Red Devils Have Solid Results at North Central

NAPERVILLE, Ill. – The Eureka women's wrestling team competed in the North Central College Women's Open on Sunday – and came home with a slew of solid results.

"The women had a pretty good day today," EC coach Eric Biehl said. "This one of the tougher tournaments of the year. We saw a few girls get their first college victory. We also had two wrestlers place eighth in tough brackets."

McKenzie Cook (Homer, Alaska/Homer/Lincoln) and Madison Farris (Chatsworth, Ill./Rifle) led the way, both going 4-2 on the day to notch eighth-place finishes at 143 and 170 pounds, respectively.

Cook, a senior, wrestled back after dropping a 14-4 tech fall against Providence's Kailey Kees and won fourth straight matches – all four by fall. She pinned Campbellsville's Judea Higgins-Morris in 2:07, Midland's Andrea Frisque in 1:15, Wisconsin-Steves Point's Anna Strand in 4:10 and Lakeland's Al Ghala Al Radi in 1:05.

Her day ended with her on the other side of a fall in 32 seconds against Hasting's Reagen Gallaway.

Farris, a freshman, opened with a fall in 2:22 over Indiana Tech's Riley Winters. After losing by tech fall in the second round, she bounced back with three straight wins. She scored back-to-back pins, sticking Davenport University's Ashleigh McLane in 2:03 and Davenport University's Libia Hernandez in 1:51. Her fourth win of the day was a 10-0 tech fall over University of Providence's Kacey Lee Pua. She lost by fall to Katelyn Lewis in 18 seconds.

Parker Dafnis (Volo, Ill./Wauconda) made it to the third consolation round, picking up a fall over Adrian's Isabel Worthing in 2:42 and a decision over Augustana's Jaiden Moody. Dafnis and Cook both competed well wrestling down at news weights.

At 136, Natallie Tobuk (Nome, Alaska/Nome-Beltz) earned a couple of wins. She won by injury default against North Central's Raena Schledwitz in the prelims and recorded a 10-0 tech fall over teammate Kiza Williams (Peoria, Ill./Richwoods) in the first consolation round.

Also at 136, Vannah Berry (Carol Stream, Ill./Glenbard North/Lincoln) notched her first collegiate career win with a 10-0 tech fall over Joliet Junior College's Madison Schlismann. At 143, Jaylah Dalton (Pekin, Ill./Pekin) recorded her first collegiate career win with a pin over Aurora's Lilian Hernandez in 1:15.

Gada Bryant (Westville, Ill./Westville/Lincoln) also contributed a win for the Red Devils at 109, pinning Aurora's Camila Neuman in 1:41.

The Eureka women will next set their sights on Friday's upcoming home matchup against nationally-ranked Aurora. The Red Devils will host the Spartans in their first home dual of the year at 6:30 p.m.

"We'll have some tough matchups," Biehl said. "Looking forward to seeing our girls compete with the best of them."