Asia Ray wins Junior World bronze to kick off women's freestyle competition

VIDEO: Junior World Championships interviews

TAMPERE, Finland – With only three years of wrestling experience, U.S. Junior women’s freestyler Asia Ray bullied her way through the 44 kg/88 lbs. bracket of the 2017 Junior World Championships to claim a World bronze medal on Thursday.

“I was scared when I first came in, but now I feel like I really did deserve to be here. I’m excited. I’m ready for next year. I want to win next year,” Ray said.

Ray (Arlington, Texas/Arlington Storm WC) was the first match of the evening session, taking on 2017 Junior Pan-American champion Alexia Seal of Canada.

The Texan controlled the match from the beginning, scoring the only points in the first period with a go-behind takedown to lead 2-0 at the break.

In the second period, Ray scored on a shot attempt from Seal, before recording a takedown with an arm drag to extend her lead to 6-0.

Moments later, Seal ran through a double leg for a takedown to get on the board, but it was not enough. Ray went on to put an exclamation point on her first Junior World Championships, sneaking in a four-pointer to close out the match with a 10-2 win.

“It gives me a lot of confidence now,” Junior World bronze medalist Ray said. “I’m about to go to college, and I was worried that I wouldn’t be at the same level as the college girls. Competing in this tournament ad placing shows me that I’ll be able to keep up.”

Cameron Guerin (Yakima, Wash./Team Takedown) wrapped up her first Junior World Championships with a fifth-place finish at 51 kg/112 lbs.

Advancing to the bronze-medal bout, Guerin, the 2017 Junior Pan Am champion, faced Bolor Bat Orshikh of Mongolia.

The bout started off in a scramble that saw Orshikh pick up four points. Guerin’s corner challenge the call, which it won, bringing the score to 4-2 in favor of the Mongolian.

Orshikh ran away with the match with an arm drag for four points on the edge of the mat. She finished it off with fireman’s carry an additional exposure for a 12-2 tech fall win.

“Overall, I had a great time. It was a great experience,” Guerin said. “In my two losses, I have a growing mindset, so I’m just learning from it.”

On the day, Guerin went 2-2, notching wins over Yeonseo Choi of Korea and Jaydn Davis of Canada earlier in the day.

2016 Cadet World bronze medalist Gracie Figueroa and Alex Glaude also competed for USA today, both finishing 1-1 in the morning session.

Figueroa will represent the U.S. at the Cadet World Championships in September.

The Junior World Championships continue tomorrow with the final day of women’s freestyle competition as McKayla Campbell, Ronna Heaton, Maya Nelson and Rachel Watters represent Team USA.

The first session, which includes preliminary rounds through semifinals and repechage, will begin at 10 a.m. local time. The medal matches will take place at 6 p.m. local time.

Tampere, Finland is seven hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Time, meaning those wishing to watch live can tune in at 3 a.m. (ET). A live stream of the event, as well as brackets, can be found at Trackwrestling.com.

2017 JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Aug. 1-6 at Tampere, Finland

Finals matchups
44 kg/88 lbs.
GOLD: Manami Ueno (Japan) fall Yumei Chen (China), 4:38
BRONZE: Asia Ray (USA) dec. Alexia Seal (Canada), 10-2
BRONZE: Stefania Priceputu (Romania) dec. Fatme Mandeva (Bulgaria), 8-6

Gold – Manami Ueno (Japan)
Silver – Yumei Chen (Japan)
Bronze – Asia Ray (USA)
Bronze – Stefania Priceputu (Romania)
5th – Alexia Seal (Canada)
5th – Fatme Mandeva (Bulgaria)
7th – Azhelika Fedorova (Bulgaria)
8th – Beata Kosla (Poland)
9th – Nastassia Kuryshta (Belarus)
10th – Divya Tomar (India)

51 kg/112 lbs.
GOLD: Kseniia Nezgovorova (Russia) dec. Khrystyna Bereza (Ukrain), 5-1
BRONZE: Bolor Bat Orshikh (Mongolia) tech. fall Cameron Guerin (USA), 12-2
BRONZE: Xuejiao Liao (China) tech. fall Nao Taniyama (Japan), 10-0

Gold - Kseniia Nezgovorova (Russia)
Silver - Khrystyna Bereza (Ukraine)
Bronze - Bolor Bat Orshikh (Mongolia)
Bronze - Xuejiao Liao (China)
5th - Cameron Guerin (USA)
5th - Nao Taniyama (Japan)
7th – Alicja Czyzowicz (Poland)
8th – Gabriela Ramos Diaz (Puerto Rico)
9th – Kremena Petrova (Bulgaria)
10th – Nandini Salokhe (India)

59 kg/130 lbs.
GOLD: Yuzuru Kumano (Japan) dec. Anastasia Nichita (Moldova), 8-2
BRONZE: Kumari Manju (India) dec. Ilona Prokopevniuk (Ukraine), 2-0
BRONZE: Grace Bullen (Norway) fall Jing Jiang (China), 4:44

Gold - Yuzuru Kumano (Japan)
Silver - Anastasia Nichita (Moldova)
Bronze - Kumari Manju (India)
Bronze - Grace Bullen (Norway)
5th - Jing Jiang (China)
5th - Ilona Prokopevniuk (Ukraine)
7th – Nabira Esenbaeva (Uzbekistan)
8th – Emma Johansson (Sweden)
9th – Gracie Figueroa (USA)
10th – Ayse Vatanserver (Turkey)

67 kg/147 lbs.
GOLD: Khanum Velieva (Russia) dec. Yudari Sanchez (Cuba), 9-7
BRONZE: Meerim Zhumanazarov (Kyrgyzstan) tech. fall Hedda Strand (Norway), 10-0
BRONZE: Alexandra Anghel (Romania) dec. Naruha Matsuyuki (Japan), 7-2

Gold - Khanum Velieva (Russia)
Silver - Yudari Sanchez (Cuba)
Bronze - Meerim Zhumanazarov (Kyrgyzstan)
Bronze - Alexandra Anghel (Romania)
5th - Naruha Matsuyuki (Japan)
5th - Hedda Strand (Norway)
7th – Qichao Tian (China)
8th – Yuliia Lisovska (Ukraine)
9th – Alex Glaude (USA)
10th – Theresa Edfelder (Germany)

U.S. women’s freestyle results
44 kg/88 lbs. – Asia Ray (Arlington, Texas/Arlington Storm WC) - bronze
WIN Ersa Koc (Turkey), fall 0:48
WIN Beata Kosla (Poland), fall 3:52
LOSS Yumei Chen (China), 13-2
WIN Alexia Seal (Canada), 10-2

51 kg/112 lbs. – Cameron Guerin (Yakima, Wash./Team Takedown) – 5th  
WIN Yeonseo Choi (Korea), 10-0
LOSS Kseniia Nezgovorova (Russia), 3:52
WIN Jaydn Davis (Canada), 11-3
LOSS Bolor Bat Orshikh (Mongolia), 12-2

59 kg/130 lbs. – Gracie Figueroa (Selma, Calif./Titan Mercury WC) – 9th
WIN Leanco Stans (South Africa), 10-0
LOSS Ilona Prokopevniuk (Ukraine), fall 4:10

67 kg/147 lbs. – Alex Glaude (West Sacramento, Calif./Bearcat WC) – 9th
WIN Hyeonyeong Park (Korea), 7-4
LOSS Alexandra Anghel (Romania), 8-0