U.S. women Kilty, Figueroa capture bronze at Cadet World Championships

Macey Kilty and Gracie Figueroa pose with their bronze medals at the 2016 Cadet World Championships in Tbilisi, Georgia.

VIDEO: 2016 Junior World Championships Interviews

TBILISI, Georgia – Macey Kilty and Gracie Figueroa have announced themselves to the World.

Both Americans posted breakout performances at the 2016 Cadet World Championships held at New Sports Palace in Tbilisi, Georgia by scoring bronze medals in women’s freestyle competition on Thursday evening.

Kilty left no doubt in her 49 kg/108 lbs. bronze medal match against Cadet European silver medalist Zhala Aliyeva of Azerbaijan. From the first whistle Kilty was on the offensive, notching six takedowns and picking up a 13-2 technical fall win.

“It feels pretty good. It’s something I’ve been working for for a long time,” Kilty said after her bronze medal performance. “I’ve still got two more years to prove that I’m good enough to get the gold.”

Opposite Figueroa in the 56 kg/123.25 lbs. bronze medal match was Russia’s defending Cadet World bronze medalist Anastasia Sizenko. Similar to Kilty, Figueroa snatched a takedown early in the first period to set the tone for the remainder of the match. She went on the win by a deceptive 6-5 tally to give the U.S. its second medal of the day.

“I’m feeling really happy, and all my hard work pays off. I know it’s not exactly what I wanted, but it’s a stepping stone from last year. I didn’t place, but now I’ve placed, so I’m feeling great right now,” said Figueroa.

The Kilty-Figueroa duo both won bronze, but did so navigating two distinctly different paths. Kilty won her first three matches over world-class opponents before falling in the semifinals to now three-time Cadet World champion Yui Susaki of Japan. Conversely, Figueroa dropped her opener to eventual silver medalist Anastasia Nichita of Moldova before wrestling her way back to bronze.

“When you step on the world stage, you have to fight. No one is waiting to hand you a medal after four minutes,” said U.S. coach Emma Randall.

It has been a summer of emergence for Kilty who won her first USA Wrestling Cadet Freestyle Nationals title in Fargo, N.D. prior taking her place on the Cadet World medal stand tonight. The Wisconsin native has two years of UWW Cadet eligibility remaining.

“Macey is young, talented, and better yet driven. She is a perfectionist. I know she's already begun her process of breaking today down and how she's going to end next year with gold,” said Randall.

Figueroa was a well-known commodity in the U.S. prior to today. She has already won both the Cadet and Junior Freestyle Nationals two times, on top of making her second-consecutive Cadet World Team this year.

“Gracie was in quite a few close matches today,” Randall continued. “Part of being a champion is staying calm even when things aren't pretty. You've got to find a way to get your hand raised. Gracie dug deep and found a way.”

Also wrestling for a bronze medal in Tbilisi tonight was two-time Cadet World Team member Ashlynn Ortega. Unfortunately, Ortega could not complete the bronze medal sweep for the U.S. women as she fell in a 2-1 heartbreaker to Hungary’s Cadet European champion Tuende Elekes to finish in fifth place at 65 kg/143.25 lbs.

Earlier in the day, American Caitlyn Walker was defeated 9-0 by eventual champion Manisha Manisha of India prior to falling to Shahana Nazarova of Azerbaijan in the repechage, 13-7. Walker finished in 7th place overall at 38 kg/83.5 lbs.

The women’s freestyle competition at the Cadet World Championships resumes tomorrow with the qualification and repechage rounds at 2 a.m. (ET) followed by the medal matches at 10 a.m. (ET).

Wrestling tomorrow for the U.S. women are Erin Mance at 40 kg, Alleida Martinez at 46 kg, Ronna Heaton at 52 kg, Alara Boyd at 60 kg and Emily Cue at 70 kg.

Flowrestling will provide a live stream and archived matches of the 2016 Cadet World Championships to U.S. spectators at Flowrestling.org. A Flo Pro membership is required to view the competition. 

Complete brackets and match-by-match results can be viewed at unitedworldwrestling.org.

2016 CADET WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Sept. 13-18 at Tbilisi, Georgia

Final Results
38 kg/83.5 lbs.
Gold – Manisha Manisha (India)
Silver – Petya Delcheva (Bulgaria)
Bronze – Valeriia Chistobaeva (Russia)
Bronze – Nada Mohamed (Egypt)
5th – Shahana Nazarova (Azerbaijan)
5th – Tatsiana Blinkouskaya (Belarus)
7th – Caitlyn Walker (United States)
8th – Ayazhan Markasheva (Kazakhstan)
9th – Anastasiia Padoshyk (Ukraine)
10th – Zehra Demirhan (Turkey)

Gold – Manisha Manisha (India) dec. Petya Delcheva (Bulgaria), 5-4
Bronze – Valeriia Chistobaeva (Russia) dec. Shahana Nazarova (Azerbaijan), 4-0
Bronze – Nada Mohamed (Egypt) dec. Tatsiana Blinkouskaya (Belarus), 5-4

43 kg/94.75 lbs.
Gold – Manami Ueno (Japan)
Silver – Daria Khvostova (Russia)
Bronze – Reem Ahmed (Egypt)
Bronze – Aynur Jamalova (Azerbaijan)
5th – Ankush Ankush (India)
5th – Anna Maria Torres Rubio (Spain)
7th – Taru Vainionpaeae (Finland)
8th – Alexia Seal (Canada)
9th – Stefania-Claudia Priceputu (Romania)
10th – Yesim Armut (Turkey)

Gold – Manami Ueno (Japan) tech. fall Daria Khvostova (Russia), 10-0
Bronze – Reem Ahmed (Egypt) dec. Ankush Ankush (India), 5-4
Bronze – Aynur Jamalova (Azerbaijan) dec. Anna Maria Torres Rubio (Spain), 4-2

49 kg/108 lbs.
Gold – Yui Susaki (Japan)
Silver – Mariia Tiumerekova (Russia)
Bronze – Macey Kilty (United States)
Bronze – Zeynep Yetgil (Turkey)
5th – Zhala Aliyeva (Azerbaijan)
5th – Emanuela Liuzzi (Italy)
7th – Minakshi Minakshi (India)
8th – Uldana Niyazbek (Kazakhstan)
9th – Szimonetta Szeker (Hungary)
10th – Yuliya Zhauneryk (Belarus)

Gold – Yui Susaki (Japan) tech. fall Mariia Tiumerekova (Russia), 10-0
Bronze – Macey Kilty (United States) tech. fall Zhala Aliyeva (Azerbaijan), 13-2
Bronze – Zeynep Yetgil (Turkey) dec. Emanuela Liuzzi (Italy), 6-2

56 kg/123.25 lbs.
Gold – Andoriahanako Sawa (Japan)
Silver – Anastasia Nichita (Moldova)
Bronze – Oksana Chudyk (Ukraine)
Bronze – Gracie Figueroa (United States)
5th – Krystsina Sazykina (Belarus)
5th – Anastasia Sizenko (Russia)
7th – Monica Nava Solis (Mexico)
8th – Alessia Cencioni (Italy)
9th – Anna Szel (Hungary)
10th – Angelika Mytkowska (Poland)

Gold – Andoriahanako Sawa (Japan) dec. Anastasia Nichita (Moldova), 6-2
Bronze – Oksana Chudyk (Ukraine) fall Krystsina Sazykina (Belarus), 2:42
Bronze – Gracie Figueroa (United States) dec. Anastasia Sizenko (Russia), 6-5

65 kg/143.25 lbs.
Gold – Khanum Velieva (Russia)
Silver – Miwa Morikawa (Japan)
Bronze – Meerim Zhumanazarova (Kyrgyzstan)
Bronze – Tuende Elekes (Hungary)
5th – Aukse Rutkauskaite (Lithuania)
5th – Ashlynn Ortega (United States)
7th – Anastasiya (Ukraine)
8th – Carin Alden (Sweden)
9th – Judit Varela Penas (Spain)
10th – Siyka Ivanova (Bulgaria)

Gold – Khanum Velieva (Russia) dec. Miwa Morikawa (Japan), 4-2
Bronze – Meerim Zhumanazarova (Kyrgyzstan) tech. fall Aukse Rutkauskaite (Lithuania), 10-0
Bronze – Tuende Elekes (Hungary) dec. Ashlynn Ortega (United States), 2-1

U.S. women’s freestyle results
38 kg/83.5 lbs. – Caitlyn Walker, Hartboro, Pa., 7th
LOSS Manisha Manisha (India), 9-0
LOSS Shahana Nazarova (Azerbaijan), 13-7

49 kg/108 lbs. – Macey Kilty, Stratford, Wisc., Bronze
WIN Aktenge Keunimjaeva (Uzbekistan), 8-6
WIN Szimonetta Szeker (Hungary), 9-4
WIN Minakshi Minakshi (India), Fall 3:19
LOSS Yui Susaki (Japan), Fall
WIN Zhala Aliyeva (Azerbaijan), 13-2

56 kg/123.25 lbs. – Gracie Figueroa, Selma, Calif., Bronze
LOSS Anastasia Nichita (Moldova), 12-0
WIN Anna Szel (Hungary), 7-6
WIN Anastasia Sizenko (Russia),

65 kg/143.25 lbs. – Ashlynn Ortega, Pueblo, Colo., 5th
LOSS Khanum Velieva (Russia), 10-0
WIN Carin Alden (Sweden), 8-0
WIN Anastasiya Lavrenchuk (Ukraine), 10-0
LOSS Tuende Elekes (Hungary), 2-1