The Lindenwood women’s wrestling team hosted Emmanuel College on Thursday night at Hyland Arena for their first home meet in two years.

The Lions were topped by Emmanuel by a 31-15 final score, earning two outright wins and a forfeit in 10 different weight classes.

Shania Melendez debuted in the 101-pound weight class, earning the first takedown of her match, but later on, Melendez got pinned by Iesha Washington from Emmanuel.

After Emmanuel earned a forfeit in the 109-pound weight class, senior Angelique Terrones-Cruz hit a technical superiority two minutes and 49 seconds into the first period in the 116-pound weight class. At that point, the match was 10-4.

In the 123-pound weight class, Emmanuel’s Emily Sie earned an 8-5 decision over freshman Jasmine Ward. Even with the loss, the Lions gained a point and were trailing by 8 points, 13-5.

Emmanuel took the win in the following two matches. Alexis Altamira got pinned in the 130-pound weight class and freshman Rachel Koolstra got defeated by technical superiority in the 136-pound weight class.

In the 143-pound weight class, freshman Belle Erhardt pinned her opponent to get the match closer in points. However, Emmanuel kept its run going when freshman Kiersten Noonan got pinned in the 155-pound weight class.

The Lions received a forfeit in the 170-pound weight class. In the last match of the dual, Kenya Henderson took a 9-0 lead in the 191-pound weight class before getting pinned three minutes and 45 minutes into the period.

“That was a winnable dual; they [Emmanuel] are ranked number fourth in the country, so this goes to show where we are at,” head coach Mike Mena said. “We are very capable of beating that team; even though they are ranked fourth, I am pretty sure we can beat them.”

The Lions competed in Naperville, Illinois, on Saturday for the North Central College Invite and closed out their Fall season. The Lions will be back on January 12th for the Ez Flex Open in Ottawa, Kansas.