Contenders hold strong during first day of women's freestyle competition at USMC Junior Nationals
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by Richard Immel, USA Wrestling
Photo: U.S. Junior World Team member McKayla Campbell (Ohio) pins her first-round opponent at the Junior Nationals in Fargo, N.D. Photo by Richard Immel, USA Wrestling.
FARGO, N.D. – The favorites held serve on the opening day of women’s freestyle competition at the U.S. Marine Corps Junior Nationals held at the Fargodome.
The field is loaded from top-to-bottom this year with six women boasting a World medal at the Cadet level, four members of this year’s U.S. Junior World Team competing, eight members of the U.S. Cadet World Team in action, plus seven returning champions looking for repeat berths.
The Junior women wrestled to the round-of-16 on the championship side of each bracket, excluding 225 pounds which starts its tournament tomorrow with the quarterfinals.
California’s Gracie Figueroa is a member of both the Cadet and Junior World Team and owns a bronze medal from last year’s Cadet World Championships. The present task for Figueroa is winning a third-consecutive Junior Nationals title, this time at 122 pounds. She won her only match of the day by 10-0 technical fall over North Dakota’s Naelly Andrade.
Cadet World champion Ronna Heaton of South Dakota posted a 10-0 win over Hawaii’s Jenna Awana in her opener at 127 pounds. Heaton will make her second appearance at the Junior Worlds this summer. She owns a gold and silver medal from the Cadet Worlds and is a two-time winner and three-time finalist in this event.
Heaton is the top-contender at 127 pounds, but the weight class boasts several other serious threats in the form of defending champion Brenda Reyna of Washington and Cadet World bronze medalist Macey Kilty of Wisconsin. Reyna, a 2016 Junior World Team member, defeated Heaton by fall in the finals last year. Kilty looked tough in her run to a Cadet Nationals title earlier this week.
Two-time Cadet World medalist and returning champion Alleida Martinez of California struck with a fall over Elizabeth Miller in the first round at 117 pounds. Her largest challenge at a repeat appears to be fellow returning champion and Junior World Teamer Cameron Guerin of Washington. Guerin won her first match of the tournament 10-0 over Alisha Narvaez of California.
Cadet World bronze medalists Alara Boyd of Indiana and Kayla Marano of Georgia both received byes to open the competition and will wrestle for the first time tomorrow. Boyd is a strong favorite at 144 pounds, looking for her first Junior Nationals crown. Marano, a defending champion at this event, is the woman to beat at 152 pounds.
Two-time Junior World Team member McKayla Campbell was a force in her first two bouts as the 106-pound favorite. She scored pins over Colorado’s Naliah Rosales and Virginia’s Lakshita Dey to start her run in Fargo. Campbell won the Junior Nationals in 2015, but found herself in third-place last summer. Looking to challenge Campbell for the top spot at 106 pounds is two-time Cadet World Team member Vayle Baker of Pennsylvania.
Minnesota’s Emily Shilson and Texas’ Alexandria Liles both qualified for the Cadet World Team and are returning Junior champions still in the running to repeat. The 100-pound favorite Shilson won the Cadet title yesterday and is looking to grab a Cadet-Junior double for the second-straight year. Like Shilson, Liles won the Cadet and Junior tournaments last summer in Fargo, and is a strong favorite at 132 pounds.
Two-time Cadet World Team member Caitlyn Walker of Pennsylvania looked solid in her opener, picking up a quick fall over Washington’s Alexandra Puzon. Walker, a Cadet Pan American champion, looks to challenge Shilson for the 100-pound championship.
Cadet World Team member and four-time Fargo All-American Alisha Howk of Wisconsin secured two pins to start her run at 112 pounds.
The eighth and final Cadet World Team representative in Fargo is Hawaii’s Kelani Corbett who won the Cadet Nationals earlier in the week. She will wrestle her first bout at 152 pounds tomorrow.
Of the 14 women who topped the Cadet division on Tuesday, 10 moved up to the Junior division to seek out a second Fargo championship. Joining Shilson, Kilty and Corbett in this category are Brelane Huber of Idaho, Stefana Jelacic of Arizona, Sarah Conner of Oregon, Emily Se of California, Bailey Dennis of Oregon, Natalie Kemp of Wisconsin and Jasmin Clarke of California. Conner is the only one of this group to lose a match today.
The women’s freestyle U.S. Marine Corps Junior Nationals will resume at 9 a.m. (CT) on Thursday. All the action can be viewed live on Flowrestling.com. Complete brackets can be found on Flowrestling’s FloArena platform.
FARGO, N.D. – The favorites held serve on the opening day of women’s freestyle competition at the U.S. Marine Corps Junior Nationals held at the Fargodome.
The field is loaded from top-to-bottom this year with six women boasting a World medal at the Cadet level, four members of this year’s U.S. Junior World Team competing, eight members of the U.S. Cadet World Team in action, plus seven returning champions looking for repeat berths.
The Junior women wrestled to the round-of-16 on the championship side of each bracket, excluding 225 pounds which starts its tournament tomorrow with the quarterfinals.
California’s Gracie Figueroa is a member of both the Cadet and Junior World Team and owns a bronze medal from last year’s Cadet World Championships. The present task for Figueroa is winning a third-consecutive Junior Nationals title, this time at 122 pounds. She won her only match of the day by 10-0 technical fall over North Dakota’s Naelly Andrade.
Cadet World champion Ronna Heaton of South Dakota posted a 10-0 win over Hawaii’s Jenna Awana in her opener at 127 pounds. Heaton will make her second appearance at the Junior Worlds this summer. She owns a gold and silver medal from the Cadet Worlds and is a two-time winner and three-time finalist in this event.
Heaton is the top-contender at 127 pounds, but the weight class boasts several other serious threats in the form of defending champion Brenda Reyna of Washington and Cadet World bronze medalist Macey Kilty of Wisconsin. Reyna, a 2016 Junior World Team member, defeated Heaton by fall in the finals last year. Kilty looked tough in her run to a Cadet Nationals title earlier this week.
Two-time Cadet World medalist and returning champion Alleida Martinez of California struck with a fall over Elizabeth Miller in the first round at 117 pounds. Her largest challenge at a repeat appears to be fellow returning champion and Junior World Teamer Cameron Guerin of Washington. Guerin won her first match of the tournament 10-0 over Alisha Narvaez of California.
Cadet World bronze medalists Alara Boyd of Indiana and Kayla Marano of Georgia both received byes to open the competition and will wrestle for the first time tomorrow. Boyd is a strong favorite at 144 pounds, looking for her first Junior Nationals crown. Marano, a defending champion at this event, is the woman to beat at 152 pounds.
Two-time Junior World Team member McKayla Campbell was a force in her first two bouts as the 106-pound favorite. She scored pins over Colorado’s Naliah Rosales and Virginia’s Lakshita Dey to start her run in Fargo. Campbell won the Junior Nationals in 2015, but found herself in third-place last summer. Looking to challenge Campbell for the top spot at 106 pounds is two-time Cadet World Team member Vayle Baker of Pennsylvania.
Minnesota’s Emily Shilson and Texas’ Alexandria Liles both qualified for the Cadet World Team and are returning Junior champions still in the running to repeat. The 100-pound favorite Shilson won the Cadet title yesterday and is looking to grab a Cadet-Junior double for the second-straight year. Like Shilson, Liles won the Cadet and Junior tournaments last summer in Fargo, and is a strong favorite at 132 pounds.
Two-time Cadet World Team member Caitlyn Walker of Pennsylvania looked solid in her opener, picking up a quick fall over Washington’s Alexandra Puzon. Walker, a Cadet Pan American champion, looks to challenge Shilson for the 100-pound championship.
Cadet World Team member and four-time Fargo All-American Alisha Howk of Wisconsin secured two pins to start her run at 112 pounds.
The eighth and final Cadet World Team representative in Fargo is Hawaii’s Kelani Corbett who won the Cadet Nationals earlier in the week. She will wrestle her first bout at 152 pounds tomorrow.
Of the 14 women who topped the Cadet division on Tuesday, 10 moved up to the Junior division to seek out a second Fargo championship. Joining Shilson, Kilty and Corbett in this category are Brelane Huber of Idaho, Stefana Jelacic of Arizona, Sarah Conner of Oregon, Emily Se of California, Bailey Dennis of Oregon, Natalie Kemp of Wisconsin and Jasmin Clarke of California. Conner is the only one of this group to lose a match today.
The women’s freestyle U.S. Marine Corps Junior Nationals will resume at 9 a.m. (CT) on Thursday. All the action can be viewed live on Flowrestling.com. Complete brackets can be found on Flowrestling’s FloArena platform.
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