World Team Trials preview at 53 kg/116.5 lbs. in women’s freestyle
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by Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling
Whitney Conder battles Haley Augello in the 2015 Dave Schultz Memorial International. Photo by Robbert Wijtman.
The United States boasts the reigning Olympic champion at 53 kg, the amazing Helen Maroulis, the first U.S. woman to achieve this lofty level of success. Helen Maroulis will not be competing at 53 kg this year, and may never see this weight class again. In fact, in her first international competition of 2017, Maroulis wrestled at 60 kg, three weight classes higher, winning a bronze at the Outstanding Ukrainian Memorial.
There is another 2016 U.S. Olympic Team member who is expected at 53 kg this year, Haley Augello, who dropped to 48 kg last season during her Olympic redshirt year from college and earned her trip to the Rio Olympic Games. Augello placed ninth at the Olympic Games and has since moved back up to this weight class. She won her third WCWA College Nationals title for King University at 116 pounds, then went to Ukraine, where she won a bronze medal at 53 kg. She competed at this weight class in recent seasons, and was third on Women’s Team USA here back in 2015.
The most experienced and successful athlete at this weight class is three-time World Team member Whitney Conder, who also won the gold medal at the U.S. Open in December, her fourth career Senior national title. Maroulis beat Conder in the finals of the U.S. Olympic Team Trials last year.
Conder was the No. 1 athlete at this weight when Augello competed here in 2015. Conder wrestled in the 2011, 2014 and 2015 World Championships, and was a 2015 Pan American Games gold medalist. As has been the case for a number of years, nobody wins this weight class without having to go through Conder.
Many of the most prominent wrestlers at 53 kg from the last Olympic cycle have not competed since the Olympic Trials. This includes Katherine Fulp-Allen, who was third in the Olympic Trials, and Michaela Hutchison, who was fourth. Also in the mix last year was two-time World Team member Jessica Medina, past U.S. Open champion Sharon Jacobson, and past Junior World Team member Carlene Sluberski. With this core group of veterans not expected in Las Vegas, the weight class is heading in a new direction.
After Augello and Conder, the experience level of those who have qualified at 53 kg drops off substantially. The runner-up at the U.S. Open was the unheralded Dajan Treder, who wrestles for Jamestown University. Treder was seventh at the 2016 WCWA College Nationals, and also was fifth in the 2015 University Nationals.
Qualifying directly from the WCWA Nationals was Menlo College’s Cady Chessin, who was second at 116 pounds, losing to Augello in the finals. Chessin is a two-time WCWA finalist and four-time All-American, with a third place and a fifth place at college nationals also on her record. Chessin won three matches in the consolation rounds of last year’s U.S. Olympic Team Trials, showing that she is capable of doing very well this year against this field of athletes.
Four other qualifiers from the U.S. Open are from the college ranks, including third-place Cassidy Jasperson from Oklahoma City Univ., fourth-place Christina Powell from Missouri Valley, fifth-place Mayra Ramirez from Wayland Baptist and seventh-place Lindsey Spjut from McKendree.
Of this group of athletes, three were placewinners in the 2017 WCWA College Nationals in February, as Jasperson was fourth at 109, Powell was fourth at 116 and Ramirez was sixth at 109. Jasperson also won a silver medal at 53 kg at the 2017 University Nationals in March.
Spjut did not compete this year at the WCWA Nationals. She was third at the 2016 University Nationals and fourth at the 2015 University Nationals.
High school star Autumn Gordon of Ohio placed sixth at the U.S. Open, punching her ticket to Las Vegas. Gordon had a big win in folkstyle in March, when she won the USA Wrestling Junior Folkstyle Nationals, defeating defending champion and Cadet World medalist Alleida Martinez of California in the finals.
The 2017 University Nationals champion at 53 kg was Amy Fearnside, who is expected to drop to 48 kg. If Fearnside decides to remain up at 53 kg, she has been a nationally ranked contender in this weight in the past and immediately becomes a contender to make the finals in this field. Fearnside has won a University World medal earlier in her career and was a four-time WCWA All-American in college for Jamestown.
Another experienced talent who is capable of making 53 kg is Deanna Betterman, who was fourth at the U.S. Open up at 55 kg this year. Betterman wrestled in the Olympic Trials last year at 53 kg. Earlier in her career, she placed fifth in the World Championships two times.
Brenda Reyna of Washington won the UWW Junior Nationals last year and competed at the Junior World Championships, placing eighth in the World. In the UWW Junior Nationals finals last year, she beat Gordon in two straight matches. Also qualifying for the World Team Trials by making the 2016 Junior National Team was Kasey Baynon of Georgia.
2017 World Team Trials Qualifiers at 53 kg/116.5 lbs.
’16 Olympic medalist advances to Trials Finals series – Helen Maroulis, Huntington Beach, Calif. (Sunkist Kids)
World Team Trials Tournament qualifiers
’15 World Team member – Whitney Conder, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army WCAP)
’16 Junior National team – Brenda Reyna, Mount Vernon, Wash. (Vandit Wrestling Academy)
’16 Junior National team – Kasey Baynon, Statesboro, Ga. (Team Georgia)
’17 Senior Nationals runner-up – Dajan Treder, Anchorage, Alaska (Jamestown University)
’17 Senior Nationals third place – Cassidy Jasperson, League City, Texas (Aires WC)
’17 Senior Nationals fourth place – Christina Powell, Powder Springs, Ga. (Viking WC)
’17 Senior Nationals fifth place – Mayra Ramirez, El Paso, Texas (Wayland Baptist)
’17 Senior Nationals sixth place – Autumn Gordon, Sugar Grove, Ohio
’17 Senior Nationals seventh place – Lindsey Spjut, Montgomery, Texas (Bearcat WC)
’17 WCWA Nationals runner-up – Cady Chessin, Los Gatos, Calif. (Menlo College)
2017 U.S. Open results at 53 kg/116.5 lbs.
1st – Whitney Conder (U.S. Army WCAP) tech. fall Dajan Treder (Jamestown), 10-0
3rd – Cassidy Jasperson (Aries WC) dec. Christina Powell (Viking WC), 6-2
5th – Mayra Ramirez (Wayland Baptist) tech. fall Autumn Gordon (Bearcat WC), 12-2
7th – Lindsey Spjut (Bearcat WC) dec. Victoria Gutierrez (Lions WC), 6-0
2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials results at 53 kg/116.5 lbs.
1st - Helen Maroulis (Rockville, Md./Sunkist Kids) dec. Whitney Conder (Colorado Springs, Colo./Army WCAP), two matches to none
Maroulis technical fall Conder, 10-0
Maroulis technical fall Conder, 11-0
3rd – Katherine Fulp-Allen (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC) dec. Michaela Hutchison (Lebanon, Ill./Titan Mercury WC), 6-5
The United States boasts the reigning Olympic champion at 53 kg, the amazing Helen Maroulis, the first U.S. woman to achieve this lofty level of success. Helen Maroulis will not be competing at 53 kg this year, and may never see this weight class again. In fact, in her first international competition of 2017, Maroulis wrestled at 60 kg, three weight classes higher, winning a bronze at the Outstanding Ukrainian Memorial.
There is another 2016 U.S. Olympic Team member who is expected at 53 kg this year, Haley Augello, who dropped to 48 kg last season during her Olympic redshirt year from college and earned her trip to the Rio Olympic Games. Augello placed ninth at the Olympic Games and has since moved back up to this weight class. She won her third WCWA College Nationals title for King University at 116 pounds, then went to Ukraine, where she won a bronze medal at 53 kg. She competed at this weight class in recent seasons, and was third on Women’s Team USA here back in 2015.
The most experienced and successful athlete at this weight class is three-time World Team member Whitney Conder, who also won the gold medal at the U.S. Open in December, her fourth career Senior national title. Maroulis beat Conder in the finals of the U.S. Olympic Team Trials last year.
Conder was the No. 1 athlete at this weight when Augello competed here in 2015. Conder wrestled in the 2011, 2014 and 2015 World Championships, and was a 2015 Pan American Games gold medalist. As has been the case for a number of years, nobody wins this weight class without having to go through Conder.
Many of the most prominent wrestlers at 53 kg from the last Olympic cycle have not competed since the Olympic Trials. This includes Katherine Fulp-Allen, who was third in the Olympic Trials, and Michaela Hutchison, who was fourth. Also in the mix last year was two-time World Team member Jessica Medina, past U.S. Open champion Sharon Jacobson, and past Junior World Team member Carlene Sluberski. With this core group of veterans not expected in Las Vegas, the weight class is heading in a new direction.
After Augello and Conder, the experience level of those who have qualified at 53 kg drops off substantially. The runner-up at the U.S. Open was the unheralded Dajan Treder, who wrestles for Jamestown University. Treder was seventh at the 2016 WCWA College Nationals, and also was fifth in the 2015 University Nationals.
Qualifying directly from the WCWA Nationals was Menlo College’s Cady Chessin, who was second at 116 pounds, losing to Augello in the finals. Chessin is a two-time WCWA finalist and four-time All-American, with a third place and a fifth place at college nationals also on her record. Chessin won three matches in the consolation rounds of last year’s U.S. Olympic Team Trials, showing that she is capable of doing very well this year against this field of athletes.
Four other qualifiers from the U.S. Open are from the college ranks, including third-place Cassidy Jasperson from Oklahoma City Univ., fourth-place Christina Powell from Missouri Valley, fifth-place Mayra Ramirez from Wayland Baptist and seventh-place Lindsey Spjut from McKendree.
Of this group of athletes, three were placewinners in the 2017 WCWA College Nationals in February, as Jasperson was fourth at 109, Powell was fourth at 116 and Ramirez was sixth at 109. Jasperson also won a silver medal at 53 kg at the 2017 University Nationals in March.
Spjut did not compete this year at the WCWA Nationals. She was third at the 2016 University Nationals and fourth at the 2015 University Nationals.
High school star Autumn Gordon of Ohio placed sixth at the U.S. Open, punching her ticket to Las Vegas. Gordon had a big win in folkstyle in March, when she won the USA Wrestling Junior Folkstyle Nationals, defeating defending champion and Cadet World medalist Alleida Martinez of California in the finals.
The 2017 University Nationals champion at 53 kg was Amy Fearnside, who is expected to drop to 48 kg. If Fearnside decides to remain up at 53 kg, she has been a nationally ranked contender in this weight in the past and immediately becomes a contender to make the finals in this field. Fearnside has won a University World medal earlier in her career and was a four-time WCWA All-American in college for Jamestown.
Another experienced talent who is capable of making 53 kg is Deanna Betterman, who was fourth at the U.S. Open up at 55 kg this year. Betterman wrestled in the Olympic Trials last year at 53 kg. Earlier in her career, she placed fifth in the World Championships two times.
Brenda Reyna of Washington won the UWW Junior Nationals last year and competed at the Junior World Championships, placing eighth in the World. In the UWW Junior Nationals finals last year, she beat Gordon in two straight matches. Also qualifying for the World Team Trials by making the 2016 Junior National Team was Kasey Baynon of Georgia.
2017 World Team Trials Qualifiers at 53 kg/116.5 lbs.
’16 Olympic medalist advances to Trials Finals series – Helen Maroulis, Huntington Beach, Calif. (Sunkist Kids)
World Team Trials Tournament qualifiers
’15 World Team member – Whitney Conder, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army WCAP)
’16 Junior National team – Brenda Reyna, Mount Vernon, Wash. (Vandit Wrestling Academy)
’16 Junior National team – Kasey Baynon, Statesboro, Ga. (Team Georgia)
’17 Senior Nationals runner-up – Dajan Treder, Anchorage, Alaska (Jamestown University)
’17 Senior Nationals third place – Cassidy Jasperson, League City, Texas (Aires WC)
’17 Senior Nationals fourth place – Christina Powell, Powder Springs, Ga. (Viking WC)
’17 Senior Nationals fifth place – Mayra Ramirez, El Paso, Texas (Wayland Baptist)
’17 Senior Nationals sixth place – Autumn Gordon, Sugar Grove, Ohio
’17 Senior Nationals seventh place – Lindsey Spjut, Montgomery, Texas (Bearcat WC)
’17 WCWA Nationals runner-up – Cady Chessin, Los Gatos, Calif. (Menlo College)
2017 U.S. Open results at 53 kg/116.5 lbs.
1st – Whitney Conder (U.S. Army WCAP) tech. fall Dajan Treder (Jamestown), 10-0
3rd – Cassidy Jasperson (Aries WC) dec. Christina Powell (Viking WC), 6-2
5th – Mayra Ramirez (Wayland Baptist) tech. fall Autumn Gordon (Bearcat WC), 12-2
7th – Lindsey Spjut (Bearcat WC) dec. Victoria Gutierrez (Lions WC), 6-0
2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials results at 53 kg/116.5 lbs.
1st - Helen Maroulis (Rockville, Md./Sunkist Kids) dec. Whitney Conder (Colorado Springs, Colo./Army WCAP), two matches to none
Maroulis technical fall Conder, 10-0
Maroulis technical fall Conder, 11-0
3rd – Katherine Fulp-Allen (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC) dec. Michaela Hutchison (Lebanon, Ill./Titan Mercury WC), 6-5
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