INDIANOLA, Iowa - Sophomores Monica Garcia-Franco (Cicero, Ill.-Morton East) and Kennedy Murray (Evanston, Ill.-Evanston) each earned top-four finishes as the Illinois Wesleyan University women's wrestling team wrapped up the first competition of the season at the Luther Hill Invitational, Sunday, Nov. 1.
Murray opened her season with a pin in 2:12 over William Jewell's Mckinzie Ross to advance to the second round of the freshman/sophomore 160-pound bracket. She earned a trip to the quarterfinals with her first pin of the season, dispatching Simpson's Brooklyn Bittner in 2:23 followed by a pin over Coe's Mya Sackrey in the early seconds of the second period, securing a semifinal spot before finishing in fourth place.
In the 124-pound freshman/sophomore bracket, Garcia-Franco booked her first collegiate win with a pin in 2:29 over Buena Vista's April Banda. In the second round, she came back from down 6-0 to win via a 16-6 tech over Iowa Western Community College's Kyra Yost. A pin in 1:04 over Bismarck State's Kashtyn Bredahl secured a spot in the semifinals. The sophomore finished the tournament in fourth place.
People are also reading…
After falling in her first-round match, freshman 180-pounder Naima Harvey-Bowen (Columbia, Md.-Atholton) bounced back in the wrestlebacks of the varsity bracket, collecting her first collegiate win with a first-period pin over William Jewell's Desiree Hall. She followed with a 9-2 decision against Josie Bishop to advance to the fourth round of the consolation bracket, where her tournament came to a close.
Freshman Isabella Hull (Cape Coral, Fla.-North Fort Myers) also secured her first career win with a 10-0 tech in 2:08 over Morningside's Kalis Lockett in the second round of the consolation bracket in the 124-pound freshman/sophomore bracket.
In the 131-pound freshman/sophomore bracket, freshman Catalina Pacheco (Seneca, Ill.-Seneca) pinned Grace Keeler of Iowa Lakes Community College with a minute left in the match to move on to the third round of the consolation bracket. She earned her second straight pin, needing only 97 seconds to finish Central's Isabella Smith before dropping her consolation fourth-round match.
At 138 pounds, freshman Josie Clarke (Spring, Texas.-Klein Oak) also went on a run in the wrestlebacks, advancing via an 18-8 tech over Vaida Uskitilith-Karaga of Iowa Lakes Community College and a forfeit to move to the consolation fourth round.
The Titans open their dual-meet season at home against Millikin, Sunday, Nov. 8. Action from the Shirk Center is slated for 1 p.m. and will serve as the front end of a doubleheader with the IWU men's wrestling team.
