Macey Kilty picks up tech fall to advance to Junior World finals in Slovakia

TRNAVA, Slovakia – In her first appearance at the Junior World Championships, Macey Kilty dominated her way to the Junior World finals after strong semifinals performance on Wednesday in Trnava, Slovakia.

The win marks Kilty’s second World finals bid of the summer as Kilty ran through the Cadet World bracket to win a World Championship at 69 kg earlier this year in Zagreb, Croatia.

“I’m super jacked to try to get another belt,” Kilty said. “Coming into [Junior Worlds], I knew I could compete with everybody and I expected to do well here. I know my coach, Kevin Black, has trained me to compete with anyone in the world. Coming to these tournaments is just another way to have fun and go out to compete.”

Kilty, from River Falls, Wisc., took on Yan Wang of China in the 68 kg semifinals. The American took a 6-0 lead into the break after a pair of takedowns. In the second period, Kilty put up five more points, which included two more takedowns and a step out to land a spot in the Junior World finals.

Tomorrow night, Kilty will face reigning Junior World champion and two-time Cadet World champion Khanum Velieva of Russia for 68 kg gold.

The other four American wrestlers that competed today included Alleida Martinez at 50 kg, Ronna Heaton at 55 kg, Brenda Reyna at 59 kg and Dymond Guilford at 76 kg. All four wrapped up their tournaments after their victors failed to advance to the finals.

Thursday’s action will begin with repechage at 10:30 a.m. local time (4:30 a.m. ET), and the medal matches will take place at 6 p.m. local time (12 p.m. ET). Fans can watch the action live on Trackwrestling.com.

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
WIN Yan Wang (China), 11-0
vs. Khanum Velieva (Russia)

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