Women's Wrestling Takes 2nd GPAC Championships with 3 Individual Champions
(Crete, NE) – Hastings competed at the first ever GPAC Women's Wrestling Championships on Saturday, taking second place with 164 points to Doane’s 187.5 points. Hastings had three wrestlers become GPAC Champions - junior Larissa Kaz (131), sophomore Reagen Gallaway (138), and senior Marissa Patterson (180).
(Crete, NE) – Hastings competed at the first ever GPAC Women's Wrestling Championships on Saturday, taking second place with 164 points to Doane's 187.5 points. Hastings had three wrestlers become GPAC Champions - junior Larissa Kaz (131), sophomore Reagen Gallaway (138), and senior Marissa Patterson (180).
Kaz, ranked #15, reached the final at 131 with a first round 12-0 tech fall and a pin at the 3:32 mark over Keira Nartatez of Midland. Kaz dominated the final over #17 Ashlee Palimo of Doane by a 12-2 tech fall.
At 138, Gallaway and senior Tabitha Wood both advanced to the final as well. Gallaway, ranked #6, won by fall 17 seconds into her first bout and continued her great day with a pin in just over a minute to Waldorf's Izzy Urban to move to take on Wood in the championship. Wood first pinned Midland 90 seconds in. She had a similar result in the semifinal, pinning Neve Barraran at the 1:44 mark. In the final, Gallaway pinned Wood in the championship to take the title.
With only three competitors at 180, Patterson, ranked #13, automatically advanced to the final based on seed. She pinned Yazmin Belk of Doane four minutes and twenty seconds into the match to take the title. Freshman Amanda Perez lost to Belk to take third.
At 117, freshman Ruby Guerrero pinned her Waldorf opponent two minutes into the match and advanced to the championship with a pin at the 4:19 mark over #18 Julia Breeden of Doane. She lost in the championship match to Doane's Mora Peterson to take second.
At 160, freshman Izzy Deeds, ranked #18 won by fall over Dakota Wesleyan to open her day and pinned Ja'Nya Banks of Midland at the 4:19 mark to advance to the final. She lost to Barber by fall, but managed to hold on to second place with a pin at the 1:19 mark by Doane's #17 Lamia Benn, who had won the consolation bracket. Also competing at 160, freshman Brooke Schilke pinned Waldorf in the first round before falling to Barber to end her day.
After a first round bye at 207, junior Taylor Rickley pinned Morningside's Nevaeh Hast at the 1:12 mark to go to the championship match. She was pinned in the championship match versus Hailey Romero of Doane less than two minutes in, but retained second place by pinning Waldorf's #17 Skyler Bruno in a match of similar length.
Junior Rayleigh Guyer was pinned in her first match at 110 after a first round bye, but beat Midland's Destiny Castillo on a 3-2 decision to take third.
Freshman Emma Stice, ranked #17, also won her first match at 145, as she beat Waldorf on a 12-0 tech fall. She was pinned at the 4:44 mark by Midland's Makena Schramm. Stice took care of Midland by a 10-0 tech fall in the consolation semifinals and won the consolation final over Sotomayor on an 8-2 decision to take third.
Junior Lisa Hoeflich, ranked #18 won her first bout by a 10-0 tech fall over Midland at 145, but lost in the semifinals to #4 Aevri Ciha of Doane on an 11-2 decision, then lost a close 11-8 decision to #16 Bridgette Sotomayor. She took fifth by beating Midland's Abigale Holtz with an 11-0 tech fall win.
Hastings will now await the announcement from the NAIA for the list of the National Tournament Qualifiers. Nationals will take place on March 14-15 in Park City, KS.
