UM-Morris defeates Univ. of Regina in women's college dual meet, 24-7

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Doug Reese (UM-Morris)
10/22/2001


Morris, MN - The University of Minnesota-Morris women's wrestling team was  scheduled to wrestle a dual meet versus the University of Regina on Saturday  evening, October 20th  at 7:00 pm.  With a nice crowd in attendance in the  UMM P.E. Center for the event, the Cougars of U of Regina were nowhere to be  found.  After a one-and-one-half hour wait the UMM women wrestled exhibition  matches for the patient crowd.    Just as the gym was being cleaned up and the P.E. Center locked up for the  night, the wrestlers from Regina showed up.  After some discussion between  the coaches of both teams, it was determined that the dual meet would be  rescheduled for 8:00 am the next morning.    Liz Short (Lombard, IL) earned a forfeit at 101 pounds/46 kilos to start out  the dual.  Katrina Betts (Milan, MI) faced Tammy Rath at 110 pounds/50  kilos.  Betts scored a three-point takedown and a hold down in the danger  position.  Rath came back with a one point takedown and an exposure to make  the score 4-3.  Betts then ended the match with a three-point throw, taking  Rath directly to her back earning a fall at 2:10.  UMM held an 8-0 lead.    Keli Hinton (Andover, KS) lost a 10-0 technical superiority to Belinda Choss  at 116 pounds/53 kilos.  Choss scored on three one-point takedowns and four  two-point exposures to win the match.    Next up was Katie Ross (Greensboro, NC) at 125 pounds/57 kilos.  Ross  dropped a 7-0 decision to Alicia Schaeffer.  Schaeffer built a 5-0 lead in  the first period off of a takedown and two exposures.  In the second period,  Schaeffer shut down Ross' offensive attack and added two more takedowns for  the win.    At 134 pounds/61 kilos, Peggy Van De Mark (Kimball, MN) squared up against  Nicole Kimmie.  Van De Mark aggressively attacked Kimmie at the opening  whistle.  Van De Mark scored on a headlock for three points, and then  squeezed out a fall at the one-minute mark for the victory.  The win gave  UMM a 12-7 lead.    Stephanie Looney (Chesapeake, VA) took a forfeit at 143 pounds/65 kilos.  Katie Downing (Pendleton, IN) then faced Shelene Young at 154 pounds/70  kilos.   Downing reeled off nine straight points with three, one-point  takedowns and three, two-point exposures for ending the match with a fall at  1:35 in the match. Downing's win gave UM-Morris a 20-7 lead.    In the final match of the dual, Samantha Branka (Lincoln Park, MI) faced  Alicia Brown of Regina.  From the whistle it was all Branka.  Branka scored  right away with a one-point takedown, then scored again with a back  exposure. Branka then hit a three-point throw putting Brown right to her  back to gain the fall at 1:25 in the match.  The pin gave the Cougars a 24-7  win.    In three events this season, the Cougars are 2-0 in dual meets, and have won  the Keystone Women's Open wrestling tournament.  Next up for UM-Morris will  be the Sunkist International Open in Phoenix, Arizona, a major international  tournament in freestyle, women's freestyle, and Greco-Roman wrestling.  The  two day tournament begins Saturday, October 27th at Desert Vista High School  in Phoenix.