Jonathan Bowen
After snow and ice canceled the Westminster Men’s events the previous weekend, there was some early speculation if the Missouri Baptist University Women’s Open would take place. The good news is the early speculations were proven false and the 18 teams (including Westminster) plus some unaffiliated wrestlers were able to compete against all levels of women’s collegiate wrestling (NJCAA, NAIA, and NCAA).
With the combination of these levels of wrestling, each weight class featured ranked women in their respective level (NJCAA, NAIA or NCAA) the tournament provided many intriguing matchups throughout the day on all three mats.
If you wish to watch any of the matchups you can use one of the three links below to watch the livestream depending upon which mat you wish to view.
- Mat 1: https://team1sports.com/missouribaptist/?bfplayvid=910497
- Mat 2: https://team1sports.com/missouribaptist/?bfplayvid=910498
- Mat 3: https://team1sports.com/missouribaptist/?bfplayvid=910499
Highlights:
Lila Eckert had one of the toughest draws in the entire tournament at 136 lbs. She did get a first round bye but advanced to face the #15 ranked wrestler in NAIA from Central Methodist. After her loss, she moved to the consolation side of the bracket and her next matchup didn’t get any easier as she faced the #8 ranked wrestler at the NJCAA level from the top Juco team in the country(Indian Hills CC) in her wrestle-back matchup. Eckert would end up losing both matchups and be done for the day.
Anna Stephens started off her tournament similar to her teammate against a wrestler from the #1 Juco team. Stephens started off strong and secured the first takedown of the match early in the 1st period. She quickly built an 8-1 lead in her match before giving up a costly takedown that led to her being caught on her back and pinned, sending her to the consolation side of the bracket….
