Chadron State College is sending 5 competitors to the National Collegiate Women’s Wrestling Championship national tournament in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, after each placed in the top 4 on Sunday at the Western Regional at Colorado Mesa in Grand Junction.
Leading the Lady Eagles was 143-lb regional champion Kayley Garcia, with Kamilla Montenegro 2nd at 170, Isabell Ortiz 3rd at 116, and Kinsey Smith at 101 and Brianna Vollendorf at 109 both 4th. The Eagles also had 4 women finish 5th.
Garcia went 3-0, following up a first-round bye with a pin and a pair of technical falls to claim the 143-lb title. Her 11-0 TF in the finals of Colorado Mesa’s Erica Schroeder avenged a loss on criteria to Schroder in CSC’s dual at Mesa earlier this month.
At 170, Montenegro also had a first-round bye, then won her quarterfinal match 10-6 and posted a pin in the semifinals before being pinned herself by Emily Cue of Simon Fraser University in Canada.
At 116, Ortiz won her opener at 116 by pin, lost an 11-6 decision in the semis, then came back with a pair of pins.
The number of competitors in each weight class varied significantly. Smith placed 4th at 101 despite a 1-2 record because there were only 5 wrestlers at that weight – and her only win was over teammate Briley Lopez.
Vollendorf won her first match by pin, lost in the semifinals by technical fall, won her first consolation match by technical fall, and lost in the 3rd place by technical fall to place 4th at 109.
Chadron State also sent 4 to nationals last year, when there were only 4 regionals, but none placed at the national tournament.