from OCU, and followed it with a technical fall victory against Hannah Jewell from King University, but Ramirez was pinned in the final by Kayla Miracle from Campbellsville.

Axa Molina finished fifth at 130 pounds, with a record of 5-1.  After an opening round bye, the Lady Lion senior pinned her next two opponents, but was upended in the fourth round.  She came back with two decision wins before defeating Kalyn Schwartz from Southern Oregon in the fifth place match.

Paige Baynes only went 2-3 in the 191 pound division, but her victories came at the right time as she took sixth place.  After receiving a bye, Baynes pinned her next opponent and then earned a decision before falling in the fourth round.  She lost back-to-back one point decisions to finish the event, getting edged 4-3 and 5-4.  In other action in the 191 pound class, Gabriela Guzman took eighth with a record of 2-3, falling by decision in the seventh place match 9-6 to Monica Mason from OCU.
 

Tori Degginger finished seventh and Andrey Diaz took eighth in the 109 pound division.  Degginger went 5-2 in her matches, earning a pin in the first round, and finishing with a 10-1 decision over Diaz in the final round.  Diaz went 3-3 and also had a pin in the opening round.

Anna McAleavey took seventh at 143 pounds.  She posted a 4-2 record on the strength of two decisions and a pin, and finished with another pin in the final round over Marina Briceno from Wayland Baptist.

In team competition, the Lady Lions accumulated 139.5 points for fifth place, edging sixth place McKendree by just 3.5 points.  King University claimed the team title with 208 points, followed by OCU in second with 190.5, Simon Fraser in third with 170, and Campbellsville in fourth with 162.5.

Lindenwood had 17 wrestlers entered in the event.  A total of 25 teams attended.  After a five week break, the Lady Lions return to the mats in Oklahoma City, Okla., for the University Nationals March 25-26, once again, at the Freede Center. 

 

 

	2016 WCWA Women's Nationals	Points
1	King University	208.0
2	Oklahoma City University	190.5
3	Simon Fraser University	170.0
4	Campbellsville University	162.5
5	Lindenwood University	139.5
6	McKendree University	136.0
7	Menlo College	88.5
8	Wayland Baptist University	87.0
9	The University of the Cumberlands	85.0
10	Jamestown University	59.0
11	Southern Oregon University	50.5
12	Missouri Baptist University	46.5
13	Southwest Oregon C.C.	44.0
14	Life University	40.5
15	Lindenwood-Belleville	26.0
16	Missouri Valley College	25.5
17	Warner Pacific College	25.5
18	Lyon University	19.5
19	Emmanuel College	17.5
20	Adrian College	17.5
21	Ottawa University	14.0
22	Waldorf College	14.0
23	Pacific University	7.5
24	Ferum College	2.5
25	Midland Lutheran College	0.5