By: John Murphy
CSC Sports Information Director
A total of four Chadron State women's wrestlers qualified for the 2024 National Collegiate Women's Wrestling Championships by placing top four at the NCWWC Region V Wrestling Tournament held in Denton, Texas on Sunday.
Kamila Montenegro, a senior from Las Vegas, Nevada, became the second regional champion in school history by going 3-0 at 191 pounds. Ana Rojas-Zamora was the runner-up at 123 pounds to qualify while Heavynne Robles-Wright and Mana Chanthasone placed fourth in their respective weight classes to punch a ticket.
The Eagles finished fourth out of ten teams in the team standings with 109.5 points. Colorado Mesa won the title with 221 points and Simon Fraser finished second with 207 points. It is the second consecutive year that CSC has had one champion and three other qualifiers at the regional tournament.
Chanthasone, a freshman from Liberal, Kansas had to wrestle a true fourth place match to earn her ticket to the championships in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on March 8 and 9.
After receiving a first-round bye, Chanthasone was defeated by the eventual 101-pound champion from Colorado Mesa in the semifinals. Her first match in the consolation bracket was against her teammate, Britley Lopez. Lopez, a sophomore from Borger, Texas, was defeated by Gina Bolognese of Simon Fraser in the quarterfinals.
Chanthasone won the battle of teammates with an 11-0 tech fall, earning herself a match against Bolognese for third place. Bolognese was victorious in the match but due to Ava McNeal of Sioux Falls winning the fifth-place match and not having wrestled Chanthasone yet, a true fourth place match was needed.
The freshman from Kansas was victorious with a 9-7 decision for CSC, booking herself a ticket to the national championships.
At 109 pounds, Robles-Wright, a sophomore from Las Cruces, New Mexico, received a first round by to advance to the quarterfinals. In the quarters, Robles-Wright was victorious with a 10-0 tech fall.
In the semifinals, Robles-Wright suffered a 9-4 defeat to the eventual champion, Isabella Morales. Morales's victories were by fall in 0:20, a 10-0 tech fall, her decision over Robles-Wright and a fall in 4:13 in the championship.
Waiting for Robles-Wright in the consolation bracket was her teammate, Brianna Vollendroff. Vollendroff, a sophomore from Oroville, California, scored the first points of the match but suffered a 10-3 defeat.
The #7 ranked wrestler in the nation, Ivy Threatful of Simon Fraser, defeated Robles-Wright in the third-place match but both qualified for the NCAA Championships.
Rojas-Zamora, a sophomore from Sweeny, Texas, went 3-1 to earn silver and clinch her own ticket at 123 pounds.
After winning by fall in 0:57 in round one and by 3:15 in the quarterfinals, Rojas-Zamora used a 16-6 tech fall in the semifinals to earn a spot in the championship.
Victoria Seal, the #8 ranked wrestler from Simon Fraser, recorded her fourth consecutive 10-0 tech fall in the championship match to place Rojas-Zamora second.
The Eagles last qualifier was regional champion Montenegro at 191 pounds. While being the only undefeated wrestler on the day for CSC, her matches contained high levels of excitement.
In the quarterfinals, Montenegro earned a 3-2 decision over Symphanie Sampson of Schreiner. The match was tied with 2:00 minutes left in the final period when Sampson scored a point to gain a 2-1 lead due to Montenegro receiving two passive warnings.
Montenegro made a shot in the final ten seconds to score two points with seven seconds remaining to earn the victory.
Trailing 5-2 in the semifinals, a four-point slam was used by Montenegro with 1:23 remaining to gain a 6-5 lead. She was able to hold onto the 6-5 decision while earning a spot in the regional championship.
Montenegro dominated the gold medal match on way to winning with a 12-0 tech and becoming the second regional champion in Chadron State women's wrestling history.
Vollendroff at 109 pounds and Maria Arellano, a sophomore from Fresno, California, at 170 pounds, both finished one spot away from qualifying in fifth.
Five other Eagles placed sixth in the tournament and one placed eighth.