Top seeds hold serve, qualify for women's freestyle finals at U.S. Senior Nationals

Victoria Anthony advances to U.S. Senior Nationals finals with 10-0 win over Marina Doi at 48 kg. Photo: Robbert Wijtman.

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LAS VEGAS – It was a case of the usual suspects on Sunday morning in Las Vegas as the women’s freestyle finals for the U.S. Senior Nationals have been determined.


All four No. 1 seeds found a spot in tonight’s gold-medal matches set for 4 p.m. (PT) at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort and Casino.


Olympic Trials finalist Victoria Anthony cruised through the 48 kg/105.5 lbs. bracket, winning two matches by 10-0 technical fall. She has wrestled a total of 70 seconds in her two matches combined.


“Really my goal in this tournament was to flow and think because that really opens up my offense,” Anthony said following her semifinal victory. “I really think I’ve gotten better in the last six, however many months since trials. I’ve gotten so much better in that time period than maybe I have in the last couple years because of losing Trials.”


The dynamic Anthony will battle last year’s U.S. Senior Nationals runner-up Erin Golston for the 48-kg gold medal. The two talents have combined for five Junior World medals with Anthony winning gold twice and Golston boasting a silver and two bronze.


Last month, Anthony and Golston both competed at the Bill Farrell International with Anthony taking top prize and Golston finishing in third place.


Three-time U.S. World Team member and top seed at 53 kg/116.5 lbs. Whitney Conder also posted two 10-0 technical fall wins to qualify for the championship match. Conder is slated to face Jamestown’s WCWA All-American Dajan Treder tonight. Treder broke through with two technical fall wins of her own to make her first Senior Nationals final.


2012 Olympian Kelsey Campbell pitched three shutouts on her road to the 55 kg/121 lbs. finals where she will face 2014 University World bronze medalist Jacarra Winchester.


Campbell topped past University World medalist and four-time WCWA All-American Brieana Delgado 7-0 in the 55 kg semifinals. Winchester cruised to the gold-medal match with two quick technical falls.


A pair of rising, young talents will compete for 58 kg/128 lbs. Senior Nationals crown tonight.


Two-time Junior World bronze medalist Kayla Miracle entered as the No. 1 seed at 58 kg and has competed tremendously on her way to the 58 kg finals. Miracle posted three shutout technical falls on the day. She is a two-time WCWA national champion for Campbellsville University and finished in fourth place at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials.


Standing opposite Miracle in the 58 kg finals is fellow Junior World bronze medalist and WCWA national champion for Oklahoma City University Becka Leathers. Leathers also grabbed three victories on her route to the finals. She exacted some revenge in the semifinals by edging U.S. National Team member Randi Beltz, 4-2.


“I’m just kind of going to stay on the same plan, stay offensive, keep my shots going. That’s when I wrestle the best. I don’t like wrestling defensive. It doesn’t suit me, so stay on the offense,” Leathers said.


The women’s freestyle championship bouts will be held alongside four Greco-Roman finals in Las Vegas this evening.


Complete brackets, match-by-match results and a live stream of the U.S. Senior Nationals can be found at Flowrestling.com.

2017 U.S. SENIOR WOMEN’S FREESTYLE NATIONALS

Dec. 17-18 at Las Vegas, Nev.

Finals Matchups

48 kg/105.5 lbs.

Victoria Anthony (Sunkist Kids) vs. Erin Golston (New York AC)

53 kg/116.5 lbs.

Whitney Conder (U.S. Army WCAP) vs. Dajan Treder (Jamestown)

55 kg/121 lbs.

Kelsey Campbell (Sunkist Kids) vs. Jacarra Winchester (Titan Mercury WC)

58 kg/128 lbs.

Kayla Miracle (Sunkist Kids) vs. Becka Leathers (Titan Mercury WC)

Semifinal Results

48 kg/105.5 lbs.

Victoria Anthony (Sunkist Kids) tech. fall Marina Doi (Titan Mercury WC), 10-0

Erin Golston (New York AC) tech. fall Allene Somera (U.S. Army WCAP), 10-0


53 kg/116.5 lbs.

Whitney Conder (U.S. Army WCAP) tech. fall Christina Powell (Viking WC), 10-0

Dajan Treder (Jamestown) tech. fall Cassidy Jasperson (Aries WC), 10-0

55 kg/121 lbs.

Kelsey Campbell (Sunkist Kids) dec. Brieana Delgado (Aries WC), 7-0

Jacarra Winchester (Titan Mercury WC) tech. fall Dominique Parrish (Simon Fraser), 11-1

58 kg/128 lbs.

Kayla Miracle (Sunkist Kids) tech. fall Areana Villaescusa (U.S. Army WCAP), 10-0

Becka Leathers (Titan Mercury WC) dec. Randi Beltz (Titan Mercury WC), 4-2