ST. LOUIS – Ten Campbellsville University Lady Tigers have a chance to be named a WCWA All-American when competition resumes Saturday morning at Missouri Baptist University.
Five of those 10 (Rosemary Flores, 130 pounds; Kayla Miracle, 136 pounds; Hannah Gladden , 143 pounds; Hanna Hall, 155 pounds; and Tiaira Scott, 191 pounds) still have national title hopes as they prepare for Saturday morning's national semifinals.
DAY 1 CU RESULTS
"I've been coaching 23 years, and I've never had a round like this one. We won matches we weren't supposed to win." CU head coach Lee Miracle said.
Campbellsville, a second-year program made up of mostly true freshmen and sophomores, finished the first day of competition in second place, two points ahead of four-time national champion Oklahoma City University, 112-110. Defending national champion King University leads the team standings with 138 points.
A large part of CU's success came from its bonus points. The Lady Tigers were a combined 30-19 during the first day of competition, including 19 wins by pin and seven tech falls.
Flores leads CU with 15 team points after recording three straight pins to set up her 130-pound semifinal match against Jacarra Winchester (Missouri Baptist), who is ranked No. 1 at 123 pounds.
Gladden and Scott both have 14 team points with two pins and a tech fall apiece. Gladden, ranked ninth at 136 pounds, will wrestle No. 1 Amanda Hendey (King) in the 143-pound semifinal and Scott, ranked No. 1, will see fourth-ranked Jackie Williams (King) in the 191 semi. Miracle, ranked No. 1 at 130 pounds, follows with 13 points, including two techs and a fall at 136 pounds. She'll meet second-ranked Forrest Molinari (King) Saturday morning.
Hanna Hall is the other semifinalist. Hall received a first round bye at 155 pounds, recorded a pin in the second round and then scored four points in the final seven seconds to beat Simon Fraser's Bailley Halvorson, 12-10, in the quarterfinals. Hall will meet Alexis Porter (McKendree) in the semifinals.
One of the most thrilling wins of the day came early in the first round, when freshman Steffanie Hampton threw a head lock late in the first period to stick sixth-ranked Gabrielle Weyhrich (McKendree) in 1:47.
"I got in an under-over situation, and coach was yelling at me to pull down on the under hook. As soon as her head came back up, I punched my under hook straight through, and at that moment I had this surge of energy," Hampton said." When I locked it up on the mat and got the fall, I jumped up and knew I was finally back to where I need to be in wrestling. I went into the match with determination and came out with the victory."
Hampton's pin gave her momentum as she went on to advance to her first national quarterfinal winning the 2013 USAW Junior Freestyle and Folkstyle National Championships in Fargo, N.D., at 117 pounds. However, Hampton aggravated a knee injury in the quarterfinals. Hampton missed a good chunk of her 2013-14 senior season in high school due to knee injuries/surgeries.
Another exciting win for CU came at 109 pounds. With Michelle Lomas not competing, Kait Fitzpatrick has carried the Lady Tigers at the weight. Fitzpatrick recorded a first-round pin before being stuck by sixth-ranked Michele Guerrero (Wayland Baptist) in the second round. She went on to edge Midland's Taylor Zboray, ranked 10th, and then rallied from an 8-0 hole in the third consolation round to pin WBU's Daysha Woods in 3:42. The rally pin puts her one win away from All-America status on Saturday.
"I made a the same mistake three times and kept handing the other girl points. I knew I was down and had to make a big change to turn the match around. Between periods, I looked to Coach Miracle, and he told me to do what I know how to do, and believe," Fitzpatrick said.
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"I trusted in my training, fixed my mistakes right away and started scoring points like I train to do. I saw the cradle there and took it to secure the win and get points for the team. It was an amazing moment, and I'm so happy to have the support of my coach and team who help me believe."
Shelby Hall (123 pounds) and Michelle Organ (155 pounds) are also still alive in the consolation bracket after dropping their quarterfinal bought Friday night, and Kaitlin Hill is wrestling her way back through the 170-pound bracket. The winners in the first consolation matches Saturday morning are all guaranteed a Top 8 finish and All-American status.
Day two of competition will begin at 8:30 a.m. CST/9:30 a.m. EST with the championship semifinals and fourth consolation round (All-America Round). The consolation quarterfinals and semifinals will follow at 2 p.m. EST, and then the placement matches at 4 p.m. The finals are scheduled for 6 p.m. EST.
To watch all of the WCWA National Championship action, fans can go to the Spartan Digital Network at portal.stretchinternet.com/mobap. There they can find the free, live broadcast, provided by Missouri Baptist, all the way through the finals. Live scoring and results are available via TrackWrestling.com, here.Â
