Women's wrestling earned two victories against MacMurray College, but lost the overall dual 27-20 at home Friday evening at Evan's Commons in St. Charles, Missouri.
The Lady Lions fell behind early after forfeiting the 101 lb. match to Tory Marrufo from the Highlanders. Makaley Mena made her debut for Lindenwood in her first wrestling match ever in the 109 lb. class. She held off Johnvanique Porter for over a minute, but was pinned at 1:18, giving MacMurray a 10-0 lead.
Angelique Torrones-Cruz put the Lady Lions on the board with a technical fall win in 2:42 over Jocelyne Hernandez to cut the Lindenwood deficit to six. That margin went down to just one after
Jasmine Ward received a forfeit in the 123 lb. match, and the Lady Lions took a 13-10 lead after
Alexis Altamira defeated CJ Bush by technical fall in 5:05.
Unfortunately, that lead was erased in the next match when Highlander Mia Dow pinned
Natalie Cregger in 1:39 at 136 lbs. MacMurray built a 20-13 lead after Julianna Moreno pinned
Belle Erhardt in the 143 lb. match.
Kennedy Cox made her Lindenwood debut in the 155 lb. match. She normally wrestled at 143 lbs., but moved up to take on a seasoned competitor in Alexis Lopez. It went the distance, but Cox lost an 8-3 decision. MacMurray earned three points and the Lady Lions earned one, giving the Highlanders a 23-14 advantage.
Lindenwood still had a chance to win the dual, but needed pins in the final two matches.
Maya Shimizu returned to action for the Lady Lions in the 170 lb. match after sitting out the previous two competitions due to injury. She earned a take-down against Zanaya Shropshire, but the MacMurray athlete fought back to earn a 12-2 technical fall victory. That gave the Highlanders a 27-15 lead and clinched the evening.
Valerie Gaytan received a forfeit in the 191 lb. match for the final margin.
Despite the defeat, Head Coach
Mike Mena was positive.
"We continue to improve every week," he said. "The work being done at practice is paying off."
Women's wrestling returns to the mat for the Bearcat Open February 8 on the campus of McKendree University in Lebanon, Illinois.
