Auburn Equestrian Upset 8-10 by Oklahoma State in First Round of NCEA Tournament

The Tigers surrendered key Horsemanship points late in a back-and-forth contest.

Eric Starling/Auburn Daily

Auburn Equestrian knew meeting Oklahoma State in the first round would be a tough matchup. The Cowgirls are strongest in the events where Auburn is not, so the key to victory for both teams would be protecting points in your best events, and stealing 1 or 2 away from your opponent’s.

In the end, the Tigers proved a little less light-fingered than the Cowgirls..

How the Meet Went

Equitation Over Fences got the meet going. The Tigers feature the nation’s top Fences team, so it would be critical for Auburn to win a majority here.

Oklahoma State managed to take the first point in the event, but all four of the following Fences points went to Auburn’s Ava Stearns, Avery Glynn, Mary-Grace Segars, and Sophee Steckbeck.

Auburn’s 4-1 early lead meant Auburn was protecting their points. Now it was up to the Cowgirls to attempt the same.

Oklahoma State brought a slightly better Reining squad than Auburn down to Ocala, but there was still hope Auburn could stay even with OSU in the event.

Unfortunately, the Cowgirls proved as good as their reputation (and then some), and ended up taking the event 4-1. Only Auburn’s Caroline Buchanan was able to notch a Reining point for the orange and blue.

With that, the score was all knotted up at 5 - 5. So far, each team was able to win big in their favored event, and the team that could continue this trend would emerge victorious.

The early score in Equitation on the Flat seemed to favor Auburn, but the Cowgirls posted some strong scores at the end of the event. Still, Auburn’s Mary-Grace Segars and Ellie Ferrigno were able to score for the Tigers, while Avery Glynn earned a no-point tie with her opponent.

That pushed the overall score up to a 7-7 tie with Horsemanship set to determine the winner.

Horsemanship has been one of the pillars to Auburn’s success this season, but they were outdone Thursday. Only Alexia Tordoff was able to secure an Auburn point, although Madison Parduhn did break even against her opponent for another no-point tie.

The 3-1 advantage in Horsemanship made the final score 10-8 Oklahoma State, and brought Auburn Equestrian’s season to a close.

This meet figured to be a close one, challenging each team to deliver in their best events. Oklahoma State did, and Auburn did not.

Up Next for Auburn

The loss ends the Tigers’ 2023-24 campaign. Several of Auburn’s upperclassmen will have the opportunity to return for the final year of their COVID year eligibility. The ones that do will be joined by a talented group of underclassmen, and the usual crop of promising Auburn freshmen.

The Scoresheet

Oklahoma State 10 - Auburn 8

FENCES:

Riley Hogan (OSU) def Ellie Ferrigno (AU): 90.67-86
Ava Stearns (AU) def Sydney North (OSU): 87.67-83
Avery Glynn (AU) def Grace McReynolds (OSU): 85-84.67
Mary-Grace Segars (AU) def Bella Holway (OSU): 84.67-78.67
Sophee Steckbeck (AU) def Paige Jones (OSU): 79.67-66.67

FLAT:

Sydney North (OSU) tied Avery Glynn (AU): 73.67-73.67
Hannah Dodd (OSU) def Ava Stearns (AU): 84.67-82.33
Grace McReynolds (OSU) def Sophee Steckbeck (AU): 77.67-75.67
Mary-Grace Segars (AU) def Ella Reinauer (OSU): 83-82
Ellie Ferrigno (AU) def Riley Hogan (OSU): 79-73

HORSEMANSHIP:

Alana Stanton (OSU) tied Madison Parduhn (AU): 73.5-73.5
Claire McDowall (OSU) def Caroline Fredenburg (AU): 74.67-73.83
June Roberson (OSU) def Alexis Potts (AU): 74.83-73.33
Alexia Tordoff (AU) def Peyton Baxter (OSU): 73.5-70.83
Maddie Fussell (OSU) def Sydney Swallom (AU): 68.67-67.5

REINING:

Ava Bush (OSU) def Alexia Tordoff (AU): 71.83-71.67Emma Filiatreau (OSU) def Kate Buchanan (AU): 70.25-68.83Abby Budd (OSU) def Olivia Marino (AU): 71.67-71.33Caroline Buchanan (AU) def Tristan Bagby (OSU): 70.83-67.17Quincee Clark (OSU) def Isabella Tesmer (AU): 67.67-65.5