NMU Women’s wrestlers place third as a team
ADRIAN, Mich. – The Northern Michigan women’s wrestling team placed third of eight teams at the NCWWC Regional Qualifier downstate on Saturday, where Yu Sakamoto earned a regional title and Alissa Caltagirone and Kailyn Garrett also punched their ticket to the National Championship event in two weekends.
With eight Midwest teams in competition, the Wildcats represented across the board, with three moving on and five others placing inside the top-6. Northern took 3rd with 83.5 team points. North Central narrowly edged Grand Valley for the team win, 173.0 to 171.5.
Sakamoto had the highlight day for the Green and Gold in the 117 weight class. She breezed through the competition early on with two tech fall wins to reach the final. In a low-scoring tilt, Sakamoto trailed 1-0 after round one. She picked up two points in the first minute of the second round and immediately followed with the win by fall at 3:47. She is just the second regional champion in the program’s four-year history.
Caltagirone earned the bronze medal at 138, totaling four victories on the day including one by decision in the 3rd place bout. Garrett took 4th at 207 with three total victories to her credit.
Sara Schroder (117, 5th), Sophia Bassino (160, 5th), Clarissa Wangen (180, 5th), Zhivanna Magdaleno (124, 6th), and Ozioma Ogu (207, 6th) all placed for the Green and Gold as well.
110
Bryn Sandhu received a pair of byes in the 110 bracket and was defeated in the Quarterfinals by tech fall.
117
Yu Sakamoto and Sarah Schroder represented the Green and Gold at 117, both placing. In the Quarterfinals, Sakamoto won by tech fall (10-0) over Rebecca Di Silvestro (Carthage College) in 1:05 to advance to the Semifinals. Taking on Ana Malovich (Grand Valley State), Sakamoto again picked up a 10-0 tech fall victory in 1:57, earning her spot in the Championship bout.
The shot at the title came down to Sakamoto and Sydney Petzinger of North Central College. Sakamoto trailed 1-0 after the first round, but picked up a pair of points in the first minute quickly followed by the pin to secure her gold medal win by fall at 3:47.
Sara Schroder also competed at 117 for the Wildcats, finishing in 5th. She picked up three early wins, two by fall and another by tech fall. She lost in the Cons. Semifinals by fall, but bounced back with her fourth win of the day in the 5th place match, a victory by tech fall (10-0, 3:57).
124
Zhivanna Magdaleno placed 6th at 124. She had two byes in her bracket and picked up a win by fall (2:28) in the Cons. Round 3 before a loss in the Cons. Semifinals by tech fall and a defeat by fall (2:50) in the 5th place match.
131
Sharon Leon earned a pair of wins at 131. One came in the Champ. Round 1 by fall (1:28) while the other was from a tech fall in the Cons. Round 2 (10-0, 2:27). She lost by fall in the Quarterfinals.
138
Alissa Caltagirone and Samantha Chaon represented the Wildcats at 138. Caltagirone found the podium with a third place finish. She won by fall (0:22) in the Champ. Round 1 and by a 5-1 decision in the Quarterfinals. In the Cons. Semifinals, she won by tech fall (12-0, 2:41) and finished the surge with a final victory by decision (8-2) in the 3rd place match.
Chaon received one bye and was defeated in the Quarterfinals and Cons. Round 2.
145
Priscilla Hartwell received a pair of byes and was defeated in the Quarterfinals by tech fall.
160
Sophia Bassino and Ruby Joseph took to the mat at 160 for NMU. Bassino picked up tech fall wins in the Cons. Round 2 (10-0, 1:05) and Cons. Round 3 (10-0, 2:06) before falling in the Quarterfinals by fall. In the Cons. Semifinals, Bassino went the full six minutes, falling just short by a 7-5 decision. She responded with a win in the 5th place match by fall (1:26).
Joseph received a bye and lost in the Quarterfinals by tech fall.
180
Clarissa Wangen and Mickaela Keane competed at 180. Wangen received a bye and won by tech fall (8-0, 2:38) in the Quarterfinals before taking a tech fall defeat in the Semifinals. In the Cons. Semifinals, Wangen lost by tech fall but bounced back with a victory by fall (1:45) in the 5th place match to finish in 5th.
Keane received two byes in the bracket and fell in the Quarterfinals by tech fall.
207
Kailyn Garrett and Ozioma Ogu took to the mat at 207, where they both placed. Garrett received a bye and won by fall (2:25) in the Quarterfinals. She lost in the Semifinals by fall. Ogu lost in the Quarterfinals by tech fall. The two then faced off on the Cons. Semifinals, where Garrett won by tech fall (10-0, 1:01).
In the 3rd place match, Garrett lost by fall to place 4th.
Ogu lost by tech fall in the 5th place match to finish in 6th.
Up Next
Sakamoto, Caltagirone, and Garrett will now prepare for the National Championships, taking place in Coralville Iowa from March 7-8.
