On Wednesday night, Dahnke Ballroom hosted the quarterfinals of the 23rd annual Baraka Bouts. Four semifinal and two showcase bouts also took place between the quarter-final bouts. Here’s how each of the contests played out.
Semifinals
Mia “The Sugar Cookie” Simon def. Anna “The Banana” Polking
“The Sugar Cookie” started not so sweet, delivering significant blows to Polking’s head and chest, barely allowing Polking to get a hit on her. Polking came to fight in the second, keeping Simon on her toes and delivering significant punches everywhere she could. Simon attempted to fight back, using her height and speed to her advantage to move the duo around the ring, using every inch of the floor to box. Polking was quick to jump on Simon and come for every exposed part of her body, forcing Simon to practically push her off. The rest of the bout was very aggressive with both of them delivering quick head or torso shots that would easily knock anyone else out. By unanimous decision, Simon walked away with the win to cap off her semifinals experience.
Hope “The Wonder” Wanken def. Aracely “Chelas” Gonzalez
The bout started immediately after the bell with Wanken delivering many jabs to Gonzalez’s face in a routine manner. Gonzalez would attempt to get swings in going low, but Wanken read the moves and was able to shut her down and deliver harmful punches of her own instead. Wanken started the second immediately going low, delivering what felt like a minute-worth of blows to Gonzalez, forcing a mid-bout pause to clean up some blood. Gonzalez came back ready and fought hard against Wanken who was barely taking a second between her blows. The third mirrored the others as Wanken was fast to deliver aggressive blows that would make Gonzalez back track and stumble over her next punches. By unanimous decision “The Wonder” will walk away with a semi-final win.
Emily “Punches” Poruczynski def. Avery “Rapid Fire” Meyer
Despite boxing in her converse high tops, Porucynski was quick to deliver the first blow, Meyer being able to read it, ducked out of the way just escaping the punch. Poruczynski delivered quick blows, forcing Meyer to turn around at times; however, Meyer came back and finished the first very strong and carried this momentum into the second causing Porucynski to tire out and for the rest of the second to be a very slow, defensive game on both ends. Meyer came out strong delivering low punches to Porucynski, using her size as an advantage and even had Poruczynski back against the wire. Meyer was tiny, but mighty, receiving multiple very close blows to the face in the corner of the ring before the bell rang for the final time. By unanimous decision, Poruczynski took home the semi-final win.
Lily “Lil’ Knockout” Mesler def. Charlotte “Charmander” Tang
Mesler began the bout with fast punches straight to Tang’s face; however, Tang displayed high boxing IQ, playing a defense that barely allowed any more shots to hit her face. Coming in with her hands high for the second, Tang was scrappy, getting any punch she could to land on Mesler, even though she received hard swings to the face soon after. For the rest of the second, the two danced around the ring very close to one another, delivering small punches where they could. Tang came out in the third quick with the headshots, while Mesler came out with multiple to the torso, causing the crowd to erupt in cheers. The rest was extremely aggressive and multiple punches were thrown, allowing for Mesler to win by unanimous decision,.
Quarterfinals
Maribella “The Bomb” Fues def. Bailey “Baller” Chavis
The first round of the night started aggressively with Fues coming out to a quick start, meeting Chavis in the middle of the ring to deliver multiple shots to the face. Fues forced Chavis to craft a strong defense and it became a match of who would put their hands down first. Although Fues stuck with headshots, significant blows were delivered to Chavis’ chest towards the end. In the second, Chavis started to fight back and got more swings against Fues, forcing her to play defense for once and found lots of crowd support in doing so. In the third, Fues came back hungry and threw harder punches, forcing Chavis back into the corner. Fues aggression made her the unanimous winner of the box.
Mallory “Bing Bang” Turner def. Chloe “Carsmasian” Maitrejean
The aggression continued to climb in Dahnke Ballroom when Maitrejean came out and immediately delivered an aggressive headshot, making both boxers stay on their toes to deliver quick punches in response. Maitrejean found significant crowd support, giving her the confidence to take her punches lower and deliver shots to Turner’s torso. Maitrejean, staying aggressive in the second, seemed to deliver three punches to Mallroy’s one and was very fast to return anything rough that came in her direction. Maitrejean played more defense in the third, displaying her versatility. Despite support from the crowd, the remainder of the bout was slow until the very end when Turner had Maitrejean up against the edge of the ring, almost ending up in the corner. In an unanimous decision, Turner won the bout.
Lindsey “The Beater” Weeter vs. Yoonseo “Korean Zombie Jr.” Han
Junior Weeter, from Arlington, Virginia and Flaherty Hall, came out with an aggressive offensive front; the sophomore representing Suwon, South Korea and Ryan Hall, returned the energy, as both fighters traded quick jabs to the head and moved around the ring throughout the first round. Han began the second strongly, immediately cornering Weeter with shots to the face and chest, using her speed to her advantage. The third spent a majority of time in the middle of the ring, before Han pushed Weeter against the ropes. Weeter, however, finished strong, forcing off Han to the other side. Weeter prevailed in the end, winning by split decision.
Caoilinn “K.O.” Flinn def. Lucy “Alpha” Noris
Senior Noris came out with aggression in the first round but Flinn mirrored her quick with a offensive approach before being forced to the ground midway through; Noris continued to dominate throughout the round. But Flinn came out stronger in the second with relentless head-hunting, constraining Noris to a defensive stand, unable to place punches. Noris came out with more energy in the third, quickly pushing Flinn into the ropes. While Noris returned persistent jabs to the head and chest at the end of the third, Flinn stood her ground and won by unanimous decision.
Maddie “Mad-Dawg” Orchard def. Courtney “Karsmashian” Callard
The bout began with immediate and fast movement as freshman Callard attacked fellow Johnson Family Hall resident, junior Orchard, who followed. The second round started with more confrontational jabs from Callard, but Orchard was able to throw off the rhythm with combinations of chest jabs and hooks. Orchard established her offensive front in the third with her consistent strength and speed; Callard remained powerful throughout the round, but Orchard took home the win by unanimous decision.
Marisol “Mac Fury” Flores-Garcia vs. Lucy “Alpha” Graceffo
Graceffo came out swinging, and her stark height advantage enabled her to dominate in the first round with consistent right and left hooks that left Flores-Garcia in a defensive position. Flores-Garcia responded with power in the second, but lost fuel by the end of the round as Graceffo’s relentless jabs to the head established her force. Both fighters shared jabs in the third before Graceffo won by unanimous decision.
Showcases
Corinne “Core Power” Mansour def. Mary Pat “Ambulance Chaser” Peterson
Peterson showed a strong demeanor even when climbing into the ring, showing everyone that she was there to display her most talented shots. The box was extremely close, as both delivered small punches to each other until towards the end of the first when Peterson delivered blows that landed Mansour against the apron of the ring, while delivering a piercing stare-down. Peterson came out hot again, having the whole crowd talking about her technique and ability to deliver quick, but hard blows. The round seemed to finish quick as Mansour struggled to play defense and took the punches as they came. Despite delivering the first blow, Mansour was quickly driven into the apron by Peterson and remained around the border of the ring for the rest of the round. Although Peterson delivered aggressive blows and kept Mansour under control, by split decision Mansour won.
Mary “The Real MJ” Jordan def. Megan “Megatron” Kalail
Jordan began the bout scrappy, delivering big blows to Kalail’s face and chest before playing defense and taking some of her own. Jordan found early crowd support, giving her the confidence to back up Kalail into the wires before finishing the first. Jordan kept Kalail against the wire to start the second and barely let her off, despite a slower attack, Kalail delivered a few blows to Jordan’s face before ending the second the same way she did the first. Kalail danced around the ring to start the third and delivered strong punches; however, had been hit too many times to deliver strong punches towards the end. By unanimous decision, Jordan took home a showcase win in front of a sea of supporters.
The next round of the bouts will be the second round of semifinals and will be held on Nov. 11 in Dahnke Ballroom at 7 p.m.