Montenegro gains 12 pins for the season
Kamila Montenegro, sophomore of Las Vegas, continues to find success against her competition, tallying in another pin and ruining the chance for Colorado Mesa University to completely sweep Chadron State, 41-6.
“I am happy with my success so far in the season,” Montenegro said. “Although I have had a lot of wins and pins, there are plenty of things that I need to fix and correct to qualify for nationals.”
She earned her 12th pin on Friday during her match against No. 8 National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Tatum Heikkila, freshman of Aberdeen, Washington, taking the win with 10 seconds left of the bout.
Through a mix of duals and tournaments, Montenegro has won 17 of 22 matches, taking four decision wins and one technical fall.
Friday’s match between the Eagles and No. 5 Mavericks was the first and only chance this season that both teams were able to face a fellow Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference team.
Of the ten matches, Colorado Mesa took five with forfeit wins, building up 25 points.
Kinsey Smith, junior of Windsor, Colorado, and Ryleigh Dye, freshman of Queen Creek, Arizona, wrestled through their six minutes of mat time, but were unable to come away with the win. Smith lost her 101-pound bout, 6-0, and Dye lost the 136-pound match, 3-1.
“Although they (teammates) did not get the win, each of them put up a fight and there were some close calls, but they just fell short,” Montenegro said. “It was a good learning experience for everybody to take a step back and find the mistakes and fix them.”
Karstin Hollen, freshman of Mesa, Arizona, and Jeslyn Jindra, junior of Box Elder, South Dakota, took falls to their Maverick opponents, each match adding five points to the Mavericks’ total.
In a number of exhibition matches, Chadron State saw wrestlers Dye and Hollen take wins over their opponents with pins, both within the first period.
CSC women’s wrestling team will take a short break before its next tournament, the Grand View Open on Saturday, Feb. 5 in Des Moines, Iowa.