McMINNVILLE, Ore. – Elena Kroll and Price Pothier led the way for their respective sides Sunday inside Ted Wilson Gymnasium, turning in the most notable performances for the Linfield Wildcats at the second annual Mat Cat Invitational.
 
Kroll, a two-sport athlete who also competes in lacrosse at Linfield, won three straight matches – all by pin – to claim the Wildcats' lone individual championship.
 
Pothier reached the championship match before falling to a more experienced opponent in his third matchup of the day.
 
The Linfield men's squad placed third in the team standings in a field of nine entrants. The Wildcat women were third among seven competing squads.
 
MEN
Pothier prevailed 7-4 over Simon Fraser's Arashk Rasti in the quarterfinals before taking an 18-0 technical fall from Tyler Stratton of Pacific Lutheran in the semifinals to advance to the championship final at 174 pounds. The Wildcats freshman reached the title match where he ultimately fell 15-5 to Corban senior Matthew Bartlett.
 
At 285 pounds, Linfield's Jacob Barnes scored four victories – all by pin – on his way to claiming third place in the tournament. He saved his best effort for his final match of the day, pinning Pacific's Loudyn Reese in 47 seconds. He also won his opening two bouts by pin over Fresno State's Ricardo Jauregui in the first round and Simpson's Victor Moore in the quarterfinals. Barnes' only blemish of the day was a 9-2 setback to Jacob Vincent of Simpson in the semifinals. Coming off his first defeat of the season, Barnes rallied with an impressive pin of Western Washington's Jacob Westfall in 1:13 of the consolation semifinal.
 
Wildcat Jacob Moore secured third place in the tournament at 125 pounds by virtue of a closely contested 13-12 outcome over TJ Turner of Pacific. Moore advanced that far on the strength of a pin of Fresno State's Gabriel Martinez in the consolation semifinal.
 
Though he suffered a first-round setback at 133 pounds, Linfield's Kellen Hanson recorded pins in consecutive contests to earn a spot in the consolation semifinal. Hanson eventually dropped a topsy-turvy 14-13 decision to Big Bend's Dalton McCorkle. Hanson went on to collect fifth place with a 69-second pin of teammate Joel Nelson.
 
After getting knocked out of championship contention at 141 pounds, Jakob Jarvis rallied to score a tight 5-4 result over Big Bend's Yahir Morales in the third round of the consolation bracket, before falling in overtime of the consolation semifinal to Simpson's Elian Murrillo. In another one-point bout, the Linfield junior was edged 6-5 by Brody Piercy of Corban.
 
Peter Fengler-Johnson secured the first wins of his collegiate career in the 157-pound flight on his way to a fourth-place finish. The freshman from Portland pocketed a 20-12 major decision over Jose Pachedo of FSU in the opening round before pinning Kana'ina Yoshida from Western Washington in 4:29 of the consolation semifinal.
 
WOMEN
Kroll scored a trio of pins in each of her three pairings, claiming each win in under two minutes. She opened the day with a pin of EOU's Amara Halverson in 1:33, then followed it with a pin of unattached competitor Mikaela Trolland in 1:55. Kroll then punctuated her individual title by pinning Rosa Ramirez of Eastern Oregon in 57 seconds.
 
Alice Rickett claimed third place with a 46-second pin of Eastern Oregon's Madelyn Mazemke in the consolation semifinals. Earlier, Rickett scored a pin of teammate Klaira Flatt in 52 seconds. Flatt went on to share fifth place with Hanna Gillas by virtue of a rare double forfeit.
 
Kami Hart locked up her first collegiate win in the opening round of the 170-pound division, pinning PLU's Tatiana Molinero-Ceras in 56 seconds. And after two early losses, Brielle Brick prevailed 12-3 over Big Bend's Anna Rodriguez in the third round of the 136-pound classification.
 
NEXT
The Wildcat women travel to the Deschutes County Fair and Expo Center in Redmond on Saturday to compete in the Oregon Wrestling Classic Women's Collegiate Open at 11 a.m. The Linfield men head to Forest Grove on Sunday to compete in the Boxer Open. The first match is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. at Stoller Center.