FHSU Athletics
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – Fort Hays State Women's Wrestling competed in the first two duals of its program's history on Friday evening at Brownson Arena on the campus of Colorado Mesa University. The Tigers claimed a 30-14 win in their first-ever dual for the program over NJCAA preseason No. 4 ranked Snow College, then fell 27-15 in a competitive match with NCAA No. 7 ranked Colorado Mesa.
Jamie Laswell (131), Ashlynn Goodwin (138), and Isabella Renfro (180) were all undefeated on the evening, all going 2-0 in their matches on the evening.
Fort Hays State 30, Snow College 14
Fort Hays State won seven of 10 matches contested in the dual with Snow College, the No. 4 ranked team at the NJCAA level. Seven of the wrestlers from Snow competing in the match entered with preseason individual national rankings. FHSU won four of those seven matchups.
Snow did most of its damage at the very start of the dual as No. 5 ranked Kinlee Brandley picked up a late fall over Arianna Ortiz at 103 and No. 1 ranked Rachel Jones won with a 10-0 tech fall against Sophia Shultz. Snow led 9-0 after two matches. However, twins Lindsey Lopez (117) and Lexie Lopez (124) erased all of Snow's headway as Lindsey picked up a second period fall over No. 6 ranked Bella Butterfield and Lexie blitzed through Kaylee Young for a 10-0 tech fall. Just like that, the dual was back to even at 9-9.
Jamie Laswell started her big debut for the Tigers with a convincing 10-0 tech fall in 38 seconds over Hallie Carter at 131. Ashlynn Goodwin followed with a pin in 1:29 of Isabelle Messerly at 138 instantly putting the Tigers up 18-9 in the dual. Dylen Ritchey followed with an 8-2 decision over No. 8 ranked Isabelle Morgan at 145, extending the lead to 21-10.
Snow picked up its last individual win at 160 when No. 3 ranked Ashlea Larson won 5-1 over Lila Bloomer. However, Isabella Renfro (180) and Hailey Conley (207) would go on to seal the first-ever win for FHSU. Renfro handled No. 8 ranked Maeli Howard with an 11-1 tech fall and Conley also handled No. 7 ranked Nazerreta Talia Lavalouis with a 10-0 tech fall. That made the final of 30-14 in favor of FHSU.
#7 Colorado Mesa 27, Fort Hays State 15
Fort Hays State gave the preseason No. 7 ranked team in NCAA a bit of a scare, but ultimately fell 27-15 in their second dual of the night against Colorado Mesa. A couple of sizable wins by the Tigers in the middle weights had them within striking distance, but a key moment at 160 went from the Tigers nearly pulling within two to a 12-point spread for CMU with two matches to go. FHSU won three of the 10 matches contested in the dual, all from the individuals who went 2-0 on the night.
Colorado Mesa claimed the first four matches of the dual. Arianna Ortiz lost by tech fall and Sophia Shultz by fall, but twins Lindsey and Lexie Lopez picked up the first two points for FHSU in a pair of losses by decision. Lexie nearly completed a comeback from being down 9-0, but came up just short 9-8.Jamie Laswell started a burst for the Tigers by scoring a 10-0 tech fall over
Hania Halverson at 131. Ashlyn Goodwin followed with an 11-0 tech fall over Keyla Ajoleza at 138. The CMU lead was down to just 15-10 through six matches.At 145, Nichole Moore took a hard-fought 3-1 loss to Celina Cooke. The Tigers trailed by seven going into Kaylee Ricketts' match at 160. Ricketts nearly put the Tigers within two with an early takedown of Gretchen Donally that almost resulted in a pin. However, Donally caught Ricketts off guard early in the second period and won by fall to flip the script from a potentially very tight dual going into the final two matches to a 12-point lead for CMU.
Isabella Renfro claimed the last win for FHSU at 180 with a 10-0 tech fall over Maggie Smith, but CMU's anchor Jayleen Sekona, the No. 4 ranked wrestler in the nation, answered with a 10-0 tech fall of her own over Hailey Conley. CMU took the dual 27-15.
UP NEXT
Fort Hays State returns to action on Saturday at the Maverick Open, hosted by Colorado Mesa.