The SFU women’s wrestling team, already having found success this season, kept up the momentum with a strong showing at the Missouri Valley College Open on Nov. 16. Seniors Justina DiStasio and Jenna McLatchey both won their respective weight brackets, while two other Clan wrestlers, juniors Nikkie Brar and Darby Huckle, finished second in theirs.
DiSatsio went undefeated through four rounds to lay claim to the 170-lbs bracket title. Her first win came at the expense of Wayland Baptist University’s Brenda Mendoza, before beating Menlo College’s Solove Naufau in the second round by technical fall. She tossed aside Missouri Valley College’s Brittany Jones in the third round before besting Ruth Leger from Lindenwood College in the final round for a dominant title win.
McLatchey also won all four of her matches, but three of the four were won by decision. Her only non-decision victory came in the first round against Alana Jimniez, wrestling for New Jersey’s Bearcat Wrestling Club. She then topped Justina Luafaleman of Northwest Tech to move on to the third round, where she’d face — and defeat — another Wayland Baptist Wrestler, Angela Vyborny. In the final round, she beat Malexsis McAdoo of King University to claim the 191-lbs title.
Brar, meanwhile, won her first four matches to move onto the final of the 116-lbs bracket, but lost a close match by decision to Jessica Fresh from Waldorf College and was forced to settle for second.
Huckle, however, needed just two wins to move onto the final round of the 101-lbs bracket, but ultimately lost to Oklahoma City University’s Emily Website to fall just short.
Also wrestling for the Clan were senior Gina Carpenter and freshman Mallory Velte, who each finished fourth at 130-lbs and 136-lbs, respectively. Velte’s fellow freshman Laura Anderson finished seventh at 123-lbs, while Jilliane Vina and Minika Podgorski also hit the mat for SFU.
Already having had plenty of success so far this season, the Clan women will get a month to prepare for their next event, the Southwestern Oregon Duals on Dec. 16.
