COLUMBIA, Ky.- The Missouri Baptist University women's wrestling team had two finalists at the Blue Raider Open hosted by Lindsey Wilson College. De'yton Young and Kenlee Fish both finished second at their respective weight classes.
Young represented MBU at 110, where she outscored her opponents 30-5 ahead of her finals appearance. Young started her tournament with a bout against an unattached wrestler from Campbellsville University (Ky.), and was tied 4-4 early in the match. Yound found her groove and scored ten unanswered to lock up the technical fall with ten seconds left in the first period. Young's second round match saw her give up one point in the first thirteen seconds of the bout, but then she scored six points before she got the pin to put her into the semifinals. Young took less than 90 seconds to win the match and complete the 10-0 shutout technical fall and go into the finals, before she fell to an NCAA Division 1 opponent from Lindenwood (Mo.)
At 180, Fish was the other finalist for the Spartans. Fish was seeded into the semifinals, where she had a gritty match to make the championship. The match pitted Fish against A'niyah Sullivan of Georgetown College (Ky.). Sullivan found a point late in the first period to take the 1-0 lead as they went to the break. The pressure was on Fish to find a scoring opportunity while her opponent had to hold on to the lead. Fish found one and tied up the match 1-1, but Fish led the match due to criteria. With two minutes left, Fish's defense kept her in the lead as she held on to take the match and make the finals at 180. Fish dropped her finals match to an unattached wrestler as she finished second on the day.
The sole other placer for MBU was Maggie Ortmann, who finished third at 145. The freshman from Washington, Mo., made quick work of her opening bout with a sub-minute fall, and followed it up with an additional fall to send her to the quarterfinals.
Ortmann's opponent found the first points of her quarterfinals match, but Ortmann responded with a pair of points of her own to tie it up as they went into the break. Ortmann kept the momentum in the second period and found six points and the fall to make the semifinals. Ortmann fell to an NCAA opponent from Emmanuel (Ga.) in the semifinals but quickly bounced back with another 14-4 technical fall in the consolation semifinals.
Ortmann's third-place bout pitted her against No. 7 Gabriella Perez of Campbellsville. Ortmann did not let her opponent's ranking affect her as she outscored Perez 5-2 in the first period. Ortmann scored the sole points of the second period as the match was nearly over to win 7-2 over a top-10 opponent and capture third-place at 145.
Another highlight for the Spartans came from Cara Cheng, who finished 5-2 on the day, with four falls and a technical fall.
The Spartans look ahead as they host Graceland University (Iowa) in their final home dual of the season for senior night on Thursday Feb 12. Wrestling to start at 5 p.m.
