MARSHALL, Mo. — With two individual titlists and two runners-up, the No. 5-ranked Augsburg University women’s wrestling team had a strong effort at the competitive Missouri Valley College Open, held on Friday and Saturday.
No. 1-ranked 155-pounder Marlynne Deede (SR, Springville, Utah/Springville HS) and No. 4-ranked 170-pounder Ashley Lekas (SO, Plano, Texas/Plano West HS) won individual titles for the Auggies, while No. 2-ranked 136-pounder Nina Makem (SO, Shakopee, Minn./Shakopee HS) and 155-pounder Brooklyn Hays (FY, Lindon, Utah/Pleasant Grove HS) each placed second. No. 7-ranked 123-pounder Gabrielle Torgerson (SR, Spooner, Wis./Cumberland HS) and No. 3-ranked 143-pounder Katie Lange (SO, Sherburn, Minn./Martin County West HS) each finished sixth.
The 30-team tournament featured seven of the top-20 teams in the latest National Wrestling Coaches Association NCAA women’s national rankings, and 15 of the top-20 teams in the latest NAIA national rankings.
Deede improved to 10-0 on the season with her second straight tournament win, winning all five matches by technical fall and outscoring her opponents by a 59-4 margin. Eight of her 10 wins this season are by technical fall and one is by pin.
A transfer from Texas Wesleyan, Lekas moved to 9-0 on the season with six victories over the weekend. She claimed her first four wins by pin, including two wins over NAIA nationally-ranked wrestlers. She claimed a 3-0 win over multiple All-American Joye Levendusky of Southern Oregon, then topped No. 2-ranked Emily Cue of Simon Fraser (B.C.) 7-0 in the finals.
Makem rolled to the finals at 136 finals with five technical fall wins, outscoring her opponents by a 52-1 margin. She faced Nanea Estrella of the new Division I University of Iowa squad in the finals, with the bout finishing 3-3. Estrella earned the win on criteria, having scored the final points of the bout. Makem is now 9-2 on the season with seven technical falls and two pins.
Hays won four of her first five matches at 155 by first-period pin, including a 2:40 pin of India Page of Brewton-Parker (Ga.), the No. 8-ranked 155-pounder in the NAIA national rankings, in the semifinals. Hays is now 14-3 on the season, with two of her three losses coming to her Auggie teammate Deede.
Torgerson went 7-3 on the weekend, claiming four wins by technical fall and two by pin, to finish sixth at 123 pounds. Torgerson is now 10-4 on the season with six technical falls and three pins.
Lange went 5-3 at the tournament to finish sixth at 143, with two technical falls and three pins, moving to 12-2 on the season with six technical falls and six pins.
UP NEXT: Augsburg competes at the North Central (Ill.) Open on Dec. 11 at 9 a.m.
AUGSBURG INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
123 — Gabrielle Torgerson 7-3, 6th place; Tateum Park 2-2.
130 — Ellisa Jimenez 1-2.
136 — Nina Makem 5-1, 2nd place.
143 — Katie Lange 5-3, 6th place.
155 -– Marlynne Deede 5-0, 1st place; Brooklyn Hays 5-1, 2nd place; Kahlea Jolly 0-2.
170 — Ashley Lekas 6-0, 1st place.
191 — Melissa Jacobs 0-2; Belle Huss 0-2; Maia Foster 0-2.
Check out Auggies Women’s Wrestling at athletics.augsburg.edu.