FHSU Athletics
ST. CHARLES, Mo. - Fort Hays State Women's Wrestling saw nine of its 10 wrestlers advance to day two of the NCAA Region 6 Championship on Saturday. The Tigers will go into Sunday with six wrestlers in the semifinals and three still alive on the consolation side, looking to punch tickets to the first-ever NCAA Women's Wrestling Championship.
The Tigers made their presence known right out of the gate as all 10 of their wrestlers advanced to the quarterfinals. The Tigers only had byes at a couple of weights, so eight of the 10 were in action in the opening round and pushed the team into first place at the end of the first round.
Fort Hays State saw six of its 10 wrestlers blaze their way into Sunday's semifinals, which included Leiannah Landreth (117), Morgan Maschmann (124), Peyton Hellmann (138), Nichole Moore (145), Alexis Burton (160), and Isabella Renfro (180). Hellmann, Moore, and Burton all won by decision, while Landreth flipped her match with a fall after trailing early. Maschmann won by tech fall and Renfro dialed up a lightning-fast pin in 19 seconds. Wrestlers who are victorious in semifinal matches on Sunday will be guaranteed a spot in the NCAA Championships by making the regional championship match in their respective classes.
Though they came up short in their quarterfinal matches, Jaidyn Alvarado (103), Isabell Ortiz (110), and Grace Johns (207) all look to make noise in consolation action on Sunday in hopes of making the third-place match. All three would need to win three matches in a row to claim third.
Samara Markwardt (131) was the only Tiger knocked out of competition on Saturday. She dropped her consolation match after the quarterfinal loss. She finished 15-11 overall for the season.
Fort Hays State sits in third as a team after the first day of action. McKendree holds the lead with 78 points as all 10 of its wrestlers are in the semifinals. Simon Fraser is second with 61.5 points and seven wrestlers in the semifinals, while Fort Hays State has 58 points.
Team Standings
Place School Abbrev Points Consolation Championship
1 McKendree MCK 78 0 10
2 Simon Fraser SFU 61.5 2 7
3 Fort Hays State FHSU 58 3 6
4 Colorado Mesa CMU 51 5 5
5 Lindenwood LUSC 41 4 3
6 William Jewell WJ 35.5 3 3
7 Chadron State CSC 32.5 3 2
8 Schreiner University SU 24 3 1
9 Texas Woman`s TWU 22.5 4 1
10 Adams State ASU 19.5 5 0
11 Vanguard VU 17.5 2 1
12 Minot State MINOT 14.5 1 1
13 Pacific University PU 14 3 0
14 Sioux Falls USF 13 2 0
15 Linfield University LU 7 0 0