FHSU Athletics
ST. CHARLES, Mo. – Fort Hays State Women's Wrestling will have four student-athletes competing at the first-ever NCAA Championships next week. The Tigers had seven wrestlers make placement matches and the four qualifying for nationals included Isabella Renfro (180), Leiannah Landreth (117), Nichole Moore (145), and Alexis Burton (160). The Tigers generated 106.5 points as a team to place fourth.
Renfro took second, while Landreth, Moore, and Burton all placed third to secure their spots at the NCAA Championships. Peyton Hellmann (138) and Morgan Maschmann (124) both finished fourth, while Grace Johns (207) finished fifth.
The Tigers went into Sunday with six wrestlers in the semifinals and three in consolation action. The day started a bit rough for the Tigers as Jaidyn Alvarado (103) and Isabell Ortiz (110) were eliminated in consolation action. FHSU's first five in the semifinals all came up short, but Renfro dialed up the first win of the day for FHSU with a pin in 46 seconds over Samaria Barnett of Texas Woman's. It secured her spot in the NCAA Championships and helped start momentum for the Tigers as they reeled off six-straight wins in consolation action.
Johns picked up a 4-1 win to advance in consolation action before the first five Tiger semifinalists all wrestled their first consolation matches. Landreth picked up a fall in 41 seconds over Sophia Cornish of Colorado Mesa. Maschmann had a 10-0 tech fall over Jada Hernandez of William Jewell. Hellmann pinned Audrey Diaz of Pacific in 4:20. Moore outlasted Kristy More of Sioux Falls 13-10 and Burton picked up a 5-1 decision over Poorna Babu of Texas Woman's. Johns fell short in her second consolation contest of the day, but received fifth place by a medical forfeit.
The Tigers won three of their five third-place matches, and very easily could have been four of five if not for misfortune in one of the matches. Landreth punched her ticket to nationals with a dominating 13-0 tech fall over Flavia Nagatani, a wrestler she had already beat back in the quarterfinals on day one. Maschmann fell short in her match at 124 by fall to Laura Alcantar Soto of Simon Fraser. The misfortune happened at 138 as Hellmann had a commanding 6-0 lead over Ella Finding of Simon Fraser, but could not continue a couple minutes into the match due to an injury. Moore got the Tigers back on track at 145 with a convincing 7-0 win over No. 10 ranked Gretchen Donally of Colorado Mesa. Burton rounded out the national qualifiers for FHSU by winning 3-1 over Alana Duggan of Lindenwood.
Renfro, ranked No. 2 nationally, came up short in the regional title match to No. 3 ranked Destiny Rodriguez of McKendree, an opponent she had defeated by fall earlier in the year. Rodriguez scored a fall this time in 3:36. Renfro will take a 29-2 overall record into the NCAA Championships.