Deanna Rix places fifth to lead U.S. on first day of Women's World Championships
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by Craig Sesker
TOKYO, Japan - American wrestler Deanna Rix came up just short of earning a medal in her first World Championships appearance.
Rix dropped a physical 1-0, 1-0 decision to Elvira Mursalova of Azerbaijan in their bronze-medal match at the Women's World Championships on Saturday night at Yoyogi National Stadium. Both periods were scoreless after two minutes. Mursalova won a pair of ball draws en route to finishing both times for takedowns to win the match. Rix finished fifth at 59 kg/130 lbs.
The U.S. fell short of winning a medal as the first three women's freestyle weight classes were contested on Day 1 of the three-day event. Two more weight classes will be wrestled on Sunday with the final two classes contested on Monday in Tokyo.
U.S. wrestler Helen Maroulis, a Junior World bronze medalist, fell short in her bid to win a medal in Saturday's second session. The 17-year-old Maroulis, the youngest U.S. World Team member in 12 years, dropped a tough three-period match with Canada's Jessica Bondy on Saturday afternoon. A win there would've sent her into the bronze-medal match at 51 kg/112.25 lbs. Maroulis placed eighth in her division.
Rix, a past National High School Wrestler of the Year, swept Kyrgyzstan's Nestan Kiiazova late Saturday afternoon in her first wrestleback to move into the bronze-medal match.
Rix and Mursalova waged a hard-fought match where both wrestlers had to be warned by the official for becoming too physical. Neither wrestler was able to score in regulation. The blue-colored ball was drawn each time, corresponding with Mursalova's singlet color. That put her in the offensive position in the clinch. She quickly finished for a takedown each time.
"The biggest thing was the match got physical - she got us frustrated and got Deanna out of her mental state of mind," U.S. Coach Terry Steiner said. "You can't get into a fight out there. We lost our cool a little bit. We started swinging instead of executing our holds. You can't get into that kind of a match. You can't control what people do to you. What you can control is how you react to it. We lost our head a little bit and quit wrestling."
Steiner said he couldn't fault Rix's effort as she went 2-2 in her first trip to a World-level event on the Senior level.
"Deanna's come a long ways," Steiner said. "She's on the right track now and she needs to continue on that path. She's made a World Team now. She just needs to continue to stay on track and make good decisions with all aspects of her life."
American Elena Pirozhkov lost to past World champion Katerina Burmistrova of the Ukraine in the quarterfinals on Saturday morning at 67 kg/147.5 lbs. Pirozhkov (Colorado Springs, Colo./Gator WC) was eliminated when Burmistrova fell to past World medalist Martine Dugrenier of Canada in the semifinals. Pirozhkov finished eighth.
"All three of the girls gave great efforts today," Steiner said. "We have some technical things to learn and we made a few mistakes. We need to mature physically and keep working hard. All of our girls went out there and scrapped and mixed it up. We're going to be better because of this experience."
Day 2 of the three-day tournament is set for Sunday with competition at 48 kg/105.5 lbs. and 63 kg/138.75 lbs. The U.S. will send Clarissa Chun (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids) to the mat at 48 kilos with Alaina Berube (River Falls, Wis./New York AC) set to compete at 63 kilos.
Chun, fifth in the 2008 Olympic Games, drew Turkey's Kaya Demet in the first round. Berube, a World University bronze medalist, will face Italy's Simona Corbani in her first bout.
Winning individual titles on Saturday were Japan's Hitomi Sakamoto at 51 kg/112.25 lbs., Japan's Ayako Shoda at 59 kg/130 lbs., and Canada's Martine Dugrenier at 67 kg/147.5 lbs. Sakamoto won her sixth World title and Shoda captured her fourth. Dugrenier won her first World title after three second-place finishes.
WOMEN'S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Saturday's results
51 kg/112.25 lbs.
Gold - Hitomi Sakamoto (Japan)
Silver - Maryna Markevich (Belarus)
Bronze - Vanessa Boubryemm (France)
Bronze - Yuliya Blahinya (Ukraine)
Fifth - Jessica Bondy (Canada)
Fifth - Marina Vilmova (Russia)
Seventh - Natalia Budu (MDA)
Eighth - Helen Maroulis (USA)
59 kg/130 lbs.
Gold - Ayako Shoda (Japan)
Silver - Natalia Golts (Russia)
Bronze - Elvira Mursalova (Azerbaijan)
Bronze - Agata Pietrzyk (Poland)
Fifth - Deanna Rix (USA)
Fifth - Sabrina Esposito (Italy)
67 kg/147.5 lbs.
Gold - Martine Dugrenier (Canada)
Silver - Mami Shinkai (Japan)
Bronze - Katerina Burmistrova (Ukraine)
Bronze - O. Nasanburmaa (Mongolia)
Fifth - Suman Kundu (India)
Fifth - Ulia Borinovskai (Russia)
Seventh - Fengliu Zhang (China)
Eighth - Elena Pirozhkov (USA)
U.S. results - Saturday, Oct. 11, Tokyo, Japan
51 kg/112.25 lbs. - Helen Maroulis, Rockville, Md. (New York AC), 8th
WIN Roksana Zasina (Poland), by fall
LOSS Hitomi Sakamoto (Japan), 7-0, 6-0
LOSS Jessica Bondy (Canada), 3-1, 1-1, 1-0
59 kg/130 lbs. - Deanna Rix, River Falls, Wis. (New York AC), 5th
WIN Alena Filipova (Belarus), 1-0, 1-0
LOSS Ayako Shoda (Japan), 1-0, 4-0
WIN Nestan Kiiazova (Kyrgyzstan), 1-0, 2-0
LOSS Elvira Mursalova (Azerbaijan), 1-0, 1-0
67 kg/147.5 lbs. - Elena Pirozhkov, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Gator WC), 8th
WIN Monika Rogien-Michalik (Poland), 3-0, 0-1, 1-0
LOSS Katerina Burmistrova (Ukraine), 3-1, 3-0
Rix dropped a physical 1-0, 1-0 decision to Elvira Mursalova of Azerbaijan in their bronze-medal match at the Women's World Championships on Saturday night at Yoyogi National Stadium. Both periods were scoreless after two minutes. Mursalova won a pair of ball draws en route to finishing both times for takedowns to win the match. Rix finished fifth at 59 kg/130 lbs.
The U.S. fell short of winning a medal as the first three women's freestyle weight classes were contested on Day 1 of the three-day event. Two more weight classes will be wrestled on Sunday with the final two classes contested on Monday in Tokyo.
U.S. wrestler Helen Maroulis, a Junior World bronze medalist, fell short in her bid to win a medal in Saturday's second session. The 17-year-old Maroulis, the youngest U.S. World Team member in 12 years, dropped a tough three-period match with Canada's Jessica Bondy on Saturday afternoon. A win there would've sent her into the bronze-medal match at 51 kg/112.25 lbs. Maroulis placed eighth in her division.
Rix, a past National High School Wrestler of the Year, swept Kyrgyzstan's Nestan Kiiazova late Saturday afternoon in her first wrestleback to move into the bronze-medal match.
Rix and Mursalova waged a hard-fought match where both wrestlers had to be warned by the official for becoming too physical. Neither wrestler was able to score in regulation. The blue-colored ball was drawn each time, corresponding with Mursalova's singlet color. That put her in the offensive position in the clinch. She quickly finished for a takedown each time.
"The biggest thing was the match got physical - she got us frustrated and got Deanna out of her mental state of mind," U.S. Coach Terry Steiner said. "You can't get into a fight out there. We lost our cool a little bit. We started swinging instead of executing our holds. You can't get into that kind of a match. You can't control what people do to you. What you can control is how you react to it. We lost our head a little bit and quit wrestling."
Steiner said he couldn't fault Rix's effort as she went 2-2 in her first trip to a World-level event on the Senior level.
"Deanna's come a long ways," Steiner said. "She's on the right track now and she needs to continue on that path. She's made a World Team now. She just needs to continue to stay on track and make good decisions with all aspects of her life."
American Elena Pirozhkov lost to past World champion Katerina Burmistrova of the Ukraine in the quarterfinals on Saturday morning at 67 kg/147.5 lbs. Pirozhkov (Colorado Springs, Colo./Gator WC) was eliminated when Burmistrova fell to past World medalist Martine Dugrenier of Canada in the semifinals. Pirozhkov finished eighth.
"All three of the girls gave great efforts today," Steiner said. "We have some technical things to learn and we made a few mistakes. We need to mature physically and keep working hard. All of our girls went out there and scrapped and mixed it up. We're going to be better because of this experience."
Day 2 of the three-day tournament is set for Sunday with competition at 48 kg/105.5 lbs. and 63 kg/138.75 lbs. The U.S. will send Clarissa Chun (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids) to the mat at 48 kilos with Alaina Berube (River Falls, Wis./New York AC) set to compete at 63 kilos.
Chun, fifth in the 2008 Olympic Games, drew Turkey's Kaya Demet in the first round. Berube, a World University bronze medalist, will face Italy's Simona Corbani in her first bout.
Winning individual titles on Saturday were Japan's Hitomi Sakamoto at 51 kg/112.25 lbs., Japan's Ayako Shoda at 59 kg/130 lbs., and Canada's Martine Dugrenier at 67 kg/147.5 lbs. Sakamoto won her sixth World title and Shoda captured her fourth. Dugrenier won her first World title after three second-place finishes.
WOMEN'S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Saturday's results
51 kg/112.25 lbs.
Gold - Hitomi Sakamoto (Japan)
Silver - Maryna Markevich (Belarus)
Bronze - Vanessa Boubryemm (France)
Bronze - Yuliya Blahinya (Ukraine)
Fifth - Jessica Bondy (Canada)
Fifth - Marina Vilmova (Russia)
Seventh - Natalia Budu (MDA)
Eighth - Helen Maroulis (USA)
59 kg/130 lbs.
Gold - Ayako Shoda (Japan)
Silver - Natalia Golts (Russia)
Bronze - Elvira Mursalova (Azerbaijan)
Bronze - Agata Pietrzyk (Poland)
Fifth - Deanna Rix (USA)
Fifth - Sabrina Esposito (Italy)
67 kg/147.5 lbs.
Gold - Martine Dugrenier (Canada)
Silver - Mami Shinkai (Japan)
Bronze - Katerina Burmistrova (Ukraine)
Bronze - O. Nasanburmaa (Mongolia)
Fifth - Suman Kundu (India)
Fifth - Ulia Borinovskai (Russia)
Seventh - Fengliu Zhang (China)
Eighth - Elena Pirozhkov (USA)
U.S. results - Saturday, Oct. 11, Tokyo, Japan
51 kg/112.25 lbs. - Helen Maroulis, Rockville, Md. (New York AC), 8th
WIN Roksana Zasina (Poland), by fall
LOSS Hitomi Sakamoto (Japan), 7-0, 6-0
LOSS Jessica Bondy (Canada), 3-1, 1-1, 1-0
59 kg/130 lbs. - Deanna Rix, River Falls, Wis. (New York AC), 5th
WIN Alena Filipova (Belarus), 1-0, 1-0
LOSS Ayako Shoda (Japan), 1-0, 4-0
WIN Nestan Kiiazova (Kyrgyzstan), 1-0, 2-0
LOSS Elvira Mursalova (Azerbaijan), 1-0, 1-0
67 kg/147.5 lbs. - Elena Pirozhkov, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Gator WC), 8th
WIN Monika Rogien-Michalik (Poland), 3-0, 0-1, 1-0
LOSS Katerina Burmistrova (Ukraine), 3-1, 3-0
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