Regina, Saskashawan - The University of Minnesota-Morris women's wrestling team captured the 1st Annual University of Regina Cup, with a 4-0 record in the dual meet tournament versus the University of Regina, the University of Alberta, The Cat Town Wrestling Club and Lakehead University at the University of Regina on Saturday, November 17th. The UM-Morris women wrestled impressively considering three of their starters were out of the lineup - which caused the Cougars to shift their lineup - up, to wrestle in a higher weight class for all of the tournament. Out of the lineup was World Cup champion Katie Downing (65 kilos) who needed to stay home to catch up on here academics, Patrice Crenshaw (53 kilos) who is nursing a nagging injury, and Peggy Van De Mark (61 kilos) who is tending to some personal matters at home. UM-Morris 20 - University of Alberta 8 In the opening dual of the tournament for UM-Morris, Liz Short (Lombard, IL) picked up a forfeit at 48 kilos/105.6 pounds to give the Cougars a 4-0 lead. Katrina Betts (Milan, MI) followed at 53 kilos/116.6 pounds with a pin versus Tasha Liddle in 1:48 to up the lead for UMM to 8-0. Keli Hinton (Andover, KS) wrestled a very tough opponent in Veronka Pak at 57 kilos/125.4 pounds, Hinton hit a headlock and gained the pin at 47 seconds into the match for the win to give UMM a 12-0 advantage. At 61 kilos/134.4 pounds, Katie Ross (Greensboro, NC) lost a 7-2 decision to Alberta's Shannon Mathie. At 65 kilos, UM-Morris forfeited to Antigone Oreopoulous of the University of Alberta. The score was now 13 - 7 in favor of UM-Morris. At 70 kilos/154 pounds, UMM's Samantha Branka (Lincoln Park, MI) faced off in a tough battle with Heidi Kulak. Branka charged out to a 5-0 lead, but Kulak came back to tie the score at 5-5 with two exposures and a hold down in the danger position. Branka responded with a three-point takedown and a hold down to take a 9-5 lead at the end of the first period. In the second period Branka scored with an exposure and a hold down to build a 12-5 lead. In the last minute Kulak score four, one point takedowns, but it wasn't enough as Branka claimed a 12-9 decision. Alicia Wilson (Santee, CA) held down the 77 kilo/169.4 pound spot for UM-Morris. Wilson tore into a very formidable opponent in Mariza Wolmans of the University of Alberta. Wilson scored on a three-point throw, a hold down, and three exposures before pinning Wolmans in 1:25 of the first period. Wilson's fall gave UMM a 20-8 win over the Pandas of the University of Alberta. UM-Morris 20 - University of Regina 8 In the second dual, UM-Morris had Katrina Betts wrestle at 48 kilos versus the Cougars of the University of Regina. Betts scored a three point takedown, versus Destiny Hodgins of Regina, then scored with an exposure to build a 5-0 lead. Betts then hit another three point takedown with a hold down on her way to a pin at 57 seconds in the first period for the win. UMM jumped out to a 4-0 lead. At 53 kilos, Lauren Johnson (Yelm, WA) earned a forfeit as did Keli Hinton at 57 kilos to give UM-Morris a 12-0 advantage. At 61 kilos, Katie Ross wrestled a tough Alicia Schaeffer. Schaeffer dominated the match building a 4-0 lead before claiming a pin a 2:32 of the first period. After a UMM forfeit at 65 kilos to Regina's Chontel Radburn, UM-Morris still maintained a 12-8 lead in the dual. Samantha Branka, won a quick match at 70 kilos over Regina's Shelene Young. Branka scored off of two exposures for a 4-0 lead, then squeezed out a pin in just 47 seconds for the win. In the final match, freshman Alicia Wilson downed Alicia Brown at 77 kilos. Wilson dominated with a one-point takedown, two exposures, and a hold down in the danger position before gaining the pin at 1:27. Wilson pin gave the Cougars of UM-Morris a 20-8 win over the Cougars of the University of Regina. UM-Morris 19 - Cat Town Wrestling Club 5 UM-Morris came into the third dual with its third different lineup. Liz Short led off at 48 kilos versus Lisa Morin. Short wrestled well, scoring four - one point takedowns, and three exposures to win a 12-5 decision. Short's win put the Cougar's up 3-1. At 53 kilos, Katrina Betts pinned Nicole Walters in just 33 seconds. Betts hit her headlock for three points and squeezed out a pin to give UMM a 7-1 lead in the dual. Katie Ross got to wrestle at her normal weight, 57 kilos for the only time this weekend. Ross defeated Carla Wessley with a pin at 1:29 into the match. Ross scored with a one-point takedown, then hit a three-point takedown putting Wessley directly to her back for the pin. UMM now led 11-1. Keli Hinton bumped up to 61 kilos to wrestle Belinda Chow, a member of the Canadian National Team. Hinton was slowly picked apart by Chow with one-point takedowns and exposure points to win by technical superiority 10-0 in the first period of the match. Both teams forfeited at 65 kilos, and the Cat Town Wrestling Club also forfeit to Samantha Branka at 70 kilos and to Alicia Wilson at 77 kilos to give UM-Morris a 19-5 win. UM-Morris 15 - Lakehead University 13 In the championship final UM-Morris was undefeated as well as the Thunderwolves of Lakehead University. This dual would produce the champion. The finals were televised by CTV for TSN (Total Sports Network) before a big crowd of wrestling fans. Liz Short opened the dual wrestling at 48 kilos versus Jennifer Andress. Short set the tone for the dual coming out strong scoring two exposures and a hold down before securing the victory with a pin at 1:15 in the match. Short's win gave the Cougars a 4-0 advantage. At 53 kilos, Katrina Betts added to the Cougar lead with a fall versus Michell Gorrie. Betts hit a three-point throw, and added a danger point and an exposure before ending the match with a fall a 44 seconds. UMM's Keli Hinton, was pinned at 57 kilo by Lakehead's Melody McGague. Hinton scored first for a 2-0 lead, by McGague came back with a one-point takedown, followed by a three-point takedown and gained the fall at 58 seconds into the match. UMM now led 8-4. In the 61 kilos bout, Katie Ross was pinned by Katherine Patroch. Patroch built a solid seven point lead in the match before pinning Ross at 2:29 of the first period. The loss tied the score at 8-8. UM-Morris forfeited at 65 kilos to Jennie Brown of Lakehead University. The forfeit gave the Thunderwolves the advantage for the first time, now leading 12-8 in the dual. At 70 kilos, Samantha Branka met Christine Calver. Calver jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the bout. Branka came storming back scoring 11 straight points, wrestling strong on her feet as well as on the mat. At the end of the first - three minute period Branka held a 11-5 lead. In the second period, Branka hit a beautiful sweep single leg takedown the turned Calver to her back to gain the fall at 3:17. The dual meet score was now knotted at 12-12. The team champion would be determined in the final match. UMM's Alicia Wilson went to battle versus Lakehead's Ceilidh Boyd at 77 kilos. Wilson scored a one-point takedown to hold a slim 1-0 lead at the end of the first - three minute period. Early in the second period, Wilson scored again on a go-behind to take a 2-0 advantage. Boyd tied up the score with less that 30 seconds left in the match on a two point exposure. With about 10 seconds left in the bout Wilson hit a three point throw taking Boyd directly to her back. Then gained a hold down to win the match 6-2 and give her team a 15-13 win and the championship. "It was a great event," said head coach Doug Reese. "Leo McGee, the Regina coach, put on a good tournament. This was a great opportunity for us to wrestle some of the best programs in Canada - and it was a battle going right down to the last second with Lakehead. This was a great moment for women's collegiate wrestling - we need more events such as this." The UM-Morris women improve their record to 6-0 in duals this season. Also with the victory over Lakehead, Cougar head coach Doug Reese earned his 100th career dual meet win. "I challenged our team before