Final X Preview: Whitney Conder vs. Victoria Anthony, 50 kg women
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by Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling
Competition photos of Whitney Conder and Victoria Anthony by Tony Rotundo, Wrestlers Are Warriors
Who: Whitney Conder vs. Victoria Anthony
What: Final X
Where: Bethlehem, Pa.
When: June 23
Why: Women’s freestyle World Team spot at 50 kg
Tickets: FinalX.tv
Whitney Conder
How she got to Final X:
This was a weight class without a World medalist from 2017. Conder earned her spot in Final X by winning the U.S. Open in April, where she beat Victoria Anthony in the finals. It was Conder’s fifth U.S. Open title.
Background:
Whitney Conder is seeking a fourth trip to the Senior World Championships for Team USA, and is hunting for her first Senior World medal. She made her first World team at 51 kg in 2011, then when the weights changed, she was at 53 kg for the 2014 and 2015 World Championships. With another shuffle of the women’s weights, Conder has dropped to the lowest women’s weight, 50 kg, and emerged as the 2018 U.S. Open champion, defeating the 2017 World Team member Victoria Anthony in the finals. They have emerged as Final X opponents.
A native of Washington, Conder had a good record competing against boys in the years prior to the state adding women’s wrestling. She made her first big leap on the national level at the U.S. Olympic Education Center at Northern Michigan, where she has both age-group and Senior level success. Conder made her big step onto the international scene at the 2007 Junior Worlds in Beijing, China with an inspiring gold-medal performance.
Next for Conder was a move to the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, and her most recent professional move was to join the U.S. Army WCAP program. What has been consistent in all of her career steps has been her ability to challenge each and every year for the top spot on Team USA. Conder has made three U.S. World Teams, competed at the Military World Championships and won a gold medal at the Pan American Games. She is still highly motivated, as she seeks both her first Senior World medal as well as her first U.S. Olympic Team berth. Her Olympic Trials loss in 2016 at 53 kg was to Helen Maroulis, who went on to win Olympic gold. It is possible that Conder might have found the correct weight class, and the right timing in her life, to achieve what she still seeks.
Whitney Conder’s World Championship experience:
2007 Junior World Championships in Beijing, China – GOLD
2011 Senior World Championships in Istanbul, Turkey – 13th
2014 Senior World Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan – NINTH
2014 Military World Championships in Ft. Dix, N.J., USA - SILVER
2015 Senior World Championships in Las Vegas, Nev., USA – 16th
Victoria Anthony
How she got to Final X:
Anthony won a gold medal at the Freestyle World Team Trials Challenge Tournament in Rochester, Minn. in May, defeating Erin Golston in three matches in the final series. Anthony won bout one, 6-0, Golston won 5-5 in the second bout and Anthony secured a pin in match three to advance to Lehigh.
Background:
Victoria Anthony has powered her way through the USA Wrestling age-group program, making four Junior World Teams and winning two Junior World titles. She had a spectacular college career at Simon Fraser, winning four WCWA titles in dominant fashion. She has made a pair of Senior World Teams and reached the bronze-medal bout both times, placing fifth at 51 kg in 2013 and fifth at 48 kg at 2017.
A California native, Anthony has a judo background which gives her some additional firepower, always capable of a big throw at any point of the match. She started her career at the lowest Junior weight, 44 kg, where she won her two Junior World gold medals, but effectively moved up to 48 kg when she competed entirely at the Senior level. When UWW changed the lowest weight class from 48 kg to 50 kg, Anthony is moving up slightly in size. Yet people need to remember that she made her first World Team at 51 kg, where she was very close to winning a World medal.
With eight World Championships on her resume, including her age-group career, Anthony brings as much international experience as anybody. She has big wins against many of the top wrestlers in the world at some point. Like Conder, she is seeking to put together a medal-winning effort at the Worlds, as well as make her first U.S. Olympic Team. She was beaten in the 2016 Olympic Trials by Haley Augello, who has since moved up in weight. Anthony is training with the Sunkist Kids down in Arizona, a location where she has continued to improve and expand her skills. A win in Final X is something that could lead to even more achievements in Budapest this October.
Anthony’s World Championship experience
2008 Junior World Championships in Istanbul, Turkey – FIFTH
2009 Junior World Championships in Ankara, Turkey – GOLD
2010 Junior World Championships in Budapest, Hungary – GOLD
2011 Junior World Championships in Bucharest, Romania – FIFTH
2012 University World Championships in Kourtane, Finland – NINTH
2013 World University Games in Kazan, Russia – SEVENTH
2013 Senior World Championships in Budapest, Hungary – FIFTH
2017 Senior World Championships in Paris, France - FIFTH
Notes
• Conder defeated Anthony, 7-3, in the 2018 U.S. Open finals.
• Conder and Anthony are both past Junior World champions, with Conder winning hers in 2007 and Anthony winning twice, in 2009 and 2010.
• Although they have mostly been in different weight classes, they have found their way into the same bracket a few other times. Both went 48 kg at the 2012 Olympic Trials in Iowa City, where Conder was fourth and Anthony was fifth. Both were at 51 kg for the 2012 Non-Olympic Weight World Team Trials, where Conder was second and Anthony was third. In 2013, they were in the same weight for the Women’s World Team Wrestle-off at 51 kg in 2013, an event that Anthony won and Conder was third.
• Victoria Anthony was the first to win four WCWA college national titles, winning her fourth just a few matches before Simon Fraser teammate Helen Maroulis won her fourth.
50 kg/110 lbs. WOMEN
Whitney Conder, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army WCAP)
College: Northern Michigan High School: Puyallup, Wash. Born: May 6, 1988
• 2015 Pan American Games champion
• Three-time U.S. World Team member (2011, 2014, 2015)
• 2007 Junior World champion
• Five-time U.S. Open champion (2011, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018)
• Second in 2014 CISM Military World Championships
• 2018 Pan American Championships champion
• Second in 2010 and 2012 Pan American Championships
• Second in 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials
• 2015 Dave Schultz Memorial International champion
• Second in 2013 and 2017 World Team Trials
Victoria Anthony, Tempe, Ariz. (Sunkist Kids)
College: Simon Fraser High School: Huntington, Beach, Calif. (Marina) Born: June 24, 1991
• Fifth in 2013 and 2017 World Championships
• 2009 and 2010 Junior World champion
• 2015 and 2017 U.S. Open champion
• 2017 U.S. World Team member
• Second in 2013-15 World Team Trials
• Second in 2012-14, 2018 U.S. Open
• 2015 and 2016 Dave Schultz Memorial International champion
• 2017 Pan American Championships champion
• Fifth in 2008 and 2011 Junior World Championships
• 2012-13 University Nationals champion
• Four-time WCWA college nationals champion for Simon Fraser
Who: Whitney Conder vs. Victoria Anthony
What: Final X
Where: Bethlehem, Pa.
When: June 23
Why: Women’s freestyle World Team spot at 50 kg
Tickets: FinalX.tv
Whitney Conder
How she got to Final X:
This was a weight class without a World medalist from 2017. Conder earned her spot in Final X by winning the U.S. Open in April, where she beat Victoria Anthony in the finals. It was Conder’s fifth U.S. Open title.
Background:
Whitney Conder is seeking a fourth trip to the Senior World Championships for Team USA, and is hunting for her first Senior World medal. She made her first World team at 51 kg in 2011, then when the weights changed, she was at 53 kg for the 2014 and 2015 World Championships. With another shuffle of the women’s weights, Conder has dropped to the lowest women’s weight, 50 kg, and emerged as the 2018 U.S. Open champion, defeating the 2017 World Team member Victoria Anthony in the finals. They have emerged as Final X opponents.
A native of Washington, Conder had a good record competing against boys in the years prior to the state adding women’s wrestling. She made her first big leap on the national level at the U.S. Olympic Education Center at Northern Michigan, where she has both age-group and Senior level success. Conder made her big step onto the international scene at the 2007 Junior Worlds in Beijing, China with an inspiring gold-medal performance.
Next for Conder was a move to the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, and her most recent professional move was to join the U.S. Army WCAP program. What has been consistent in all of her career steps has been her ability to challenge each and every year for the top spot on Team USA. Conder has made three U.S. World Teams, competed at the Military World Championships and won a gold medal at the Pan American Games. She is still highly motivated, as she seeks both her first Senior World medal as well as her first U.S. Olympic Team berth. Her Olympic Trials loss in 2016 at 53 kg was to Helen Maroulis, who went on to win Olympic gold. It is possible that Conder might have found the correct weight class, and the right timing in her life, to achieve what she still seeks.
Whitney Conder’s World Championship experience:
2007 Junior World Championships in Beijing, China – GOLD
2011 Senior World Championships in Istanbul, Turkey – 13th
2014 Senior World Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan – NINTH
2014 Military World Championships in Ft. Dix, N.J., USA - SILVER
2015 Senior World Championships in Las Vegas, Nev., USA – 16th
Victoria Anthony
How she got to Final X:
Anthony won a gold medal at the Freestyle World Team Trials Challenge Tournament in Rochester, Minn. in May, defeating Erin Golston in three matches in the final series. Anthony won bout one, 6-0, Golston won 5-5 in the second bout and Anthony secured a pin in match three to advance to Lehigh.
Background:
Victoria Anthony has powered her way through the USA Wrestling age-group program, making four Junior World Teams and winning two Junior World titles. She had a spectacular college career at Simon Fraser, winning four WCWA titles in dominant fashion. She has made a pair of Senior World Teams and reached the bronze-medal bout both times, placing fifth at 51 kg in 2013 and fifth at 48 kg at 2017.
A California native, Anthony has a judo background which gives her some additional firepower, always capable of a big throw at any point of the match. She started her career at the lowest Junior weight, 44 kg, where she won her two Junior World gold medals, but effectively moved up to 48 kg when she competed entirely at the Senior level. When UWW changed the lowest weight class from 48 kg to 50 kg, Anthony is moving up slightly in size. Yet people need to remember that she made her first World Team at 51 kg, where she was very close to winning a World medal.
With eight World Championships on her resume, including her age-group career, Anthony brings as much international experience as anybody. She has big wins against many of the top wrestlers in the world at some point. Like Conder, she is seeking to put together a medal-winning effort at the Worlds, as well as make her first U.S. Olympic Team. She was beaten in the 2016 Olympic Trials by Haley Augello, who has since moved up in weight. Anthony is training with the Sunkist Kids down in Arizona, a location where she has continued to improve and expand her skills. A win in Final X is something that could lead to even more achievements in Budapest this October.
Anthony’s World Championship experience
2008 Junior World Championships in Istanbul, Turkey – FIFTH
2009 Junior World Championships in Ankara, Turkey – GOLD
2010 Junior World Championships in Budapest, Hungary – GOLD
2011 Junior World Championships in Bucharest, Romania – FIFTH
2012 University World Championships in Kourtane, Finland – NINTH
2013 World University Games in Kazan, Russia – SEVENTH
2013 Senior World Championships in Budapest, Hungary – FIFTH
2017 Senior World Championships in Paris, France - FIFTH
Notes
• Conder defeated Anthony, 7-3, in the 2018 U.S. Open finals.
• Conder and Anthony are both past Junior World champions, with Conder winning hers in 2007 and Anthony winning twice, in 2009 and 2010.
• Although they have mostly been in different weight classes, they have found their way into the same bracket a few other times. Both went 48 kg at the 2012 Olympic Trials in Iowa City, where Conder was fourth and Anthony was fifth. Both were at 51 kg for the 2012 Non-Olympic Weight World Team Trials, where Conder was second and Anthony was third. In 2013, they were in the same weight for the Women’s World Team Wrestle-off at 51 kg in 2013, an event that Anthony won and Conder was third.
• Victoria Anthony was the first to win four WCWA college national titles, winning her fourth just a few matches before Simon Fraser teammate Helen Maroulis won her fourth.
50 kg/110 lbs. WOMEN
Whitney Conder, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army WCAP)
College: Northern Michigan High School: Puyallup, Wash. Born: May 6, 1988
• 2015 Pan American Games champion
• Three-time U.S. World Team member (2011, 2014, 2015)
• 2007 Junior World champion
• Five-time U.S. Open champion (2011, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018)
• Second in 2014 CISM Military World Championships
• 2018 Pan American Championships champion
• Second in 2010 and 2012 Pan American Championships
• Second in 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials
• 2015 Dave Schultz Memorial International champion
• Second in 2013 and 2017 World Team Trials
Victoria Anthony, Tempe, Ariz. (Sunkist Kids)
College: Simon Fraser High School: Huntington, Beach, Calif. (Marina) Born: June 24, 1991
• Fifth in 2013 and 2017 World Championships
• 2009 and 2010 Junior World champion
• 2015 and 2017 U.S. Open champion
• 2017 U.S. World Team member
• Second in 2013-15 World Team Trials
• Second in 2012-14, 2018 U.S. Open
• 2015 and 2016 Dave Schultz Memorial International champion
• 2017 Pan American Championships champion
• Fifth in 2008 and 2011 Junior World Championships
• 2012-13 University Nationals champion
• Four-time WCWA college nationals champion for Simon Fraser
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