Heaton earns silver, Martinez and Boyd bronze at Cadet World Championships

U.S. women's freestyle medalists at the 2016 Cadet Worlds Alleida Martinez (Bronze), Ronna Heaton (Silver) and Alara Boyd (Bronze).

VIDEO: 2016 Cadet World Championships Interviews

TBILISI, Georgia – The U.S. women’s freestyle squad capped off the 2016 Cadet World Championships with a three-medal performance on Friday evening at New Sports Palace in Tbilisi, Georgia.

The repeat bid fell just short for 2015 Cadet World champion Ronna Heaton as she was edged by 2015 Cadet World bronze medalist Haruna Okuno of Japan, 4-2, in the 52 kg/114.5 lbs. finals. Okuno won the takedown battle two to one over Heaton to come away with the win.

“I felt pretty good today. My finals match I was feeling alright then, just little mistakes I can work on. My defense, I’ll go back and work on that with my coaches. [Okuno] just had really good positioning. I really wanted to be a Cadet World champ, two time, but maybe Junior World champ sometime,” said Heaton following the loss.

Heaton finished with a 3-1 record on the day, picking up three pins in the morning session to secure her spot in the championship match for the second-straight year.

2015 Cadet World silver medalist Alleida Martinez and first-time Cadet World Team member Alara Boyd both found themselves with bronze medals after posting decisive victories in tonight’s session.

Martinez was dominant throughout against Sweden’s Cadet European champion Emma Malmgren in the 46 kg/101.25 lbs. bronze medal match. The American scored four takedowns to earn an 8-3 win.

“It feels great just knowing that you actually got something here. [The coaches] just told me to keep pushing, and they knew I could do it. I also believe in myself and kept trying,” said Martinez.

Similarly, Boyd imposed her will on Canada’s Kirti Saxena, executing two superb takedown-to-turn combinations to win the 60 kg/132.25 lbs. bronze medal, 8-1.

“I just kept getting to my elbow passes, and [Saxena] would circle the other way, and I would just get to my shot. And my snaps were working good, so I felt great. I was just ready to go. You might get a lead, but you need to keep scoring because you never know what could happen,” said Boyd.

Americans Erin Mance and Emily Cue both dropped tough first round matches in the morning session and were able to wrestle back for a medal.

The U.S. women won five medals this week in Georgia, one silver and four bronze, to finish in third place in the team standings. In addition to today’s medalists, Macey Kilty and Gracie Figueroa earned bronze medals for the U.S. on Thursday.

“Yesterday we said that the athlete’s kind of came out flat and scared. Today I can’t say that. I think we came out and fought and that’s a great thing to see,” said U.S. coach Emma Randall after the competition.

Japan claimed the tournament team title with all nine of their entrants reaching the finals, eight of which won gold. Russia finished ahead of the U.S. for second place.

“As you can tell, we didn’t get first. There’s a long way to go to catch up with Japan. I think our athletes are closing the gap. I think our development system is closing the gap, but it’s not enough still. We’ve got to keep working, and that’s what we talked about out there in our team huddle was growth,” added Randall.

The Cadet World Championships will continue for the U.S. tomorrow with the first day of men’s freestyle competition. Qualification and repechage rounds are set to begin at 2 a.m. (ET) followed by the medal matches at 10 a.m. (ET).

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

Team Standings
1. Japan 89
2. Russia 67
3. United States 51
4. India 44
5. Kyrgyzstan 25
6. Sweden 24
6. Ukraine 24
8. Hungary 22
9. Azerbaijan 21
10. Belarus 20

Final Results
40 kg/88 lbs.
Gold – Tsugumi Sakurai (Japan)
Silver – Mansi Mansi (India)
Bronze – Maria-Alexandra Cioclea (Romania)
Bronze – Anna Argunova (Russia)
5th – Maria Leorda (Moldova)
5th – Yu-Syuan Chang (Chinese Taipei)
7th – Calista Espinoza (Canada)
8th – Edita Chemerdovska (Ukraine)
9th – Ulbike Kassymbekova (Kazakhstan)
10th – Havva Saglam (Turkey)

Gold – Tsugumi Sakurai (Japan) tech. fall Mansi Mansi (India), 10-0
Bronze – Maria-Alexandra Cioclea (Romania) fall Maria Leorda (Moldova), 1:59
Bronze – Anna Argunova (Russia) dec. Yu-Syuan Chang (Chinese Taipei), 4-4

46 kg/101.25 lbs.
Gold – Suzuna Yoshimura (Japan)
Silver – Andreea Ana (Romania)
Bronze – Alleida Martinez (United States)
Bronze – Valentyna Karamavrova (Ukraine)
5th – Emma Malmgren (Sweden)
5th – Anju Anju (India)
7th – Ayaulym Tuganbayeva (Kazakhstan)
8th – Natallia Varakina (Belarus)
9th – Teresa Lumia (Italy)
10th – Alina Zokoeva (Azerbaijan)

Gold – Suzuna Yoshimura (Japan) fall Andreea Ana (Romania)
Bronze – Alleida Martinez (United States) dec. Emma Malmgren (Sweden), 8-3
Bronze – Valentyna Karamavrova (Ukraine) fall Anju Anju (India), 3:41

52 kg/114.5 lbs.
Gold – Haruna Okuno (Japan)
Silver – Ronna Heaton (United States)
Bronze – Nazira Marsbek Kyzy (Kyrgyzstan)
Bronze – Ida Joensson (Sweden)
5th – Andribeth Rivera Belliard (Puerto Rico)
5th – Erika Bognar (Hungary)
7th – Nadezhda Spitsyna (Russia)
8th – Eda Tekin (Turkey)
9th – Vesela Bramcheva (Bulgaria)
10th – Kiran Kiran (India)

Gold – Haruna Okuno (Japan) dec. Ronna Heaton (United States), 4-2
Bronze – Nazira Marsbek Kyzy (Kyrgyzstan) dec. Andribeth Rivera Belliard (Puerto Rico), 4-4
Bronze – Ida Joensson (Sweden) dec. Erika Bognar (Hungary), 9-4

60 kg/132.25 lbs.
Gold – Atena Kodama (Japan)
Silver – Mariia Lachugina (Russia)
Bronze – Alara Boyd (United States)
Bronze – Anshu Anshu (India)
5th – Kirti Saxena (Canada)
5th – Aina Temirtassova (Kazakhstan)
7th – Gamze Adakan (Turkey)
8th – Kornelija Zaicevaite (Lithuania)
9th – Paulina Martyka (Poland)
10th – Ioana Marinkova (Bulgaria)

Gold – Atena Kodama (Japan) tech. fall Mariia Lachugina (Russia), 10-0
Bronze – Alara Boyd (United States) dec. Kirti Saxena (Canada), 8-1
Bronze – Anshu Anshu (India) dec. Aina Temirtassova (Kazakhstan), 7-4

70 kg/154.25 lbs.
Gold – Yasuha Matsuyuki (Japan)
Silver – Aiperi Medet Kyzy (Kyrgyzstan)
Bronze – Raquel Rama Escribano (Spain)
Bronze – Kamile Gaucaite (Lithuania)
5th – Bernadett Nagy (Hungary)
5th – Denise Makota Stroem (Sweden)
7th – Evgeniia Zakharchenko (Russia)
8th – Anastasiya Zimiankova (Belarus)
9th – Eleni Pjollaj (Italy)
10th – Merve Pul (Turkey)

Gold – Yasuha Matsuyuki (Japan) dec. Aiperi Medet Kyzy (Kyrgyzstan), 7-2
Bronze – Raquel Rama Escribano (Spain) dec. Bernadett Nagy (Hungary), 6-2
Bronze – Kamile Gaucaite (Lithuania) dec. Denise Makota Stroem (Sweden), 1-0

U.S. women’s freestyle results
40 kg/88 lbs. - Erin Mance, Weatherford, Texas, 12th
LOSS Maria-Alexandra Cioclea (Romania), 10-0

46 kg/101.25 lbs. - Alleida Martinez, Selma, Calif., Bronze
LOSS Suzuna Yoshimura (Japan), 6-4
WIN Natallia Varakina (Belarus), 5-4
WIN Emma Malmgren (Sweden), 8-3

52 kg/114.5 lbs. - Ronna Heaton, Brookings, S.D., Silver
WIN Eden Mishiev (Israel), Fall 0:08
WIN Erika Bognar (Hungary), Fall 3:14
WIN Ida Joensson (Sweden), Fall 0:43
LOSS Haruna Okuno (Japan), 4-2

60 kg/132.25 lbs. - Alara Boyd, Muncie, Ind., Bronze
WIN Iryna Zhurauliova (Belarus), 8-2
WIN Gamze Adakan (Turkey), 6-2
LOSS Atena Kodama (Japan), 8-0
WIN Kirti Saxena (Canada), 8-1

70 kg/154.25 lbs. - Emily Cue, Parker, Colo., 14th
LOSS Kamile Gaucaite (Lithuania), 5-1