LA GRANDE, Ore. - Mountaineer Women's Wrestling has waited over a year for a full regular season to get underway and that time has finally come. Eastern Oregon is ready to go and excited to compete in a full slate of action. Read below to learn more about the team, the schedule, and much more.

2021-22 Season Outlook
• Going into this season, Eastern will begin the year nationally ranked at No. 12 in the NAIA preseason top-20 coaches' poll. They will also be a preseason top-five team in the Cascade Collegiate Conference.
• The Mountaineers grabbed the preseason No. 12 spot after a 17th place finish at last year's NAIA National Invite. Helping the Mountaineers rank inside the top-15 is the return of all nine national qualifiers from a season ago.
• Entering this season, EOU also has 12 individuals ranked going into the season. Leading the way of ranked individuals is reigning National Runner-Up Erin Redford who begins the 2021-22 season ranked No. 1 in the NAIA in the 143-pound weight class. At 101 pounds, Nayeli Flores Roque ranks No. 22. Newcomer Stephanie Blankenship is ranked 15th at 109 pounds. Senior Macy Higa ranks No. 9 at 123 pounds, followed by Anjelynn Baron who ranks No. 22 at the same weight.
• At 130 pounds, Kaylee Moore is ranked 12th. Morgan Shines is 11th at 136 pounds while Krystal Fabricante is 21st. Ranked at 143 pounds along with Redford is Nayeli Maston who checks in at No. 9. All-American Dempsi Talkington is ranked fifth at 155 pounds, with Tenley Swope ranked No. 16. Olivia Robinson rounds out the ranked individuals at No. 12 for the 170-pound class.
• In the CCC preseason coaches' poll, the Mountaineers are picked to finish fourth as voted upon by the league coaches. Eastern tallied 25 points in the poll.

2020-21 Season Review 
• Like the men's season, the Mountaineers 2020-21 campaign can be described in one word: short.
• The EOU women only managed to compete in one regular season tournament in the Nampa Collegiate Invite before heading off to the NAIA National Invite.
• The Mountaineers had seven placewinners at the Nampa Collegiate Invite and ultimately had nine grapplers qualify for Nationals. Making it to the national stage was Lisa Megargee, Nayeli Flores Roque, Anjelynn Baron, Macy Higa, Erin Redford, Krystal Fabricante, Dempsi Talkington, Nayeli Maston, and Olivia Robinson.
• At the National Invite, two wrestlers garnered All-American status in Erin Redford and Dempsi Talkington. Redford was the NAIA National Runner-Up at 143 pounds, while Talkingto finished eighth at 155 pounds.
• Academically, three Mountaineers garnered Scholar All-American honors in Anjelyn Baron, Macy Higa, and Talkington.
• At the end of the season, Head Coach Carlene Sluberski was named the CCC Coach of the Year as voted upon by the league's coaches.

 The Carlene Sluberski File
• Head Coach Carlene Sluberski enters her second season of leading Mountaineer Women's Wrestling in 2012-22. She was named the Eastern Oregon Head Women's Wrestling Coach in November 2020 becoming the third head coach in the program's history.
• Prior to joining the Mountaineers, Sluberski worked at the University of Providence in Montana for two seasons where she was the head bench boss for the Argos.

The 2021-22 Schedule
• The Mountaineers schedule this season features a fully loaded slate of competition. The Mountaineers are expected to compete in 14 events this season with 10 being dual match-ups.
• Fans will get to see the Mountaineers in action inside Quinn Coliseum four times this season. EOU will host three duals and one tournament this year.
• The three duals on tap for Eastern will be against Southern Oregon (Nov. 6), Simpson (Nov. 19), and Big Bend Community College (Jan. 29). The lone tournament will be the Mountaineer Open on Nov. 7.
• This year's CCC Championships will take place in Great Falls, Mont. and will be hosted by University of Providence on Sunday, Feb. 27.
• The 2022 NAIA National Invite will take place March 11-12 in Jamestown, N.D.

WEIGHT CLASS BREAKDOWN
101 Pounds
• Two athletes make up the 101-pound class in Nayeli Flores Roque and Mia Schreiner.
• Flores Roque enters her second year with EOU nationally ranked at 101 pounds at No. 22.
• Schreiner is a true freshman for the Mountaineers and will look to add depth for the team.

109 Pounds
• Two grapplers make up this class and both enter with collegiate experience in Stephanie Blankenship and Lisa Megargee.
• Blankenship joins EOU from Warner Pacific after the university opted to cut the program.
• Megargee has been with the Mountaineers since the program was established in 2016-17 and has qualified for nationals each of the last three seasons.

123 Pounds
• Like the weight classes above, the 123-pound class only has two grapplers, but both boast quality experience and have qualified for Nationals in Anjelynn Baron and Macy Higa.
• Baron qualified for Nationals last season and was a Scholar All-American. She enters this season ranked No. 22.
• Higa has qualified for the NAIA National Invite each of the last three seasons. She was a WCWA All-American two seasons back and was named a Scholar All-American last season.

130 Pounds
• Just one athlete makes up this weight class in Irma Retano who is in her first season with the team.
• Last season Retano was a member of the Mountaineer Women's basketball team. She has competed in the sport at the prep level and will look to contend this season. 

136 Pounds
• This weight class features four athletes in Krystal Fabricante, Kaylee Moore, Morgan Shines, and Haley Virtue.
• Fabricante is the lone senior of the group and enters this season nationally ranked at 21st.
• Shines enters her junior campaign with a national rank as well at No. 11.
• Moore is also entering her junior season and is expected to potentially wrestle at both 136 and 130 pounds. She is currently ranked No. 12 in the NAIA at 130 pounds. 
• Virtue is the newcomer of the group and will look to add depth to an experienced group.

143 Pounds
• Three athletes make up the 143-pound class in Ariel Ceno, Rosa Ramirez, and Erin Redford.
• Redford highlights the group as the reigning NAIA National Runner-Up. She will look to guide the group and potentially the team. 
• Ramirez enters her junior season with EOU. She opted out the 2020-21 season and has qualified for the NAIA National Invite.
• Ceno is the lone newcomer of the group and comes in this season as a true freshman.

155 Pounds
• The weight class features four grapplers in Nayeli Maston, Tenley Swope, Dempsi Talkington, and Aleena Wiegand.
• Talkington will look to lead this group as a returning All-American from a season ago. She is one of three ranked wrestlers in this group and is the highest at No. 5
• Maston may switch between 143 and 155 this season as she is preseason ranked No. 9 at 143 pounds.
• Swope, a true freshman on the team, is ranked No. 16 going into her first collegiate season.
• Wiegand also joins the Mountaineers this season as a newcomer this year.

170 Pounds
• Just one athlete is listed at 170 pounds for the Mountaineers in Olivia Robinson.
• Robinson will be in just her second season with EOU but is expected to make another impact as she is ranked No. 12 going into the 2021-22 season.

Scouting the Competition
Southern Oregon Raiders
• The Raiders enter the 2021-22 campaign ranked no. 3 in the NAIA after the team finished fifth at last year's NAIA National Invite.
• The Raiders are also preseason picked to finish second in the CCC Coaches' Poll. They tallied 42 points and received one first place vote.
• Southern has 14 individual grapplers ranked going into the season. Defending NAIA 155-pound champion Sienna Ramirez leads the way at No. 1 in her class. Six others are top-six: No. 2 Esthela Trevino (101), No. 4 Macie Stewart (109), No. 4 Carolina Johnson (116), No. 6 Tara Othman (116), No. 6 Glory Konecny (123) and No. 6 Bailey Dennis (170).

Mountaineer Open
• This year's Mountaineer Open is expected to feature six teams total on the women's sides including Eastern Oregon.
• Two CCC teams will come to La Grande for this year's Mountaineer Open in Southern Oregon, and Corban Also joining the action will be Grays Harbor College, Big Bend Community College, and Washington State
• This year's Mountaineer Open looks to showcase athletes at nearly every weight class for Eastern Oregon. Tournament action will begin at 9 a.m. and fans can catch and follow live results by clicking the respective link above.

Up Next
• Following the two home events, EOU will be back in action Sunday, Nov. 14 at the Mike Clock Open hosted by Pacific University.

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