Seven Cardinals advance to Saturday after day one of Regionals

TIFFIN, Ohio – After day one of the NCAA Region IV Championships, the Otterbein University women's wrestling team has seven wrestlers still competing for a spot at Nationals. As a team, the Cardinals sit in sixth place out of 18 teams, scoring 36.5 points on Friday. Freshmen Morgan Leonhardt and Vita Savage remain active on the winner's side of their respective weight class brackets.

Savage wrestled at 103, going 2-0 to move into the semifinal bout. She started the tournament with an 11-0 technical fall over Illinois Wesleyan's Leslie Guzman. Facing Adrian's Alexis Baumgartner in her next bout, the freshman moved on to Saturday with a pin in just 34 seconds.

Sophomore Kellie Kennedy dropped her first bout of the day to the No. 2 nationally ranked wrestler at 110 (Sage Mortimer, GVSU). Kennedy remains active in the consolation bracket and will continue wrestling on Saturday.

At 124, Leonhardt posted a 2-0 record to move into Saturday's semifinal match. Leonhardt – ranked No. 15 nationally in the latest Open Mat rankings – pinned Adrian's Sophia Renteria in 1:07 to open the tournament. She followed with a gritty 13-6 decision over Gabi Gartin (Mount Union) to advance into the semifinals.

Alicia Coleman started the day with a pin in 2:12 to advance over Olivia Root (Davenport) in the 131-pound bracket. Coming off a loss in her next bout, Coleman needed just 20 seconds to pin Illinois Wesleyan's Alila Beck, moving on to Saturday's action.

Raegan Briggs was 2-1 on Friday to remain active in competition at 138. Coming off a loss in her first bout she pinned Angelica Steffy (Adrian) in 1:58 and followed with another fall, this one over Alyssa Keane (Northern Michigan). The sophomore needed just 26 seconds in the match against Keane.

Freshman Jada Weiss answered following a first round loss to No. 10 ranked Margaret Buurma (GVSU) to pin Aurora's Makayla Howard in 4:32. Weiss advanced to Saturday at 145 pounds following the fall.

At 160, Audrey Garcia ended the day 1-2. Her win came in her second match over Hiram's Allydia Byard.

Raegan Hites advanced to Saturday as well, representing the Cardinals at 180. Hites started the day with a fall in 1:09 over Juliana Lefort (Elmhurst), but fell in her next bout to No. 16 ranked Mia Gaetjens (Adrian). The freshman continued her Regional debut with a 10-5 win over Hiram's Alazhandra Williams in her next bout.

Rounding out the Cardinal lineup at 207, junior Marvet Hejazin finished the afternoon 0-2.

Competition resumes at 11 a.m. Saturday morning in Tiffin with spots to the National Championships on the line.

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Players Mentioned

Raegan Briggs: Sophomore

Marvet Hejazin: Junior

Kellie Kennedy: Sophomore

Alicia Coleman: Sophomore

Audrey Garcia: Freshman

Jada Weiss: Freshman

Vita Savage: Freshman

Raegan Hites: Freshman

Morgan Leonhardt: Freshman

Players Mentioned

Raegan Briggs
: Sophomore

Marvet Hejazin
: Junior

Kellie Kennedy
: Sophomore

Alicia Coleman
: Sophomore

Audrey Garcia
: Freshman

Jada Weiss
: Freshman

Vita Savage
: Freshman

Raegan Hites
: Freshman

Morgan Leonhardt
: Freshman