UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio - The Bethany College women's wrestling team competed at the JCU Open hosted by John-Carroll (Ohio) University in the Tony DeCarlo Varsity Center.

Bethany returned to Northeast Ohio to face off in the latest edition of the JCU Open where 10 different wrestlers placed in their respective brackets including one first-place finisher, two second-place finishers, and one third-place finisher. Although the Open was unscored, the Bison ranked second out of 20 teams with 222 team points trailing only the University of Mount Union (Ohio) with 340 points.

Freshman Ari Tyson (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill West) led the way for the Bison as the team's only gold medalist after going a perfect 3-0 on her way to the 145-pound crown. The Bethany first-year received a bye in the first round but then secured a 10-0 tech fall in the second round, a 52-second pin in the class semifinals, and another 10-0 tech fall in the championship bout against Heidelberg (Ohio) University's Annabell Hunter. Tyson finished the tournament tied for first among all wrestlers with 19 team points

Rose Mary Dodd (Lake Elsinore, Calif./Temescal Canyon) continued her standout freshman season by picking up second place in the 131-pound bracket. She also received a first-round bye, but then earned back-to-back tech fall victories by a combined time of 3:17 to set up another rematch with Mount Union's Abigail Mozden in the championship round. The two went nearly the entire first period before Mozden won by fall just before the buzzer, but Dodd picked up the Bison's first silver medal of the day.

Also finishing in second was freshman MyJanniea Baptist (Los Angeles, Calif./Lawndale) in the 207 bracket. She only wrestled in two matches on the day with the first ending in a 2:46 fall sending her to the first-place match. There, Baptist faced off with yet another Purple Raider as Mount Union won its second bracket of the weekend.

In the 110 bracket, freshman Ashley Campbell (Edinboro, Pa./General McLane) won the third-place match after falling in the opening round and rattling off three straight victories. In the second round of the consolation bracket, Campbell had to face off against her friend and teammate freshman Clara Ealy (Forest Hill, W.Va./James Madison) before earning a pin in the consolation championship. Ealy opened the tournament with a big win over Point Park (Pa.) University's Rei Vlahov in the opening round with a 7-2 decision as she also placed at fifth for the Green and White.

Freshmen Taelor Rae Busch (Omaha, Neb./Mercy) and Natalie Rodriguez-Romero (Perris, Calif./Citrus Hill) each finished fourth in their respective brackets. Busch had to wrestle six times in the 117-pound class where she opened with a 9-5 decision victory, and despite falling in the second round, won with a pin and two techs for a combined time of 3:04 in the consolation bracket to set up another third-place match for the Bison. She finished fifth in the tournament with 37 match points. Rodriguez-Romero had a similar path but made it to the 124-pound quarterfinals with a 12-2 tech and a 1:34 pin. She then dominated in the second period of the consolation semifinals as she won by decision accumulating 16 points which was the second most in the tournament.

Freshmen Ava Paul (Deptford, N.J./Deptford Township) and Zeus Bourassa (Sioux City, Iowa/Sioux City East) placed sixth in the 103 and 207 brackets, respectively, to round out Bethany's Top-6 placers. Bourassa opened the heavyweight first round with a dominant 10-0 tech fall.

Sophomore Shanielah Kirk (Milwaukee, Wis./Martin Luther) also placed at 160 after opening the bracket with a 1:10 fall followed by another pin in the consolation bracket setting up her 10-0 tech fall victory in the seventh-place match. 

Also wrestling for the Bison was freshman Malia Tocco (Philo, Calif./Mendocino) as she earned a quick 41-second pin in the first round of the consolation bracket.

The Bison are back in action on Friday, February 6 as they travel to Erie, Pennsylvania to take on No. 18 nationally ranked Gannon (Pa.) University in a dual at 7 p.m. at Highmarks Event Center.