BUENA VISTA, Va. - The women's wrestling team headed to Southern Virginia for the SVU Invitational early today.

Chloe Simmons took second place in the 103-weight class. In the first round, Simmons fell to Mount Olive opponent Lilian Prendergast in a tech fall. She responds in Round 2 with a tech fall win over Katie Ramsay of Southern Virginia. Then, Simmons defeated Mary Lopes of Cedar Crest in a fall of 1:58. Round 5, she closed out with a 6-0 win over Aspen Cook of Mount Olive in a fall of 1:32.

Kylie Brigman claimed third place in the 117-weight class. She opened with a 12-4 win over Maria Gonzalez (Bluefield) in the quarterfinals, but fell to Andi Bibeau of Cedar Crest in the semi-finals. In the consolation semi-finals, she defeated Paige Altizer (Bluefield) 10-0 for a tech fall win. In the 3rd-place match, she faced teammate Ayden Schultz and won by a fall of 4-0.

Schultz took fourth in the 117-weight class. She defeated Rebekkah Kinkade (Allen) in a tech fall of 2:15. Schultz fell in the semi-finals to Ahriana Scales (Mount Olive) to move into the consolation semi-finals, in which, she won in a fall of 59 seconds over Maria Gonzalez (Bluefield). 

In the 131-weight class, Marielle Hirkala placed fourth. In the opening round, she won 4-0 over Emory & Henry's Kailyn Pond in a fall of 1:46. She took the loss in the quarterfinals to Bella Murillo (Mount Olive). Hirkala then powered her way to the third-place match after taking wins in the consolations round two, three, and the semis. She fell to June Welch of Liberty to take fourth.

Stephanie Noel took the overall win in the 138-weight class after receiving the bye in the quarterfinal, a 12-2 tech fall win over Jahmya Hill of Allen, and a 5-0 decision win in the finals over Alissa Brown Washington of Allen.

The WildCats had two placers in the 160-weight class with Emily Riopel taking fourth and Maizion Warren taking sixth. Riopel fell in the opening round, but took wins in the consolation brackets on her way to the 3rd-place match. She ultimately fell to Mount Olive's Elaine Pollock for fourth place. Warren got the bye in the opening rounds but fell in the quarterfinals. She went 2-2 in the consolation bracket for sixth place. 

Sophia Butler earned second place in the 180-weight class. She won 12-2 in a 2:57 tech fall in the opening round over Megan Penergrass of Bluefield. Butler then went on to the quarterfinals and won 3-0 in a fall of 1:31 over Allen's Arvriel Douthit and won 14-4 in 4:54 tech fall in the semis over Allen's Morgan Thomas. Her second-place finish comes after falling to Journey Land of Mount Olive.

LJ Peters took fourth, and Miki Ozueh took sixth in the 207-weight class. Peters took the loss in the opening round to move to the consolation brackets. She then won 4-0 over Cedar Crest's Lily Decker and 10-0 over teammate Ozueh. Peters was defeated in the 3rd-place match by Andrea Smith (Mount Olive). Ozueh got the bye in the quarterfinals, but fell to Allison Gabarrete (Emory & Henry) in the semis. In the consolation semi-final bracket, she was defeated by teammate Peters to move to the 5th-place match. Ozueh fell to Sarah Seltzer of Cedar Crest to take sixth place.

The team is back home in the Michels Athletic Center for a senior day dual against Greensboro College on Jan. 22 at 6 p.m.