RedStorm duo place fourth at Warrior Open

Rio Grande Sports Information
     FORT WAYNE, Ind. - Alexandria Evans and Annalis Ortez-Pierce both posted fourth-place finishes to lead the University of Rio Grande women's wrestling team at the Warrior Women's Open hosted by the Indiana Institute of Technology.
     The two-day event wrapped up on Saturday.
     Evans, a freshman from Barboursville, W.Va., did her damage in the Maximus 103-pound bracket, while Ortez-Pierce - a sophomore from Portland, Ore. - was part of the Pancake 138-pound division.
     Evans got things started with a 10-4 decision over Otterbein's Vita Savage before pinning West Liberty's Sydney Chambers at the 1:47 mark of their quarterfinal round match.
     Evans then dropped an 11-0 technical fall decision to Zoey Haney of host Indiana Tech in the semifinals of the championship bracket, but rebounded with a 14-10 decision over Katie Rowles - who was wrestling unattached - in the consolation bracket semifinals.
     In the third place match, Evans dropped a 12-4 decision to Isabella Bocanegra of Providence.
     After receiving a first round bye, Ortez-Pierce recorded a 12-6 decision over Otterbein's Abby Green before dropping a 12-7 decision to Addison Lyon of Mount Union in the quarterfinal round of the championship bracket.
     Ortez-Pierce rebounded with a three straight wins - by fall over Maggie Boncosky from Women`s Wrestling at IU at 1:53; by fall over Adeline Tuccini of Lourdes University at the 2:46 mark; and by fall over Mariam Shariq from Baker University at 2:08.
     The stretch of success ended in the third place match when Ortez-Pierce dropped a hard-fought 5-2 decision to Southeastern CC's Evelyn Phillips.
     Rio Grande also got a fifth place performance from sophomore Haley Williams (Mason, OH) in the Pancake 110-pound division.
     Williams won her opening match by fall at 2:08 over Haley Hoffman from Mount Union before losing by technical fall to Otterbein's Kellie Kennedy, 10-0, in the championship quarterfinals.
     Williams then rebounded to pin John Carroll's Addy Crane at 5:46 and decision Aveona Edwards from Siena Heights, 16-10, before losing by fall at 5:41 of her consolation semifinal against Audrey Miracle of Heidelberg.
     Williams claimed fifth place when her match with Laila Jordan was stopped due to an injury to Baker at 2:08.
     Also representing the RedStorm in the tourney's Pancake 160-pound division was freshman Paige Russell (Kettering, OH).
     Russell won her first match by pinning Hailey Rose-Caldwell of Mount Union at 3:30, but then dropped a 6-4 decision to Indiana Tech's Teagan Aurich and falling by pin at 4:02 to Audrey Garcia from Otterbein.
     Russell then dropped into the Hard Luck Pancake 160 bracket and proceeded to win three straight outings.
     She pinned Mackenzie Mercer of Lourdes at 0:20 before getting a forfeit win over Adrian's Aliya Conner and posting a 12-2 technical fall triumph against Evaleigh Stine, who was wrestling unattached.
     Rio Grande is slated to return to mat on Feb. 1 at the John Carroll University Open.