Women’s Wrestling Week: Strong college pipeline for U.S. Olympians in women’s wrestling
Share:
by Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling
2016 Olympic champion Helen Maroulis, the first U.S. woman wrestler to win Olympic gold, won four WCWA women's college national titles wrestling for Simon Fraser and Missouri Baptist. Photo by Tony Rotundo, Wrestlers Are Warriors.
For a century, college wrestling has served as a key part of the development pipeline for men wrestlers in freestyle and Greco-Roman. With the addition of women’s freestyle to the program of the Olympic Games in Athens, Greece in 2004, the college system has likewise been equally important in the development of women wrestlers into Olympic Team members for the United States.
Of the 13 women who have competed for Team USA in Olympic wrestling, 11 wrestled on a college team (85%). The other two athletes attended colleges but were not on an organized college team, as they were training full time at the U.S. Olympic Training Center. That means 100% of the Olympic women wrestlers attended college.
In recognition of the vital importance of the college system to the history of our U.S. Olympic women’s wrestling program, we sketch the college careers of the Olympians from the last four Summer Games.
2004 Olympic Games, Athens, Greece
48 kg/105.5 lbs. - Patricia Miranda
Miranda was a high school wrestler from California who attended Stanford University and joined its men’s wrestling team. Active on the U.S. Senior circuit throughout her college career, Miranda also saw action on Stanford’s Div. I men’s team in open tournaments as well as some dual meets.
After graduation, she went to the U.S. Olympic Training Center to continue her career. Yet, her college journey was not over. After the 2004 Olympic Games, where she won a bronze medal, Miranda took the next season off from wrestling to attend her first year at Yale Law School. She returned to the mats the next season, in which she completed her Yale law degree.
55 kg/121 lbs. – Tela O’Donnell
A high school wrestler from Alaska, O’Donnell went to Pacific University in Oregon, which had one of the first women’s varsity wrestling teams. O’Donnell competed in the years prior to the development of a women’s college national tournament, but represented Pacific in women’s tournaments in the USA and Canada. Like many of the very successful early college women wrestlers, O’Donnell’s next step was to join the resident program at the U.S. Olympic Training Center, where she made her successful run to make the Athens Olympic Team.
63 kg/138.75 lbs - Sara McMann
McMann’s journey was unique among team members, as she was a member of a women’s college wrestling team, and then a men’s college wrestling team. A high school wrestler in North Carolina, McMann started her college career on the women’s wrestling team at the Univ. of Minnesota-Morris, which was the first college to start varsity women’s wrestling. She transferred to Lock Haven University, where she became a member of their Div. I men’s wrestling team. McMann wrestled against college men in some open tournament, and won some bouts.
At the time McMann went to Lock Haven, a number of talented Senior women wrestlers went there to train as undergrads. World bronze medalist Jenny Wong, World Team member Erin Tomeo and World team member Jenna Pavlik. It was in effect an early Regional Training Center for top women wrestlers. McMann went on to become a U.S. Olympic Training Center resident athlete, where she was training when she won the 2004 Olympic silver medal at the Athens Games. Later in her career, she also trained at Div. II Limestone College, where her partner Trent Goodale was the head wrestling coach.
72 kg/158.5 lbs. - Tocarra Montgomery
Montgomery was a high school wrestler in the Cleveland, Ohio area, and went to wrestle in college at Cumberland College (now called the University of the Cumberlands) for head coach Kip Flanik, a Cleveland coach who launched this pioneer women’s program in Kentucky. Montgomery became one of the top women wrestlers in the nation, winning a pair of World silver medals and making the 2004 Olympic team while an undergrad at the Cumberlands.
Montgomery also won a pair of Women’s College national titles, taking gold in the inaugural tournament held at Missouri Valley in 2004, and also in the 2006 Women’s College Nationals held on her home campus at the University of the Cumberlands. She went on to serve as the head coach of the women’s wrestling program at Lindenwood University for many years, where she coached numerous national champions and All-Americans on the WCWA circuit.
2008 Olympic Games, Beijing, China
48 kg/105.5 lbs - Clarissa Chun
A Hawaii high school state champion in wrestling, with a strong judo background as well, Chun went to one of the pioneer women’s wrestling programs at Missouri Valley College. She competed during the years prior to the development of a women’s college national tournament, and was one of the top lightweights on the Senior level while at Mo Val. She has some memorable battles with Hall of Famer Tricia Saunders early in her career. While still at Missouri Valley, Chun competed in the 2000 World Championships, which Saunders missed when starting a family.
Chun moved on to become a U.S. Olympic Training Center resident athlete, and completed her undergrad degree at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. Her connection to college wrestling reopened years later when she went to train (and assist with the programs) at the University of Missouri and at West Virginia University. Chun became the first two-time U.S. Olympian in women’s freestyle, making the 2008 and 2012 teams.
55 kg/121 lbs. - Marcie Van Dusen
A high school wrestler from California who made Cadet World Teams as a youth, Van Dusen attended a number of colleges. She was a student at Cal-State Monterey Bay, where she was not involved with wrestling. She also was on the women’s wrestling team at the University of Minnesota-Morris. When she became a U.S. Olympic Training Center resident athlete, she completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.
Van Dusen also served a stint as the head women’s wrestling coach at Menlo College. She has been very active as an age-group coach for women, coaching Junior World Teams, state-level teams and with the Titan Mercury Wrestling Club.
63 kg/138.75 - Randi Miller
A high school competitor in Texas, Miller’s college journey with wrestling took a number of stops. She started on the women’s wrestling team at Neosho Community College in Kansas, which was one of the varsity teams early in the development of women’s college history. Her next stop was at MacMurray College, a Div. III school in Illinois, which was coached by Jerry Kelly, the father of women’s wrestling star Mary Kelly. The women competing at MacMurray at that time included Kelly, Miller, Amy Borgnini and Cathy Lee Albert (who later was an MMA star under the name Cat Zingano).
Her next destination was at Northern Michigan University, where she was a part of the successful U.S. Olympic Education Center women’s wrestling program. Miller moved on to become a U.S. Olympic Training Center resident athlete, where she was located when she made the 2008 Olympic Team and won a bronze medal at the Beijing Games. After five years away from wrestling, Miller returned to competition in the fall of 2013, after joining the U.S. Army as part of its World Class Athlete Program. She competed in the 2016 Olympic cycle. Currently, she is a coaching staff member at MacMurray College, which has restored women’s college wrestling to its campus.
72 kg/158.5 lbs - Ali Bernard
A highly successful women’s wrestler while in high school in Minnesota, Bernard was already competing at the Senior level before she went to college. Instead of going to college in the United States, Bernard went north of the border to wrestle for the University of Regina, where she dominated at the CIS level, the national college organization for Canadian colleges. She won four CIS national titles for Regina, then finished up her college career at the University of Alberta, where she added a fifth CIS national title.
Bernard competed at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. In the 2012 Olympic Team Trials, she was second to former Missouri Valley College star Stephany Lee. When Lee had a positive doping test from the Olympic Trials, Bernard became a two-time Olympian and competed in the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England.
2012 Olympic Games, London, England
48 kg/105.5 lbs. - Clarissa Chun
The Missouri Valley College alum made her second Olympic Team, and won the bronze medal at the London Olympics.
55 kg/121 lbs. - Kelsey Campbell
A high school wrestler in Oregon, Campbell attended Arizona State, where she was a member of the Div. I men’s varsity program. Campbell competed on the U.S. Senior circuit while an undergrad at Arizona State. When she was in college, she was eligible to compete in the Women’s College Nationals events, and she won a pair of women’s college titles. Her first came at the 2007 Women’s College Nationals at Pacific University. In 2008, she repeated as national champion at the first WCWA College Nationals, which was hosted at Oklahoma City University.
Campbell became a U.S. Olympic Training Center athlete, and went on to earn a spot on the 2012 London Olympic team. Later, she returned to her alma mater at Arizona State to train with the Sunkist Kids club program there, where she is currently based at their Regional Training Center for both men and women. Campbell won the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, but did not compete at the 2016 Rio Olympics because ultimately the USA did not qualify to compete at the Games at her weight class. Campbell is continuing to compete in the new Olympic cycle.
63 kg/138.75 lbs - Elena Pirozhkova
A high school wrestler from Massachusetts, Pirozhkova went directly from high school to the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., where she quickly became one of the nation’s best at the Senior level. Although she did not wrestle on a college wrestling team, Pirozhkova attended college while living and training at the Olympic Training Center, going to Pikes Peak CC and UCCS. Pirozhkova competed in both the 2008 London Olympic Games and the 2012 Rio Olympic Games and is still competing. She is currently attending Chiropractic School.
72 kg/158.5 lbs - Ali Bernard
The former women’s college wrestler for the University of Regina and the University of Alberta became a two-time Olympian when she competed in the 2012 London Olympics.
2016 Olympic Games, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
48 kg/105.5 lbs. - Haley Augello
A high school wrestler in Illinois, Augello was a Cadet World champion as a high schooler, and a member of nationally respected Overtime School of Wrestling club program. She now attends King University, one of the best women’s college wrestling programs in the WCWA. Augello is currently a three-time WCWA national champion, having won her third national title yesterday.
Augello won WCWA National titles as a freshman in 2014 and as a sophomore in 2015, when the nationals were both held at Missouri Baptist University. Last year, she took an Olympic redshirt season and trained at the U.S. Olympic Training Center, and went on to earn a spot on the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team. Augello returned for her junior season at King, and claimed her third WCWA title at the nationals held this weekend at Oklahoma City University. With the win, Augello is in line to return next year and seek to become a four-time WCWA champion. Currently, only three women have won four WCWA national titles.
53 kg/116.5 lbs. - Helen Maroulis
A successful high school wrestler in Maryland, Maroulis spent her senior year in high school in Marquette, Mich., where she trained with the USOEC women’s wrestling program at Northern Michigan University. Her first year in college was at Missouri Baptist University, where she won the WCWA Nationals as a freshman, when the tournament was held at Missouri Valley College.
Maroulis transferred to Simon Fraser University in Canada, and joined its successful women’s wrestling program which also competes in the WCWA. Maroulis added a 2011 WCWA national title as a sophomore, when the meet was held at Menlo College. In 2012, she took an Olympic redshirt year and did not compete in college. Maroulis returned to the college scene as a junior in 2013, when she won a WCWA Nationals title when the event was held at King University. In 2014, Maroulis made history when she became a four-time WCWA champion with a victory as a senior at the nationals hosted by Missouri Baptist. Her Simon Fraser teammate Victoria Anthony also became a four-time WCWA national champion that day. Currently only three women have become four-timers, as OCU’s Emily Webster joined this elite group in 2015.
Maroulis made more history in 2016, when she became the first U.S. woman to win an Olympic gold medal in wrestling with her victory in the 53 kg finals in Rio over three-time Olympic champion Saori Yoshida of Japan. So far in her career, Maroulis has an Olympic gold medal, plus a World gold medal, World silver medal and World bronze medal.
63 kg/138.75 lbs. Elena Pirozhkova
Pirozhkova became a two-time Olympian when she competed in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, where she placed fifth.
75 kg/165 lbs. - Adeline Gray
A Colorado high school wrestler, Gray was already a Senior-level competitor while still in high school. Her senior year, she attended high school in Marquette, Mich. and trained with the USOEC women’s wrestling program at Northern Michigan University. She returned home that spring to graduate high school in Colorado.
Gray became a full-time U.S. Olympic Training Center resident athlete after high school, where she also attended college. She started her education at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, and transferred to Devry University, where she completed her undergraduate degree and graduated last year. Gray has become a national spokesperson for Devry University and has been featured in national television commercials for the university.
Gray is one of the greatest women wrestlers in history, a three-time World champion and five-time World medalist. She was the first to win World titles for the USA on the Junior, University and Senior levels. Gray competed in her first Olympic Games at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Note: There will be no Women’s Wrestling Week feature story on Monday, because TheMat.com will not be updated that day because of a system-wide shutdown of the USOC website platform. Features will commence on Tuesday.
For a century, college wrestling has served as a key part of the development pipeline for men wrestlers in freestyle and Greco-Roman. With the addition of women’s freestyle to the program of the Olympic Games in Athens, Greece in 2004, the college system has likewise been equally important in the development of women wrestlers into Olympic Team members for the United States.
Of the 13 women who have competed for Team USA in Olympic wrestling, 11 wrestled on a college team (85%). The other two athletes attended colleges but were not on an organized college team, as they were training full time at the U.S. Olympic Training Center. That means 100% of the Olympic women wrestlers attended college.
In recognition of the vital importance of the college system to the history of our U.S. Olympic women’s wrestling program, we sketch the college careers of the Olympians from the last four Summer Games.
2004 Olympic Games, Athens, Greece
48 kg/105.5 lbs. - Patricia Miranda
Miranda was a high school wrestler from California who attended Stanford University and joined its men’s wrestling team. Active on the U.S. Senior circuit throughout her college career, Miranda also saw action on Stanford’s Div. I men’s team in open tournaments as well as some dual meets.
After graduation, she went to the U.S. Olympic Training Center to continue her career. Yet, her college journey was not over. After the 2004 Olympic Games, where she won a bronze medal, Miranda took the next season off from wrestling to attend her first year at Yale Law School. She returned to the mats the next season, in which she completed her Yale law degree.
55 kg/121 lbs. – Tela O’Donnell
A high school wrestler from Alaska, O’Donnell went to Pacific University in Oregon, which had one of the first women’s varsity wrestling teams. O’Donnell competed in the years prior to the development of a women’s college national tournament, but represented Pacific in women’s tournaments in the USA and Canada. Like many of the very successful early college women wrestlers, O’Donnell’s next step was to join the resident program at the U.S. Olympic Training Center, where she made her successful run to make the Athens Olympic Team.
63 kg/138.75 lbs - Sara McMann
McMann’s journey was unique among team members, as she was a member of a women’s college wrestling team, and then a men’s college wrestling team. A high school wrestler in North Carolina, McMann started her college career on the women’s wrestling team at the Univ. of Minnesota-Morris, which was the first college to start varsity women’s wrestling. She transferred to Lock Haven University, where she became a member of their Div. I men’s wrestling team. McMann wrestled against college men in some open tournament, and won some bouts.
At the time McMann went to Lock Haven, a number of talented Senior women wrestlers went there to train as undergrads. World bronze medalist Jenny Wong, World Team member Erin Tomeo and World team member Jenna Pavlik. It was in effect an early Regional Training Center for top women wrestlers. McMann went on to become a U.S. Olympic Training Center resident athlete, where she was training when she won the 2004 Olympic silver medal at the Athens Games. Later in her career, she also trained at Div. II Limestone College, where her partner Trent Goodale was the head wrestling coach.
72 kg/158.5 lbs. - Tocarra Montgomery
Montgomery was a high school wrestler in the Cleveland, Ohio area, and went to wrestle in college at Cumberland College (now called the University of the Cumberlands) for head coach Kip Flanik, a Cleveland coach who launched this pioneer women’s program in Kentucky. Montgomery became one of the top women wrestlers in the nation, winning a pair of World silver medals and making the 2004 Olympic team while an undergrad at the Cumberlands.
Montgomery also won a pair of Women’s College national titles, taking gold in the inaugural tournament held at Missouri Valley in 2004, and also in the 2006 Women’s College Nationals held on her home campus at the University of the Cumberlands. She went on to serve as the head coach of the women’s wrestling program at Lindenwood University for many years, where she coached numerous national champions and All-Americans on the WCWA circuit.
2008 Olympic Games, Beijing, China
48 kg/105.5 lbs - Clarissa Chun
A Hawaii high school state champion in wrestling, with a strong judo background as well, Chun went to one of the pioneer women’s wrestling programs at Missouri Valley College. She competed during the years prior to the development of a women’s college national tournament, and was one of the top lightweights on the Senior level while at Mo Val. She has some memorable battles with Hall of Famer Tricia Saunders early in her career. While still at Missouri Valley, Chun competed in the 2000 World Championships, which Saunders missed when starting a family.
Chun moved on to become a U.S. Olympic Training Center resident athlete, and completed her undergrad degree at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. Her connection to college wrestling reopened years later when she went to train (and assist with the programs) at the University of Missouri and at West Virginia University. Chun became the first two-time U.S. Olympian in women’s freestyle, making the 2008 and 2012 teams.
55 kg/121 lbs. - Marcie Van Dusen
A high school wrestler from California who made Cadet World Teams as a youth, Van Dusen attended a number of colleges. She was a student at Cal-State Monterey Bay, where she was not involved with wrestling. She also was on the women’s wrestling team at the University of Minnesota-Morris. When she became a U.S. Olympic Training Center resident athlete, she completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.
Van Dusen also served a stint as the head women’s wrestling coach at Menlo College. She has been very active as an age-group coach for women, coaching Junior World Teams, state-level teams and with the Titan Mercury Wrestling Club.
63 kg/138.75 - Randi Miller
A high school competitor in Texas, Miller’s college journey with wrestling took a number of stops. She started on the women’s wrestling team at Neosho Community College in Kansas, which was one of the varsity teams early in the development of women’s college history. Her next stop was at MacMurray College, a Div. III school in Illinois, which was coached by Jerry Kelly, the father of women’s wrestling star Mary Kelly. The women competing at MacMurray at that time included Kelly, Miller, Amy Borgnini and Cathy Lee Albert (who later was an MMA star under the name Cat Zingano).
Her next destination was at Northern Michigan University, where she was a part of the successful U.S. Olympic Education Center women’s wrestling program. Miller moved on to become a U.S. Olympic Training Center resident athlete, where she was located when she made the 2008 Olympic Team and won a bronze medal at the Beijing Games. After five years away from wrestling, Miller returned to competition in the fall of 2013, after joining the U.S. Army as part of its World Class Athlete Program. She competed in the 2016 Olympic cycle. Currently, she is a coaching staff member at MacMurray College, which has restored women’s college wrestling to its campus.
72 kg/158.5 lbs - Ali Bernard
A highly successful women’s wrestler while in high school in Minnesota, Bernard was already competing at the Senior level before she went to college. Instead of going to college in the United States, Bernard went north of the border to wrestle for the University of Regina, where she dominated at the CIS level, the national college organization for Canadian colleges. She won four CIS national titles for Regina, then finished up her college career at the University of Alberta, where she added a fifth CIS national title.
Bernard competed at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. In the 2012 Olympic Team Trials, she was second to former Missouri Valley College star Stephany Lee. When Lee had a positive doping test from the Olympic Trials, Bernard became a two-time Olympian and competed in the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England.
2012 Olympic Games, London, England
48 kg/105.5 lbs. - Clarissa Chun
The Missouri Valley College alum made her second Olympic Team, and won the bronze medal at the London Olympics.
55 kg/121 lbs. - Kelsey Campbell
A high school wrestler in Oregon, Campbell attended Arizona State, where she was a member of the Div. I men’s varsity program. Campbell competed on the U.S. Senior circuit while an undergrad at Arizona State. When she was in college, she was eligible to compete in the Women’s College Nationals events, and she won a pair of women’s college titles. Her first came at the 2007 Women’s College Nationals at Pacific University. In 2008, she repeated as national champion at the first WCWA College Nationals, which was hosted at Oklahoma City University.
Campbell became a U.S. Olympic Training Center athlete, and went on to earn a spot on the 2012 London Olympic team. Later, she returned to her alma mater at Arizona State to train with the Sunkist Kids club program there, where she is currently based at their Regional Training Center for both men and women. Campbell won the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, but did not compete at the 2016 Rio Olympics because ultimately the USA did not qualify to compete at the Games at her weight class. Campbell is continuing to compete in the new Olympic cycle.
63 kg/138.75 lbs - Elena Pirozhkova
A high school wrestler from Massachusetts, Pirozhkova went directly from high school to the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., where she quickly became one of the nation’s best at the Senior level. Although she did not wrestle on a college wrestling team, Pirozhkova attended college while living and training at the Olympic Training Center, going to Pikes Peak CC and UCCS. Pirozhkova competed in both the 2008 London Olympic Games and the 2012 Rio Olympic Games and is still competing. She is currently attending Chiropractic School.
72 kg/158.5 lbs - Ali Bernard
The former women’s college wrestler for the University of Regina and the University of Alberta became a two-time Olympian when she competed in the 2012 London Olympics.
2016 Olympic Games, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
48 kg/105.5 lbs. - Haley Augello
A high school wrestler in Illinois, Augello was a Cadet World champion as a high schooler, and a member of nationally respected Overtime School of Wrestling club program. She now attends King University, one of the best women’s college wrestling programs in the WCWA. Augello is currently a three-time WCWA national champion, having won her third national title yesterday.
Augello won WCWA National titles as a freshman in 2014 and as a sophomore in 2015, when the nationals were both held at Missouri Baptist University. Last year, she took an Olympic redshirt season and trained at the U.S. Olympic Training Center, and went on to earn a spot on the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team. Augello returned for her junior season at King, and claimed her third WCWA title at the nationals held this weekend at Oklahoma City University. With the win, Augello is in line to return next year and seek to become a four-time WCWA champion. Currently, only three women have won four WCWA national titles.
53 kg/116.5 lbs. - Helen Maroulis
A successful high school wrestler in Maryland, Maroulis spent her senior year in high school in Marquette, Mich., where she trained with the USOEC women’s wrestling program at Northern Michigan University. Her first year in college was at Missouri Baptist University, where she won the WCWA Nationals as a freshman, when the tournament was held at Missouri Valley College.
Maroulis transferred to Simon Fraser University in Canada, and joined its successful women’s wrestling program which also competes in the WCWA. Maroulis added a 2011 WCWA national title as a sophomore, when the meet was held at Menlo College. In 2012, she took an Olympic redshirt year and did not compete in college. Maroulis returned to the college scene as a junior in 2013, when she won a WCWA Nationals title when the event was held at King University. In 2014, Maroulis made history when she became a four-time WCWA champion with a victory as a senior at the nationals hosted by Missouri Baptist. Her Simon Fraser teammate Victoria Anthony also became a four-time WCWA national champion that day. Currently only three women have become four-timers, as OCU’s Emily Webster joined this elite group in 2015.
Maroulis made more history in 2016, when she became the first U.S. woman to win an Olympic gold medal in wrestling with her victory in the 53 kg finals in Rio over three-time Olympic champion Saori Yoshida of Japan. So far in her career, Maroulis has an Olympic gold medal, plus a World gold medal, World silver medal and World bronze medal.
63 kg/138.75 lbs. Elena Pirozhkova
Pirozhkova became a two-time Olympian when she competed in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, where she placed fifth.
75 kg/165 lbs. - Adeline Gray
A Colorado high school wrestler, Gray was already a Senior-level competitor while still in high school. Her senior year, she attended high school in Marquette, Mich. and trained with the USOEC women’s wrestling program at Northern Michigan University. She returned home that spring to graduate high school in Colorado.
Gray became a full-time U.S. Olympic Training Center resident athlete after high school, where she also attended college. She started her education at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, and transferred to Devry University, where she completed her undergraduate degree and graduated last year. Gray has become a national spokesperson for Devry University and has been featured in national television commercials for the university.
Gray is one of the greatest women wrestlers in history, a three-time World champion and five-time World medalist. She was the first to win World titles for the USA on the Junior, University and Senior levels. Gray competed in her first Olympic Games at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Note: There will be no Women’s Wrestling Week feature story on Monday, because TheMat.com will not be updated that day because of a system-wide shutdown of the USOC website platform. Features will commence on Tuesday.
Read More#
Over 100 already registered for World Team Trials Challenge Tournament; 13 added to field after changing weight class
Updated 2023 Senior World Team Trials Challenge Tournament qualifiers after U.S. Open (as of April 30)
World medalists Gray, Lampe, Molinari reach U.S. Senior Women’s Open finals, after wild semifinal round
Penn State to host 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials at the Bryce Jordan Center, April 19-20, 2024
