World Team Trials preview at 58 kg/128 lbs. in women’s freestyle
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by Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling
Helen Maroulis of the USA scores a takedown during her semifinal victory over Sophia Mattsson of Sweden at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Olympic champion Helen Maroulis, who won her Rio Games gold down at 53 kg, is expected to wrestle at 58 kg this year, and immediately becomes the big favorite to make the U.S. team at this weight class. Maroulis has won four World-level medals for the USA, including an Olympic gold medal and a World gold medal, plus a silver and a bronze at the World Championships.
Maroulis ran off a tremendous 64-match winning streak, running more than two years, before losing one match this winter competing all the way up at 60 kg. Her ability to score points in bunches, while also having a rock-solid defense, makes her a difficult match regardless of the weight class she enters. As you might expect after her historic effort in Rio, becoming the first USA woman to win Olympic wrestling gold, Maroulis brings great confidence onto the mat with her.
A few heavy hitters who could be at 58 kg are expected at other weight classes. Ali Ragan, who was on the U.S. World Team at 58 kg for three straight years from 2013-15, won a World silver medal at 60 kg in December. With that medal performance, Ragan jumps directly into the World Team Trials finals up at 60 kg.
Kelsey Campbell, who beat Ragan in the finals of the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials and beat Maroulis in the finals of the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, has been competing down at 55 kg this year, where she was the 2017 U.S. Open champion.
The 2017 U.S. Open champion at 58 kg is two-time Junior World medalist Kayla Miracle, who defeated another Junior World medalist, Becka Leathers, in the finals of the Open. Miracle is a three-time WCWA College nationals champion for Campbellsville. She added a University Nationals gold medal at 60 kg in order to tune up for the World Team Trials this year. Leathers is expected to drop to 55 kg in Vegas, but recently won the University Nationals at 58 kg and will remain a threat here if she stays up.
National Team member Randi Beltz, who was third at the U.S. Open this year and third at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, brings a high level of experience and great intensity to the mat. She has been third at the U.S. Open three different years, and also boasts a number of international medals, including a 2016 Pan American Championships silver medal. In her quiet way, Beltz is a hammer on the mat and somebody who must be taken seriously.
Areana Villeascusa, who joined the U.S. Army WCAP program this past year, had a strong fourth-place finish at the U.S. Open. She was successful in USA Wrestling’s age-group programs moving up the ladder, and has made great strides on the Senior level recently.
Veteran Lauren Louive, fifth at the U.S. Open, enters her third Olympic four-year cycle on the Senior level. She has placed as high as fourth at the U.S. Open (in 2010 and 2015) and boasts a 2012 Pan American Championships silver medal. Another experienced talent, Trinity Griffin, was sixth at the U.S. Open, and if she competes, brings a long list of achievements.
College star Megan Black was seventh at the U.S. Open, but could be dropping to 55 kg for the World Team Trials. A rising college star who could make some noise in Las Vegas is Cheyenne Youngblood, who won a WCWA College national title this year for Missouri Baptist at 130 pounds. Also earning a spot in the field through the WCWA Nationals was Missouri Valley’s Alicia Reyes, who was third behind Youngblood. A pair of young athletes, who qualified for the 2016 Junior National Team, Elissa Douglass and Sophia Carson, are also eligible to compete at the World Team Trials.
Depending upon where people land, in terms of weight class choice for Las Vegas, the depth in the field at 58 kg may not be as strong as at some other division. However, the talent level of veteran star Maroulis and young phenom Miracle makes this a weight where the 2017 U.S. World Team should be quite strong.
2017 World Team Trials Qualifiers at 58 kg/127.5 lbs.
’12 Olympian – Kelsey Campbell, Tempe, Ariz. (Sunkist Kids)
’16 Junior National team – Elissa Douglass, League City, Texas (Vici WC)
’16 Junior National team – Sophia Carson, Maxfield, Maine (Maine Trappers)
’17 Senior Nationals champion – Kayla Miracle, Campbellsville, Ky. (Sunkist Kids)
’17 Senior Nationals runner-up – Becka Leathers, Choctaw, Okla. (Titan Mercury WC)
’17 Senior Nationals third place – Randi Beltz, Chesterfield, Mo. (Titan Mercury WC)
’17 Senior Nationals fourth place – Areana Villaescusa, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army WCAP)
’17 Senior Nationals fifth place – Lauren Louive, Iowa City, Iowa (Hawkeye WC)
’17 Senior Nationals sixth place – Trinity Griffin, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Sunkist Kids)
’17 Senior Nationals seventh place – Megan Black, Batavia, Iowa (Bearcat WC)
’17 WCWA Nationals champion – Cheyenne Youngblood, Arnold, Mo. (Missouri Baptist)
’17 WCWA Nationals third place – Alicia Reyes, Blue Springs, Mo. (Missouri Valley)
2017 U.S. Open results at 58 kg/128 lbs.
1st – Kayla Miracle (Sunkist Kids) dec. Becka Leathers (Titan Mercury WC), 4-0
3rd – Randi Beltz (Titan Mercury WC) tech. fall Areana Villaescusa (U.S. Army WCAP), 10-0
5th – Lauren Louive (New York AC) forfeit Trinity Griffin (Sunkist Kids)
7th – Megan Black (Bearcat WC) tech. fall Shelby Morrison (Aries WC), 12-2
2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials results at 58 kg/128 lbs.
1st - Kelsey Campbell (Tempe, Ariz./Sunkist Kids) dec Alli Ragan (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC), two matches to none
Campbell dec Ragan, 2-1
Campbell dec Ragan, 2-1
3rd – Randi Beltz (St. Louis, Mo./Titan Mercury WC) dec. Kayla Miracle, Campbellsville, Ky. (Sunkist Kids), 12-4
Olympic champion Helen Maroulis, who won her Rio Games gold down at 53 kg, is expected to wrestle at 58 kg this year, and immediately becomes the big favorite to make the U.S. team at this weight class. Maroulis has won four World-level medals for the USA, including an Olympic gold medal and a World gold medal, plus a silver and a bronze at the World Championships.
Maroulis ran off a tremendous 64-match winning streak, running more than two years, before losing one match this winter competing all the way up at 60 kg. Her ability to score points in bunches, while also having a rock-solid defense, makes her a difficult match regardless of the weight class she enters. As you might expect after her historic effort in Rio, becoming the first USA woman to win Olympic wrestling gold, Maroulis brings great confidence onto the mat with her.
A few heavy hitters who could be at 58 kg are expected at other weight classes. Ali Ragan, who was on the U.S. World Team at 58 kg for three straight years from 2013-15, won a World silver medal at 60 kg in December. With that medal performance, Ragan jumps directly into the World Team Trials finals up at 60 kg.
Kelsey Campbell, who beat Ragan in the finals of the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials and beat Maroulis in the finals of the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, has been competing down at 55 kg this year, where she was the 2017 U.S. Open champion.
The 2017 U.S. Open champion at 58 kg is two-time Junior World medalist Kayla Miracle, who defeated another Junior World medalist, Becka Leathers, in the finals of the Open. Miracle is a three-time WCWA College nationals champion for Campbellsville. She added a University Nationals gold medal at 60 kg in order to tune up for the World Team Trials this year. Leathers is expected to drop to 55 kg in Vegas, but recently won the University Nationals at 58 kg and will remain a threat here if she stays up.
National Team member Randi Beltz, who was third at the U.S. Open this year and third at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, brings a high level of experience and great intensity to the mat. She has been third at the U.S. Open three different years, and also boasts a number of international medals, including a 2016 Pan American Championships silver medal. In her quiet way, Beltz is a hammer on the mat and somebody who must be taken seriously.
Areana Villeascusa, who joined the U.S. Army WCAP program this past year, had a strong fourth-place finish at the U.S. Open. She was successful in USA Wrestling’s age-group programs moving up the ladder, and has made great strides on the Senior level recently.
Veteran Lauren Louive, fifth at the U.S. Open, enters her third Olympic four-year cycle on the Senior level. She has placed as high as fourth at the U.S. Open (in 2010 and 2015) and boasts a 2012 Pan American Championships silver medal. Another experienced talent, Trinity Griffin, was sixth at the U.S. Open, and if she competes, brings a long list of achievements.
College star Megan Black was seventh at the U.S. Open, but could be dropping to 55 kg for the World Team Trials. A rising college star who could make some noise in Las Vegas is Cheyenne Youngblood, who won a WCWA College national title this year for Missouri Baptist at 130 pounds. Also earning a spot in the field through the WCWA Nationals was Missouri Valley’s Alicia Reyes, who was third behind Youngblood. A pair of young athletes, who qualified for the 2016 Junior National Team, Elissa Douglass and Sophia Carson, are also eligible to compete at the World Team Trials.
Depending upon where people land, in terms of weight class choice for Las Vegas, the depth in the field at 58 kg may not be as strong as at some other division. However, the talent level of veteran star Maroulis and young phenom Miracle makes this a weight where the 2017 U.S. World Team should be quite strong.
2017 World Team Trials Qualifiers at 58 kg/127.5 lbs.
’12 Olympian – Kelsey Campbell, Tempe, Ariz. (Sunkist Kids)
’16 Junior National team – Elissa Douglass, League City, Texas (Vici WC)
’16 Junior National team – Sophia Carson, Maxfield, Maine (Maine Trappers)
’17 Senior Nationals champion – Kayla Miracle, Campbellsville, Ky. (Sunkist Kids)
’17 Senior Nationals runner-up – Becka Leathers, Choctaw, Okla. (Titan Mercury WC)
’17 Senior Nationals third place – Randi Beltz, Chesterfield, Mo. (Titan Mercury WC)
’17 Senior Nationals fourth place – Areana Villaescusa, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army WCAP)
’17 Senior Nationals fifth place – Lauren Louive, Iowa City, Iowa (Hawkeye WC)
’17 Senior Nationals sixth place – Trinity Griffin, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Sunkist Kids)
’17 Senior Nationals seventh place – Megan Black, Batavia, Iowa (Bearcat WC)
’17 WCWA Nationals champion – Cheyenne Youngblood, Arnold, Mo. (Missouri Baptist)
’17 WCWA Nationals third place – Alicia Reyes, Blue Springs, Mo. (Missouri Valley)
2017 U.S. Open results at 58 kg/128 lbs.
1st – Kayla Miracle (Sunkist Kids) dec. Becka Leathers (Titan Mercury WC), 4-0
3rd – Randi Beltz (Titan Mercury WC) tech. fall Areana Villaescusa (U.S. Army WCAP), 10-0
5th – Lauren Louive (New York AC) forfeit Trinity Griffin (Sunkist Kids)
7th – Megan Black (Bearcat WC) tech. fall Shelby Morrison (Aries WC), 12-2
2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials results at 58 kg/128 lbs.
1st - Kelsey Campbell (Tempe, Ariz./Sunkist Kids) dec Alli Ragan (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC), two matches to none
Campbell dec Ragan, 2-1
Campbell dec Ragan, 2-1
3rd – Randi Beltz (St. Louis, Mo./Titan Mercury WC) dec. Kayla Miracle, Campbellsville, Ky. (Sunkist Kids), 12-4
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