Kelly Escamilla and
Cayden Condit both earned fourth place finishes at the North Central Women's Wrestling Open in Naperville, Illinois on Saturday. As team, the Lions finished fifth out of 16 teams in a loaded field that featured some of the top women's wrestlers in the country, including four of the top six teams in the nation.
Escamilla dropped her second round match to London Houston of King University, but rallied back to win her next three matches by fall to earn a rematch against Houston in the consolation championships. Houston, who is ranked #6 nationally, proved to be a little too much for Escamilla again, and the Lindenwood freshman from Whittier, California earned a fourth place finish at 143 pounds. Escamilla finished the day 4-2 and had two of the fastest pins on the day, earning pins in 26 and 30 seconds.
Condit steamrolled her way to the 123 pound semi-finals by earning two technical falls in her first two matches, including a 12-0 technical fall over Amani Jones of North Central. Condit, who is unranked, defeated Jones who is currently ranked #6 in the nation and won a gold medal in women's wrestling at the 2021 Junior Pan American Championships. Condit lost her semifinal match to the #1 ranked Cheyenne Sisenstien of King University, but advanced to the third place match before losing to Jones in a rematch of their quarterfinal contest. Condit had the second fastest tech fall of the day when she won her first round match against Megan Stutsman of McKendree 10-0 in only 26 seconds.
Other notable performances include:
- Athena Willden (136 lbs) - finished the day 2-2 with one win by fall and one by technical fall
- Sara Lake (155 lbs) - finished the day 2-2 with her two losses coming against the #2 and #4 ranked wrestlers in the nation
- Valeriia Mamleeva (109 lbs) - won her opening match by fall with a pin at 26 seconds, tying her with teammate Escalmilla for the fourth fastest pin of the day
The Lions are off for the holidays and will return to the mat for the NWCA National Duals in Louisville, Kentucky on January 6-7, 2022.
