Heslin

ADRIAN — A pair of women’s wrestlers from Northern Michigan University had runner-up finishes to lead the Wildcats to a ninth-place finish at the 40-team Adrian Open on Sunday night.

NMU totaled 134.5 points in a meet that also featured fellow Great Lakes Valley Conference foe Grand Valley State, which was third with 232.

North Central University was the far-and-away winner with 421.5 points, with Presbyterian College runner-up with 266.

Also from the GLVC, McKendree was fourth with 220, while Davenport finished 39th with 2.

Wildcats sophomore Clarissa Wangen finished in second place at 180 pounds, while sophomore teammate Emma Heslin was also runner-up at 103 as four other Northern wrestlers placed in the top five.

Overall, NMU wrestlers had a match record of 31-16 at this meet.

Wangen won four of five matches, making it to the championship match before taking her only loss. She won her first four matches by falls or technical falls in less than two minutes in each, beating two wrestlers from Otterbein and one each from Presbyterian and Baldwin Wallace.

Then in the finals, she tied 4-4 with Chaniah Bernier of Frostburg State, but lost on a tiebreaker that was not explained at FlowWrestling.com.

Heslin went 3-1 in her division, also winning all her preliminary matches before losing in the finals. Her wins were all by decision, 10-7, 7-3 and 4-2 over wrestlers from North Central, Presbyterian and Sacred Heart. The finals matched her up with Heather Crull of McKendree, who prevailed 10-0.

The Wildcats’ Alyssa Keane was third at 138, going 3-1 with falls and tech falls in her wins over wrestlers from Lourdes and Manchester, with a 10-4 loss in her setback to a wrestler from Sacred Heart.

NMU’s Jamie Cook was also third at 124, rolling up a 6-1 record, four wins by fall, one by tech fall and one by decision. Her wins came over wrestlers from Lindsey Wilson, Otterbein, John Carroll, Manchester, Rochester and McKendree, with a 6-0 loss to an Aurora wrestler.

Teammate Abbie Miles was fourth at 180, bouncing back after an opening loss to win five matches in a row, then losing in the third-place bout for a 5-2 record. Her first win was over teammate Mickaela Keane 7-1, then followed with wins over wrestlers from Lindsey Wilson, Lock Haven, McKendree and Gannon, with losses to competitors from North Central and Adrian.

Northern’s Sophia Bassino was fifth at 160, going 4-2 with all her wins falls or tech falls over wrestlers from North Central, Grand Valley, Sacred Heart and Gannon.

Teammate Zhivanna Magdaleno was seventh at 117, going 3-2, while Keaton Hood at 138 also won a pair of matches. The Northern contingent was rounded out by Samantha Chaon at 138 and Keane at 180.

After competing on back-to-back weekends, the Wildcats take a two-week break before heading to Eau Claire, Wisconsin, for the 8 Women Battle meet on Nov. 22, then another two weeks off until the GLVC Conference Duals #1 at Quincy, Illinois, on Dec. 7.

Story contents based on Northern Michigan University Sports Information press release reviewing the meet. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee’s email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.