JAMESTOWN, ND – Women's Wrestling fought hard and earned 4th place at the NAIA National Championships hosted in Jamestown, North Dakota. The two-day tournament left 3 wrestlers in the semi-finals and 5 still alive in consolation brackets on day 2. In the end, Menlo had 8 wrestlers placed with one making an appearance in the Championship match! All 8 placers earn All-American honors.
Kayla Mckinley-Johnson - 101 5th place
The 11-seed at 101 made it to the consolation round to place 5th in the nation! In the 5th place match Mckinley was faced with Karina Vang (Doane). She won by tech fall winning 10-0 to secure her 5th place title. Kayla is now an All-American!
Tianna Fernandez - 101 7th place
Fernandez was the 11th-seed to take on the #9 seed in the 7th place match. Devyn Gomez (Life) did not go down without a fight as the two were going back and forth gaining two points each until it was 2-2. In the end, Fernandez finished Gomez off with two points to take the victory and 7th place title. Tianna can now call herself an All-American!
Alana Vivas - 123 2nd place
Vivas had the best showing of the day from the Oaks as she was the only Menlo wrestler featured in the Championship match! Alana first needed to take down Catharine Campbell (Grand View) in the semi-finals to advance. Vivas dominated, getting the early 2-1 lead in the first period. With two more takedowns in the second period, Alana sealed her ticket to the finals. She was defeated by 1st-seed Carolina Moreno (Southern Oregon) to earn 2nd place in the NAIA. Vivas is now an All-American!
Haley Narahara - 123 4th place
Narahara was not far behind Vivas as she placed 4th in her first showing at nationals. In the consolation semifinals she faced off Sophie Smith (Oklahoma City). It was 2-2 going into the second period when Narahara found some juice to grind out three 2-point takedowns to earn the 8-2 victory. It was a high scoring match in the 3rd place match against Maya Davis (Grand View), losing 14-13 to a last minute burst from Davis. This 4th place title earns Haley All-American status!
Louisa Schwab - 130 7th place
Schwab earns 7th place after winning over Kaylee Moore (Eastern Oregon) by decision 4-0. Schwab tallied all 4 points in the first period to grind out for the 7th place title and All-American Status!
Desiree Jones - 143 8th place
In the Consolation of 48 Jones faced Ku'uipo Chan (Waldorf) who was the At-large bid in the tournament at 143. Jones being the 10th-seed had a slight advantage going into the match. She eliminated Chan by decision 10-2 to solidify her All-American title of 8th place!
Shannon Workinger - 155 5th place
Workinger dominated in the 5th place match against Gabrielle Holloway (St. Andrews). Shannon was victorious after an 11-2 win. Most of her points we tallied in the first period. Four more points in the second period earned her All-American status at 5th place!
Tavia Heildelberg-Tillotson - 191 4th place
3rd-seed Tavia took down Olivia Brown (Grand View) by a score of 4-0 in the consolation semifinals to advance to the 3rd place match. There, she faced the 1st-seed Kelani Corbett (Missouri Valley). In a low-scoring faceoff Tavia fought hard but fell to Corbett 4-1. Her 4th place finish names her the eighth All-American on the Oaks roster!
