Padilla wins fourth Women’s Junior Nationals title and named Outstanding Wrestler
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by Gary Abbott
FARGO, N.D. - Tatiana Padilla of California won the 132-pound title to become only the second women's wrestler to claim four career Junior National gold medals at the ASICS/Vaughan Women's Junior National Championships at the FargoDome on Monday.
She quickly dispatched Shelby Shirley of Ohio in the finals, winning by technical fall, 6-0, 6-0. She scored takedowns and multiple exposure turns in both periods. Padilla was named Outstanding Wrestler for the tournament.
Padilla joins Nicole Woody of Maryland, who won her fourth career Junior title last year, as the only two athletes to win the Women's Junior Nationals four times.
Padilla was a Junior World silver medalist in 2007, and has qualified for the 2008 U.S. Junior World Team. She was named ASICS High School Girls Wrestler of the Year earlier for the second straight year prior to the finals. Padilla was third at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials.
Winning their second career Junior Nationals title were C.C. Weber of Michigan (109), Helen Maroulis of Maryland (116), Erin Clodgo of Kansas (146) and Adeline Gray of Colorado (153).
Weber defeated a past Junior Nationals champion, Joey Miller of Oklahoma, in a tough three-period battle, 1-0, 0-2, 1-0. Weber won her first Junior Nationals title in 2006.
Maroulis, also a Junior National champion last year, dominated the finals with an 8-0, 4-1 victory over Alli Ragan of Illinois in the finals. Maroulis had a pair of three-point throws in the first period to set the tone for the tournament.
Maroulis has had a strong spring season, winning four USA Wrestling women's age-group titles. She won the USA Wrestling Folkstyle Nationals in March, and claimed two titles at the Body Bar Nationals in May, winning both the FILA Cadet and FILA Junior national titles. Maroulis was also second at the U.S. Senior Nationals this year.
Clodgo defeated Annalise DeArgon of Idaho in the finals, 6-2, 6-0. Clodgo won her first Junior Nationals title in 2006 and placed second at the Junior Nationals in 2007.
Gray won the Junior Nationals for the second year in a row. She was dominant in the finals, pinning Kelsea Suchoski of New York in 1:24.
Scoring victories over returning national champions in the finals, and winning their first Junior Nationals titles, were Carlene Sluberski of New York at 95 pounds, Beth Johnson of Kansas at 124 pounds, Alisha Beach of Washington at 190 pounds and Yadinma Nwaiwu of Texas at 220 pounds.
Sluberski defeated returning Junior Nationals champion Hanna Martin of Oklahoma in the finals, 1-2, 1-0, 2-0. Sluberski was third at the Junior Nationals last year.
Johnson needed just two periods to defeat returning Junior Nationals champion Michaela Hutchison of Alaska, 2-1, 1-0. Johnson was third at last year's Junior Nationals.
Beach scored a stunning pin over two-time Junior Nationals champion Brittany Delgado of South Carolina in the second period, 1-0, 1:51. In a very close match, Beach was able to turn and press Delgado for the fall with just nine seconds left in the second period.
Nwaiwu also earned a pin in the finals, decking two-time Junior Nationals champion Lakia Henderson of Florida, 1-4, 0:39. Henderson won the first period, but Nwaiwu came back for the pin. Henderson was a four-time Junior Nationals finalist, taking two golds and two silvers. Nwaiwu was a FILA Junior Nationals champion this spring.
Schuyler Brown of Virginia claimed the 139-pound title in one of the closest battles of the finals. She needed three periods to defeat 2008 Junior Folkstyle national champion Tessa Plana of Texas, 4-7, 5-4, 1-1. The third period ended as a 1-1 tie, with Brown winning the tiebreaker by scoring the final point of the period. It was her first Junior Nationals title.
Other first-time Junior National champions were Victoria Anthony of California (102) and Marina Lambert of Virginia (165).
Anthony defeated 2007 Junior Nationals runner-up Candace Workman of Utah in two straight periods, 4-0, 5-3. Anthony has previously placed second and third at the Junior Nationals.
Lambert shut out Florida's Katie Crouch of Florida, 2-0, 6-0.
Earning the honor as "Junior Double Champions," winners of USA Wrestling national titles on the Junior level in both folkstyle and freestyle in the same year, were Sluberski, Maroulis, Padilla and Gray.
Five members of the 2008 U.S. Junior World Team, which leaves later this week to compete at the Junior World Championships in Turkey, captured titles: Anthony, Maroulis, Padilla, Brown and Gray.
Claiming the Wells Fargo Cup as the Team champion for the first time was Texas, which scored 64 points. California, the winner of the team title the previous two years, was second with 37 points and Kansas was third with 36 points.
She quickly dispatched Shelby Shirley of Ohio in the finals, winning by technical fall, 6-0, 6-0. She scored takedowns and multiple exposure turns in both periods. Padilla was named Outstanding Wrestler for the tournament.
Padilla joins Nicole Woody of Maryland, who won her fourth career Junior title last year, as the only two athletes to win the Women's Junior Nationals four times.
Padilla was a Junior World silver medalist in 2007, and has qualified for the 2008 U.S. Junior World Team. She was named ASICS High School Girls Wrestler of the Year earlier for the second straight year prior to the finals. Padilla was third at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials.
Winning their second career Junior Nationals title were C.C. Weber of Michigan (109), Helen Maroulis of Maryland (116), Erin Clodgo of Kansas (146) and Adeline Gray of Colorado (153).
Weber defeated a past Junior Nationals champion, Joey Miller of Oklahoma, in a tough three-period battle, 1-0, 0-2, 1-0. Weber won her first Junior Nationals title in 2006.
Maroulis, also a Junior National champion last year, dominated the finals with an 8-0, 4-1 victory over Alli Ragan of Illinois in the finals. Maroulis had a pair of three-point throws in the first period to set the tone for the tournament.
Maroulis has had a strong spring season, winning four USA Wrestling women's age-group titles. She won the USA Wrestling Folkstyle Nationals in March, and claimed two titles at the Body Bar Nationals in May, winning both the FILA Cadet and FILA Junior national titles. Maroulis was also second at the U.S. Senior Nationals this year.
Clodgo defeated Annalise DeArgon of Idaho in the finals, 6-2, 6-0. Clodgo won her first Junior Nationals title in 2006 and placed second at the Junior Nationals in 2007.
Gray won the Junior Nationals for the second year in a row. She was dominant in the finals, pinning Kelsea Suchoski of New York in 1:24.
Scoring victories over returning national champions in the finals, and winning their first Junior Nationals titles, were Carlene Sluberski of New York at 95 pounds, Beth Johnson of Kansas at 124 pounds, Alisha Beach of Washington at 190 pounds and Yadinma Nwaiwu of Texas at 220 pounds.
Sluberski defeated returning Junior Nationals champion Hanna Martin of Oklahoma in the finals, 1-2, 1-0, 2-0. Sluberski was third at the Junior Nationals last year.
Johnson needed just two periods to defeat returning Junior Nationals champion Michaela Hutchison of Alaska, 2-1, 1-0. Johnson was third at last year's Junior Nationals.
Beach scored a stunning pin over two-time Junior Nationals champion Brittany Delgado of South Carolina in the second period, 1-0, 1:51. In a very close match, Beach was able to turn and press Delgado for the fall with just nine seconds left in the second period.
Nwaiwu also earned a pin in the finals, decking two-time Junior Nationals champion Lakia Henderson of Florida, 1-4, 0:39. Henderson won the first period, but Nwaiwu came back for the pin. Henderson was a four-time Junior Nationals finalist, taking two golds and two silvers. Nwaiwu was a FILA Junior Nationals champion this spring.
Schuyler Brown of Virginia claimed the 139-pound title in one of the closest battles of the finals. She needed three periods to defeat 2008 Junior Folkstyle national champion Tessa Plana of Texas, 4-7, 5-4, 1-1. The third period ended as a 1-1 tie, with Brown winning the tiebreaker by scoring the final point of the period. It was her first Junior Nationals title.
Other first-time Junior National champions were Victoria Anthony of California (102) and Marina Lambert of Virginia (165).
Anthony defeated 2007 Junior Nationals runner-up Candace Workman of Utah in two straight periods, 4-0, 5-3. Anthony has previously placed second and third at the Junior Nationals.
Lambert shut out Florida's Katie Crouch of Florida, 2-0, 6-0.
Earning the honor as "Junior Double Champions," winners of USA Wrestling national titles on the Junior level in both folkstyle and freestyle in the same year, were Sluberski, Maroulis, Padilla and Gray.
Five members of the 2008 U.S. Junior World Team, which leaves later this week to compete at the Junior World Championships in Turkey, captured titles: Anthony, Maroulis, Padilla, Brown and Gray.
Claiming the Wells Fargo Cup as the Team champion for the first time was Texas, which scored 64 points. California, the winner of the team title the previous two years, was second with 37 points and Kansas was third with 36 points.
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