ST. LOUIS – The Missouri Baptist Spartans opened their season with two wins in the two-day Patriot Duals Tournament held at the University of the Cumberlands, resulting in an 8th place finish in the 17-team field.
The Spartans (2-4) opened the tournament with back-to-back wins over Ferrum and Belleville. Missouri Baptist dominated in its 40-9 victory over Ferrum.
Savanna Barr pinned her opponent in the 109 weight class to put the Spartans ahead 6-3. Erika Mihalka, Aylin Hernandez and Julianna Tripplett also pinned their opponents to secure five points each for Missouri Baptist. The match also featured three forfeits favoring the Spartans, as well as a 15-5 decision won by Kassandra Castruita.
The Spartans also fared well against Belleville en route to a 30-16 victory. Barr started the scoring for Missouri Baptist by pinning her opponent to even the score 5-5. The rest of the match featured multiple forfeits, all in favor of Missouri Baptist. The five forfeits resulted in the final 25 points for the Spartans on their way to victory.
The final match on day one resulted in a 28-16 loss to Oklahoma City Baptist in a match the Spartans never led. Mihalca pinned her opponent in 20 seconds in the 130 pound weight class and Sarah Bollinger-Wajner and Hernandez also won their matches, but it wasn't enough.
After two wins in the opening round, the Spartans went winless in the final day. Tripplett won the Spartans lone individual match against King in a 38-6 loss to start the day.
The Spartans led 14-12 against Lindenwood in the second match after Bollinger-Wajner defeated her opponent 8-6. However, Lindenwood then pinned three consecutive Spartans to take a 13 point lead on its way to a 28-17 win.
The Spartans lost the final match of the tournament 29-18 to Oklahoma City in a fight for 7th place. Missouri Baptist led 18-10 after Bollinger-Wajner defeated her opponent in the 136-pound weight class, but didn't record a point in the final four individual matches.
Missouri Baptist will compete in the Midland Open on October 17th at Midland Lutheran University.
Day 1 Results Day 2 Results
