Vikings lose two of three at NAIA National Duals

CLEVELAND -- There are two ways of looking at the Missouri Valley College men's wrestling team's performance Sunday at the Cliff Keen NWCA/NAIA National Duals at Cleveland, where it dropped two of three contests against fellow national powers.

The charitable version is that it was only a series of mid-season dual matches, that the Vikings are a stronger tournament team and that some of Valley's best -- including juniors Jory Dick and Kiel Giese -- were not in the lineup.

On the other hand, a program as proud as MVC's -- a perennial title contender -- likes to shine on a large stage, especially given chances for some individual athletes to put themselves into better seeding positions for the NAIA Championships in March.

Sophomore Julie Duarte (top) recorded a pin for the Lady Vikings during the NWCA National Duals.

The second-ranked Vikings won only two bouts during a 27-6 loss to No. 1 Lindenwood -- which swept the round-robin event, while the other three teams each went 1-2 -- came back to nip No. 2 Montana State-Northern, 19-18, and fell to No. 7 Cumberland (Ky.), 18-11.

Valley's clash with the Lions began well enough, with junior Nate Engel edging top-ranked senior Andrew Bradbury, 2-1, at 125 pounds, but then came six straight losses until senior Mario Thomas (184 pounds) upset junior Ryan Luna, 7-3. Among those taking hits were a former national champion -- senior Tyson Biddle (149). In no instance, though, did Lindenwood (1-0) pull off an upset of a Viking ranked higher in the same weight class.

The Northern Lights (10-3) won six of the first eight bouts, recovering from Engel's win by fall in the opener and junior Donaco Watts 5-3 decision at 165 to take an 18-12 lead. Valley rallied at the end, though, with sophomore Shane Hall (197) notching a 14-5 major decision and senior heavyweight Gilbert Jones recording the match-winner in double overtime, 7-6.

The Vikings won four of the 10 rounds against Cumberland, the Patriots (9-2) also not knocking off a high-ranked opponent. The closest that came to happening was Halls' 4-3 loss to No. 1 junior Eric Flinchum. Valley got its wins from senior Paul Collum (141), Biddle, Watts and Thomas -- all by decision.

Following a home dual Friday against MacMurray (Ill.), the Vikings (7-3) will be back in tournament action Sunday during their MVC Open.

Valley women fall to Cumberland

CLEVELAND -- When it comes to women's college wrestling, it's Missouri Valley, Cumberland (Ky.) and then all the rest.

The top-ranked Lady Patriots raced through a younger Valley squad, No. 2 in TheMat.com poll, by a 29-3 margin Sunday during the NWCA National Duals at Cleveland. How strong are these two programs? Consider that when their "B" squads went head to head -- the Lady Vikings winning, 25-10 -- there were seven nationally-rated grapplers on the mat. This is without each team's leading performer -- Cumberland senior Tocarra Montgomery, a U.S. OIympic team member, and MVC sophomore Stephany Lee (see below) -- were absent.

The Lady Patriots boasted a lineup of four No. 1 wrestlers, the remaining four rated between second and fourth. To counter that, Valley had all underclassmen -- the highest ranked being No. 2 sophomore Maika Watanabe, who won her 51-kilogram bout with fourth-ranked freshman Deseree Cazares, 1-1, 4-0.

There weren't any upsets on the mat, Cumberland (7-0) -- which had already won two dual tournaments, while the Lady Vikings were making their season debut -- tallying four pins. Valley took four of the six B-team duels -- junior Tabithia Ramsey (51 Kg), sophomore Julie Duarte (55) and freshman Rachel Billerbeck (63) posting decisions.

The Lady Vikings got a convincing 26-10 victory over USOEC, a group of Olympic program trainees. Freshman Sadie Kaneka (48) and junior Brooke Bogren (63) pinning their foes and freshman Astrid Gomez (59) and junior Kelly Branham (67) winning on points.

Valley will return to action this weekend at the Regina (Sask.) Duals.

Lee touring Russia with U.S. team

Missouri Valley College's Stephany Lee is part of the U.S. Women's World Team currently touring Russia for a series of matches.

Lee, a 72-kilogram sophomore from Honolulu, Hawaii, won gold medals at the World Women's and Pan American Championships since missing the Olympic team cut with a loss to veteran Tocarra Montgomery. She has also been invited to attend the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., but has declined in order to remain at Valley to seek her degree.

Lee arrived in Moscow Sunday and was scheduled to take part in a Wednesday meet at Novisibirsk before returning to Marshall next Tuesday.