KANSAS CITY, Mo.- The Missouri Baptist University women's wrestling team competed in the AU Women's Eagle Open hosted by Avila University (Iowa) on Sunday, Dec. 14.
De'yton Young claimed the 110-pound title with a dominant victory over a returning All-American in the finals and a returning champion in the semifinals. The Spartans had five placers on the day.
Young rolled through her competition at 110. Her morning started with a decisive 10-0 technical fall in the first period over an opponent from the host school. Young's second match gave her the most competition as she wrestled Ariah Mervilus, a returning NJCAA National Champion from Indian Hills Community College (Iowa). The match was tied at 6-6 after the first, and Young put on the pressure and got four points early in the second. Mervilus also grabbed a point and a four-point move to take the lead with less than 90 seconds left. Quickly after, Young responded with a point to tie the match up. Young found two more four-point moves to ice the match and win 19-11 over Mervilus. Young's finals match pit her against a returning NAIA All-American from the host school, Alexis Hatfield. Hatfield grabbed the first points of the match quickly as she took a 2-0 lead. That did not stop Young, however, as she found six points to close period 6-2. Young did not let off the gas and found four more points, which led to the fall and the tournament title at 110.
Zoe Fries also made it to the finals at MBU. The No. 7-ranked wrestler did not give up a point in her first two bouts with a pair of 10-0 technical falls to make it to the semifinals. Fries wrestled Jasmine Wolfe of Indian Hills in the semifinals, and it was a close match. Wolfe had the lone point at the break. Fries found one of her own early in the second, but Wolfe responded with two more points. Fries grabbed two points late to win on criteria 3-3. Fries dropped her finals match and finished second as she went 3-1 with two technical falls.
Loghan Sumner finished third at 207. Sumner grabbed a quick 30-second fall in her first match to send herself to the semifinals. Unfortunately, Sumner's semifinal match was lost on a passivity call with 45 seconds left as she fell 2-1. Sumner bounced back with two more falls on the backside to finish third with a fall over the No. 19 wrestler from Ottawa (Kan.) and went 3-1 on the day with three falls.
Other highlights for MBU were at 180, where
Kenlee Fish finished fourth, went 3-2 with two falls, and
Maggie Ortmann, who finished fifth with a 4-2 record with four falls.
The Spartans go on break and return next semester as they start the second half of their season with a conference dual against No. 16 Central Methodist (Mo.) in Fayette, Mo., on Jan. 8, 2026. Wrestling to start at 6 p.m.
