Lady Vikings second at NWCA Duals

Junior Courtney Martell (top) was one of two Lady Vikings to take a round from a highly-ranked opponent from NWCA Duals champion Cumberlands (Ky.). [Click to enlarge]

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- The nemesis of the Missouri Valley College women's wrestling team continued to afflict it Saturday during the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals at Cedar Falls, Iowa.

The Lady Vikings won two of three matches, but was unable to do much against the virtual all-star team assembled by Cumberlands (Ky.), which won the championship contest by an impressive 30-2 score.

Valley only won two rounds against the Lady Patriots (8-1): senior Tanya Miyasaki (48 kilograms) taking the middle set of a 4-0, 1-2, 1-1 loss to junior Melissa Girard -- ranked eighth among Senior women by TheMat.com -- and junior Courtney Martell (55) getting off to a strong start before dropping an 0-4, 1-0, 1-0 decision to No. 7 junior Sandy Do.

Eighth-ranked MVC senior Samantha Schuman (51) gave a spirited battle to No. 6 junior Jessica Medina, but otherwise the Lady Patriots (8-1) were in command -- ending three of the eight matches with pins.

The Lady Vikings opened the meet with a 23-11 victory over the U.S. Olympic Education Center squad from Northern Michigan, but that was due primarily to four defaults. Of the four matches, Valley's only win was by freshman Desiree Memea (80) over No. 7 freshman Dallas Monreal-Berner, 2-1, 1-0.

The OTC (3-4) opened with a painful 2-0, 2-0 win by junior Sadie Kaneda -- a former Valley grappler -- over Miyasaki. Freshman Nikki Darrow downed Martell, 2-0, 1-0, and sophomore Dany Hedlin -- No. 6 at 55 kilograms -- defeated ninth-rated junior Erika Chew (59), 6-0, 8-0.

The Lady Vikings did get a clear-cut victory over Menlo (Calif.), 25-12, taking four of seven bouts.

Schuman pulled away from sophomore Carla O'Connell, 3-1, 6-0, Martell stopped freshman Katherine Fulp-Allen in 1:49 and freshman Amberlee Ebert (67) and sophomore Lacy Novinska (72) both won by fall -- Ebert beating freshman Linda Hernandez and Novinska pinning sophomore Monique Cabrera.

The Lady Oaks (0-4) got wins from No. 4 senior Sara Fulp-Allen -- pinning Miyasaki in the second period -- junior Laurin Lane-Daniels over Chew and sophomore Ashlee Evans-Smith against freshman Samantha Fee (63), both in two-set decisions.

In fairness, Valley (5-3) didn't have all of its ranked wrestlers available -- with seniors Brooke Bogren and Stephany Lee and junior Emily Rinehart among the missing.

The young season now starts to pick up steam for the Lady Vikings, who compete in the Guelph (Ont.) Open this weekend.