Wichita, KS – The Cumberlands women's wrestling team is in fourth place after the first day of competition at the 2025 NAIA National Championships, Friday night.  The Patriots have tallied 72.5 points and have five wrestlers in position to garner All-American honors. 

Katie Gomez is the lone Patriot remaining in the championship bracket as she advanced to the semifinals in the 124-bout.  The MSC Freshman of the year went 3-0 on the day with a trio of 10-0 tech falls.  Gomez opened against Chloe Herrick of Missouri Baptist, before facing Isla Baeza of Missouri Valley.  She notched a 10-0 tech fall against Ellabelle Taylor (Evergreen State) and will face Joanna Vanderwood of William Penn in the semifinals.

Angelina Casteneda, Shammilka Miranda, Micah Fisher, Alivia Ming, and Maquoia Bernabe have all advanced to tomorrow.

Casteneda opened with a fall over eight-seeded Devyn Moore of Grand View.  In that match she earned a two-point takedown and turned it into a fall to advance.  After dropping to the top-seed, Casteneda rebounded with a 10-0 tech fall over Eyvori Jacquez (Saint Mary).  She will now face fourth-seed Karina Vang of Doane tomorrow.

In the 117-bout, Miranda opened the tournament by knocking off eighth-seed Marissa Kurtz of Southern Oregon.  Miranda notched a pair of two-point take downs in the first period to jump out to the early lead before added a late two-points for the 6-0 final.  The junior tallied her 12 fall of the season against Victoria Nunez (Central Methodist).  After dropping to consolation bracket, Miranda notched her second fall of the championship to advance against Icart Galumette of Campbellsville.

Fisher secured All-American honors after posting a 2-1 record on the day.  The junior opened against Taydem Khamjoi of Texas Wesleyan in the second round.  After falling behind early, Fisher rallied with four points in the first period and three in the second period before earning the fall.  After dropping her quarterfinal match, Fisher tallied an 11-0 tech fall of Kylee Tait to advance.

Alivia Ming dropped her first match to third-seed Esther Kolawole (William Penn), however, has rallied to win three straight matches to fend off elimination in the consolation bracket.  The freshman recorded back-to-back falls, before defeating seventh-ranked Josselinne Campos of Lindsey Wilson with a 4-2 decision.  Trailing 0-2 after the first period, Ming rattled off four-points in the second period to advance to Saturday.

Another Patriots wrestler that rallied is Bernabe, who tallied a 2-1 record on the day.  After dropping her first match in a 2-1 decision, the grad student notched a 2-1 decision over Kena Leonard of Ottawa for her first win of the championships.  Bernabe followed that up with a fall against seventh-ranked Bella Porcelli to advance to face sixth-seed Alysse Phillips of Lourdes.

In the 180-bout, Saiheron Preciado-Meza opened the day with a fall at the 2:42 mark against Emma Schreiber of Missouri Baptist.  The sophomore advanced to the quarterfinals after earning a forfeit to help earn sox team points for the Patriots.

UC will continue at the NAIA Championships on Saturday March 15^th  at 10:00 a.m. (CST). Live scoring through Track Wrestling can be found here.
 
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