No. 15 Baker Splits Home Tri-Dual with No. 12 Ottawa and (RV) Avila

BALDWIN CITY - After earning a season-opening win at home against No. 5 William Penn last week, No. 15 Baker women's wrestling returned to the Collins Center to host No. 12 Ottawa and (RV) Avila on Friday as the Wildcats split the non-conference tri-dual.

BU started off the night with a dominating 40-6 victory over the Eagles before coming up short in its top-15 battle with the Braves, falling 29-16.

With three forfeits in the dual against the Eagles, Kylee Slyter and Aileya Sath were the only two wrestlers to go 2-0 between the two matches for BU.

Slyter opened things up with a pin in her first bout at 110 pounds and followed it up with a thrilling comeback over OU's Aynsley Fink, who ranks one spot ahead of Slyter in the NAIA rankings at No. 14. Sath won both of her matches by decision with a 10-2 victory in her first match and a close 8-4 win in the OU dual.

After Avila won the opening match at 103 pounds, Baker claimed the rest of the matches with Slyter and freshmen Hailee Crosland (145) and Sophia Yorko (160) all winning by pin.

Kylie Robledo came out on top of a 12-8 decision in the 124-pound bout and Audrey Darnell edged out a 7-6 win at 138 pounds. Crosland and Yorko's pins, followed by a couple of AU forfeits closed out a landslide win for BU in its first dual of the night.

In the Ottawa dual, Katherine Heath followed up Slyter's decision with a pin at 117 pounds to give BU an 8-5 lead. Sath's second win at 131 pounds put the Wildcats back in front, 11-10 before the Braves used a couple of pins to put the match out of reach.

Wrestling at 180 pounds, Jaclyn Daley earned a pin over the Braves' nationally-ranked wrestler to cap the scoring for the Wildcats, who dropped its first dual of the season.

After back-to-back weeks competing in duals, Baker returns to tournament action with next weekend's Missouri Valley Open on Nov. 22-23 in Marshall, Mo.

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