ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Campbellsville Lady Tiger wrestling opened the Women's Collegiate Wrestling Association (WCWA) today at host Missouri Baptist University. CU currently sits in eighth place with 54 points and one grappler with championship hopes still alive in the semifinals.

Although the Lady Tigers started hot, they cooled off as the day moved on. CU is making history by participating in its first women's national tournament but Coach Lee Miracle was not too satisfied with how his team finished the long day.

"The matchups were better for us in the first rounds but it will always gets to a point where we wrestle the top girls in the nation," said Miracle. "Our experience hurt us in the later rounds. The girls with the higher seeds that we faced in the quarterfinals had more experience, and it showed."

Team co-captain Breonnah Neal was a main cog in the Lady Tigers' Top 10 standing, scoring 10 team points on the first day. Neal, from Clemmons, N.C., entered the weekend ranked No. 5 in the 109-pound weight class. She received a first round bye and then beat 10th-ranked Michiko Araki of Simon Fraser University by tech fall, 12-2. She picked up her two points for winning that match but also a bonus point by winning her first match after the bye.

Neal sat perfectly in the quarterfinals and she took on No. 4 Grace Paxton (University of the Cumberlands) for the third time this season. Neal, who teched Paxton in the season open, but lost 4-3 in late November, won the match, another nail-bitter, by a 6-4 decision.

"We had wrestled Paxton twice this year, and we had to do something different other than use Bre's athleticism," said Miracle. "I chose to wait and get Bre a six seed last night in the seeding meeting so she would face Paxton in the quarterfinals and still be in the bottom bracket. The gamble paid off and we won."

The win locks up All-America honors for Neal (16-3) and sets up a semifinal match Saturday morning against second-ranked Kristi Garr (Oklahoma City).

Six other Lady Tigers are only one win away from being named a WCWA All-American by advancing to the quarterfinals before their first loss.

The other co-captain and No. 6 in 136-weight class, Rosemary Flores helped Campbellsville with eight points. The freshman from Staten Island, N.Y. pinned Mayleen Soto (Missouri Valley) and Ashley Talaro-Potter (Cumberlands) in the first two matches to advance to the quaterfinals. However, second-ranked Kayla Brendlinger (King University) defated Flores, 11-2, to snap her streak of six straight pins. Flores is one of six Lady Tigers who will resume action Saturday in the fourth round of consolation.

Next behind Flores was tenth-ranked 136-pounder Kasey Kruczek. The Easton, Pa., native won two major decisions in her first two matchups up against Angelina Fabbri (Lindenwood) and Kelsey Baker (Wayland Baptist). Kruczek faced off with top-ranked Ali Ragan (King), in the quarterfinals and ended up being pinned.

Next up for CU were the two Michelles. Michelle Lomas and Michelle Organ may have the same first name but their wrestling style is nothing but the opposite. Lomas wrestles at the 116-weight class and is more agile. But Organ competes at the 155-weight class and used her strength to overpower her opponents.

Organ won her first two matches on the first day by major decisions. She upset No. 2 Amy Spafford (Lindenwood), 10-1, and also beat Ku`uleilan Lankford (Missouri Valley) by tech fall, 10-0. But the Reedsburg, Wisc., native was stunned in her quarterfinals matchup, as No. 7 Kayla Aggio (Oklahoma City) pinned Organ in the first 45 seconds of the match.

Organ moved down to the consolation bracket and will wrestle Saturday morning.

The more agile Michelle finished next for CU. Michelle Lomas upset Isis Wadleigh (Lindenwood University St. Charles) by tech fall, 16-4, in her first national tournament match. She then lost by tech fall to No. 2 Jessica Fresh (Waldorf College), 10-0. Lomas moved on into the consolation bracket and held on for a late victory over Haley Moreno (Oklahoma City). With the score 4-3 in favor of Lomas and only 30 seconds left on the clock, Moreno made a quick move and reversed the position for a 5-4 lead, but Lomas reversed it right back and won 6-5.

Lomas moved on to wrestle another Oklahoma City competitor, No. 8 Rachel Archer in the consolation third round and won, 10-2.

Hanna Hall who entered the tournament ranked No. 4 in the 143-pound weight class received a bye in the first round but beat Lisa Gonzalez (Lindenwood), 10- 2, in the championship round two. Hall struggled in her next match though as she was upset by No. 5 Forrest Molinari (Missouri Baptist), 9-1.

Although the 191-weight class did not have as many competitors, No. 10 Tiaira Scott made her presence known as she received a bye in the first round and pinned Brionna Buenavista (Midland) with ease in her first national tournament appearance.

Scott then moved on to the championship quarterfinals round and faced off with No. 2 Malexsis McAdoo (King). This was the matchup Miracle was looking for to ignite a spark in his team who had fell off as the day went on.

The Lady Tigers climbed as high as sixth place with 38.0 points after the second round, but fell to eighth place after only scoring 16 points in the final half of the day.

Scott's matchup with McAdoo was a heart breaker for herself but also CU. After being down early, 7-2, she roared back and got the match to 10-7. But McAdoo got sick after the 5-3 run by Scott, stopping play.

With her teammates screaming and cheering her on, Scott fought hard and got the match to 12-10 by forcing her opponent out of the ring twice but she came up two points short, 12-10.

Three Lady Tigers were eliminated on day one.

No. 9 Cassidy Ferrell, who lost her first match, 3-2, to Anissa Rodriguez (Missouri Baptist) in the 101-pound weight class, fought back in the second consolation round and won by tech fall, 10-0, over Angela Fragoso (Northwest Kansas). She ended up losing by pin in the third consolation round to No. 8 Tayler Resuriz (Mckendre).

Kasey Ricketts, ranked ninth at 123 pounds, showed improvement throughout the day as she received a bye in the first round and was pinned in the second round. The Jackson, Mich., native recorded her first pin in her short career by beating Ashley Talaro-Potter (Cumberlands), to snap a 10-match losing streak on the season. Ricketts was eliminatd in the third consolation round by an 8-1 decision against Jennifer Anderson (Simon Fraser).

Toria Alsip who came to CU to play for Coach Thom Jones and the Lady Tiger soccer team decided to play a sport she has been around her whole life because of her brothers. She was wrestling in her first and possibly her last collegiate tournament ever but did not go down without a fight. The Cincinnati, Ohio native was pinned twice in the 123-pound bracket.

King University, which entered the tournament ranked No. 1, remains No. 1 after Day 1 with 129 points, followed by Oklahoma City (111), Simon Fraser (96), Wayland Baptist University (75) and Lindenwood University (74).

Wth 48 points, Campbellsville is only six points behind seventh-place Missouri Baptist (54) and eight back of sixth-place University of Jamestown.

Campbellsville will be back in action tomorrow starting at 10:30 a.m. with the consolation fourth round and semifinals.

For complete coverage of Campbellsville University's historic trip to the national championship, click here, to follow CU's WCWA Tournament Central page with round-by-round updated results, daily photo galleries and recaps. Lady Tiger travel companion, and CU sports information graduate assistant Jordan Alves, will also keep a daily diary of the team's behind the scenes tales. The page will also feature social media links, links to live stats, updated brackets and live video.
 

To follow Lady Tiger wrestling check them out on Twitter – @CvilleWWrestle also on @CvilleTigers and Facebook – Campbellsville Women's Wrestling and Campbellsville Tigers.