Kilty cruises to Junior World semifinals after standout morning session

TRNAVA, Slovakia – 2018 Cadet World champion and 2016 Cadet World bronze medalist Macey Kilty advanced to the semifinals at 68 kg after a dominant morning session in the first day of women’s competition at the 2018 Junior World Championships in Trnava, Slovakia.

Kilty began the tournament with a 12-0 technical fall over Tindra Sjoeberg of Sweden, completed, in part, by two takedowns and big four-point throw to wrap up the bout.

In the quarterfinals, Kilty took out Alina Rudnytska of Ukraine, who earned bronze at the Junior European Championships earlier this year. Kilty scored quickly on a takedown and exposure before sticking the Ukrainian in 50 seconds to move onto the semifinals.

To earn a bid to the finals, Kilty will have to go through Yan Wang of China. Wang has no international credentials.

Waiting to see if they will get pulled into repechage are Alleida Martinez at 50 kg, Ronna Heaton at 55 kg and Dymond Guilford at 76 kg.

Martinez, a two-time Cadet World medalist, was off to a hot start, pinning her first two opponents to advance to the quarterfinals. There, she met up with 2015 Cadet World bronze medalist and 2018 Junior Asian bronze winner Marina Zakshevskaya of Kazakhstan, who picked up the fall over the American in 1:41.

To pull Martinez back into repechage, Zakshevskaya will have to beat 2018 Junior and U23 European bronze medalist Ellen Riesterer of Germany.

After a dominant first-round win, 2015 Cadet World champion and 2016 Cadet World runner-up Heaton fell in the quarterfinals to 2016 Cadet World champion and 2017 Junior World bronze medalist Ekaterina Verbina of Russia in an 11-4 decision. Should Verbina win tonight against 2018 Senior Asian champion Saki Igarashi of Japan, Heaton will be pulled back into tomorrow’s repechage.

At 76 kg, Guilford showed solid defensive skills against 2017 U23 World champion and 2016 Cadet World champion Yashua Matsuyuki of Japan, holding off her opponent for nearly five minutes. Matsuyuki eventually got the fall at the 4:54 mark.

The two-time age-group World champion went on to advance to the semifinals with a first-period fall over Nisha Nisha of India. Tonight, Matsuyuki will face Yuanyuan Huang of China in the semifinals.

At 59 kg, two-time Junior World Team member Brenda Reyna fell in a first-round heartbreaker to Huan Sung of Korea, who scored a takedown in the last 0.4 seconds to defeat the McKendree wrestler on criteria, 6-6.

Sung lost in the next round to an opponent from Kazakhstan, ending Reyna’s 2018 Junior World run.

The women’s freestyle semifinals are scheduled for 5:15 p.m. local time (11:15 a.m. ET), followed by Greco-Roman medal matches. Wrestling in the Greco finals for USA is Andrew Berreyesa at 82 kg.

2018 JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

at Trnava, Slovakia

U.S. women’s freestyle results

50 kg: Alleida Martinez (Selma, Calif./Titan Mercury WC)
WIN Yazaman Majidli (Azerbaijan), fall 4:57
WIN Victoria Apalonik (Belarus), fall 2:34
LOSS Marina Zakshevskaya (Kazakhstan), fall 1:41

55 kg: Ronna Heaton (Brookings, S.D./Sunkist Kids)
WIN Anne Nuernberger (Germany), 8-2
LOSS Ekaterina Verbina (Russia), 11-4

59 kg: Brenda Reyna (Mount Vernon, Wash/Bearcat WC)
LOSS Hwan Sung (Korea), 6-6

68 kg: Macey Kilty (River Falls, Wisc./Sunkist Kids WC)
WIN Tindra Sjoeberg (Sweden), 12-0
WIN Alina Rudnytska (Ukraine), fall 0:50
vs. Yan Wang (China)

76 kg: Dymond Guilford (Lancaster, Calif./Missouri Baptist)
LOSS Yahua Matsuyaki (Japan), fall 4:54