NUWAY Results (PDF) | Southern Oregon Dual Results (PDF) | Iowa Wesleyan Dual Results (PDF)

Louisville, KY – The Patriots had 16 wrestlers compete across the NWCA Duals and the NUWAY Open for the start of their 2022 portion of the schedule. The NUWAY Open was a one-day tournament with UC combining for a record of 15-11, having two wrestlers finish in the top-two of their weight-classes. For the NWCA Duals, Cumberlands was able to compete well enough to earn a spot in day two's action where they look to have a top-five team finish.

NUWAY Open
Ariana Pereira added another top finish to give her two so far this season. She competed in the 155/170 weight class and made it all the way to the championship match. Pereira rattled off three fall victories, never having to enter the second period of any of her matches. In her first bout, Pereira pinned her opponent in just 55 seconds, for her fastest pin of the season. Her quarterfinal and semifinal matches were more of the same, where Pereira pinned her opponents at 1:15 and 2:00 respectively. The Newark, CA native lost by 10-0 tech fall in the championship to earn second place, her highest finish of her career.

In her first competition of the season, MaQuoia Bernabe picked up right where she left off last season, coming in second place for the 191-weight class. In a round robin style bracket, Bernabe went 3-2. In Bernabe's first time back on the mats for this season, she pinned her opponent at 52 seconds, her first career pin before the one minute mark. After losing 11-0 to 9^th ranked Catherine Palmieri from Life, Bernabe bested her new fall record. The Versailles, KY native wasted no time in her fourth match, picking up a four-point takedown and then flipping her opponent her back for a fall at 24 seconds. In her weight class, Bernabe earned the second-best record out of the six wrestlers to take home second place.

Vanessa Nebre and Hannah Thompson also picked up wins for UC. For Nebre it marked her first collegiate win. After being up 10-4, she earned at pin at 4:12. Thompson also made her win a fall which is her second of the season. The Burlington, KY native was up 4-0 before her opponent picked up two points. But Thompson did not allow her opponent to get any more points, going up 6-2 before pinning her at 2:18.

NWCA DUALS
The Patriots went 1-1 in their duals, facing two ranked opponents in #2 Southern Oregon and #19 Iowa Wesleyan. Southern Oregon got the better of UC for a 34-10 victory, but Cumberlands bounced back for a 31-17 win over the Tigers.

Southern Oregon won the first four matches to be ahead 16-1 for the 130-bout. Courtney Pittman stepped onto the mat for UC and found herself down 4-0 early on. However, Pittman found the right moments to earn points of her own, with eight unanswered in just 23 seconds of work. Pittman then delivered the final blow to get UC their only pin victory of the day at 2:15 to make the score 16-6.

Unfortunately, the Raiders won four of the final matches to win 34-10. Chamira Cooper, at the 170 match, was the only other Patriot to pick up a win in the dual. Cooper blanked her opponent for the 10-0 tech fall, to keep her duals record at a perfect 7-0.

Now in a need to win scenario to stay alive in the tournament, UC regrouped against Iowa Wesleyan. The Patriots picked up six forfeit wins over the Tigers to win 31-17.

Cumberlands is guaranteed two more duals on day two of the NWCA Duals where they can place as high as fifth place. They will have a tough task in their first dual up against #9 Baker University. That matchup is set for 9AM eastern time with live stats and video provided here.

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