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.