Wichita, Kan.—USM women's wrestling competed at the KCAC/SAC (Sooner Athletic Conference) today in Wichita, Kansas on the campus of Friends University. The women's squad fought to the finish in the Garvey Center with eight Spire women placing in the top spots.

As their season is rapidly approaching the finish line, the Spire women's wrestling team will now prepare to head back to Wichita for the NAIA Championships on March 13^th through the 14^th in the Heartland Credit Union.

To view an in-depth review of the weekend in Wichita, please visit Track Wrestling.

Alexsys Jacquez placed 3^rd overall in the 103lb. weight-class after a first-round bye. Jacquez has been an absolute stand out this year for the Spires alongside her 103lb. counterpart, Jones. In her second round of the day, Alexsys defeated Tellez of Friends University by tech fall (12-2), but would then go on to be pinned by Miller of Oklahoma City University in the semifinal round. Jacquez would be dominant in the next two rounds however, defeating Whalan of Avila by tech fall (27-7) and subsequently going on to conquer her teammate Destiny Jones in the 3^rd place match by fall.

Destiny Jones, an impressive 34-9 on the year, placed 4^th overall in the conference show down. Jones, who's been a force all year, received a first-round bye as well, was defeated by Alexis Miller (OCU) by fall in the quarterfinal round on the afternoon. Destiny would go on to win the next three rounds with a bye in the consolation round two, an injury victory over Abramson of OCU in consolation round three, and a one-minute win by fall over Connally of Wayland Baptist in the semifinal round. The third-place match saw both USM 103lb. competitors facing off against each other with Jacquez coming out on top by tech fall (10-0) to land Jones in the 4^th place slot.

Madison Kalamau would fight her way to 5^th place in the 117lb. class after going 4-2 on the day. Madison would open her day strong with a tech fall win over Meyer of York University (10-0), but would then fall in the quarterfinal round to Saporito of the top finishing team Ottawa University. Kalamau would win her next two matches each by fall in round two and three of the consolations first with a fall over Ricks of Avila and then with a pin over Coppahe-Dortch of Avila in forty-six seconds. In the consolation semi's Metzger of Ottawa would defeat Kalamau by fall after a hard-fought round. In the 5^th place match, Kalamau would face-off against USM teammate Ka'aulani Hew-Len by fall in one minute and twenty-two seconds, capping off a strong day.

Ka'aulani Hew-Len also in the 117lb. weight-class subsequently placed 6^th overall. Hew-Len started the day on an opening bye but would then be defeated by Metzger of Ottawa by fall in the quarterfinal round. Ka'aulani would prove big time in her next two matches with two victories by fall over Meyer of York University in a head-turning fifteen seconds and over McCue of Texas Wesleyan to send her to the consolation semi-final round. Rios of Texas Wesleyan would defeat Hew-Len by fall in the semi's and this would lead to Spire vs Spire for the 5^th place match with Kalamau taking the victory over Ka'aulani.

Maci Pearson would place 6^th overall in the conference battle. Maci would start her day to a tech fall loss to Duvall of Texas Wesleyan. Pearson would bounce back strong to defeat Gomez of Friends University in the next round with a one minute and forty second pin to send her to the consolation semis to face Pena of Wayland Baptist University. Pena would defeat Maci by fall to send her to the 5^th place match, where she would face Faith Vondy of Texas Wesleyan and subsequently lose by fall to take home the 6^th place finish in the 131lb. weight-class.

Up next was Skylur Lewis in the 138lb. weight-class. Lewis has been huge for USM as of late with a 19-6 record and received a first-round bye at the tournament. Lewis would next defeated Riedinger by fall to head to the semi final round. There, Lewis faced Lester of Ottawa University and lost by decision to the Braves wrestler with a final tally of 1-3. In the consolation semis, Skylur would come back to win by decision over Shinkle of Wayland Baptist University to send herself to the 3^rd place match. Lewis would finish her day off strong, but would lose by decision to Posada of Oklahoma City University with a final 4-8 score.

In the 145lb. weight class, Allison King would take home 5^th place at the KCAC/SAC tournament. King would start the day with a victory by fall over Jansing of OCU. Allison would unfortunately go on to drop her next two matches to Suarez of Wayland Baptist by fall and similarly to Loew of OCU by fall as well. In the 5^th place match, Allison would end her day on a high note with a tech fall victory over Jansing of OCU with a final score of 10-0.

Kristal Zamora in the 160lb. weight class would receive a first-round bye, but would drop her next two matches. Zamora would fall to Adekuoroye of Wayland Baptist in the quarterfinal round and would face teammate Talyn Naylor. Naylor would find herself victorious in the consolation round two match with a pin over Zamora.

Rounding out the Spire athletes would be Talyn Naylor in the 160lb. weight class. Naylor would have a strong showing and go on to finish 7^th overall. Talyn dropped her first round by fall over Weidl of Ottawa University, but would steal the next two matches. Naylor would receive a consolation round one bye and would then face and defeat teammate Zamora by fall in a minute and a half to send herself to the consolation round three. Thomas of Ottawa University would defeat Naylor by fall, but she would immediately bounce back with a victory by fall over Guzman of Friends University to end her afternoon on a strong note.