Dias, Welker and Elor dominate to advance to Cadet World semifinals

Photo of Sterling Dias by Kadir Caliskan of UWW. 

SOFIA, Bulgaria – Three Americans went unscored upon in Thursday morning’s action to advance to the semifinals of the 2019 Cadet World Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria.

2018 Cadet World bronze medalist Sterling Dias has guaranteed herself an opportunity wrestle for another World medal as she landed a spot in the semifinals after a dominant morning session performance.

Wrestling at 40 kg, Dias collected four takedowns in her first-round match to breeze past 2018 U15 European champion Alina Kurylenka of Belarus, 11-0.

Her quarterfinals match put her against Kamila Kraspow of Poland, who was 11th at the 2019 Cadet European Championships. Dias only needed two minutes to put the bout to rest with a 10-0 technical fall.

In tonight’s semifinals, Dias will face 2019 Cadet Asian champion Mushtariy Tolipbekova of Uzbekistan.

2016 U15 Pan Am bronze medalist Kylie Welker was just as dominant in the 61 kg bracket, securing her spot in the semis with a tech fall and pin in the first session.

Welker opened the tournament with an 11-0 tech fall against Yu Lin Lo of Taipei, using a snatch single for multiple takedowns.

In the quarterfinals, Welker acted fast, scoring a takedown and eventually getting the pin over 2018 U15 European champion and 2019 Cadet European silver medalist Tatyana Kabanova of Russia in 33 seconds.

Tonight, Welker competes against 2018 Youth Olympic champion and 2018 Cadet World champion Nonoka Ozaki of Japan for a spot in the finals.

At 69 kg, 2018 U15 Pan American champion Amit Elor ended both of her matches this morning in the first period to move onto the semifinals.

Taking on 2018 U15 European bronze winner Karolina Povk of Ukraine, Elor used two takedowns, a gut wrench and a four-point throw to give her a 12-0 victory.

To claim a spot in the semis, Elor showed no mercy against 2019 European champion Lili Ujfalvi, producing multiple takedowns for a 10-0 win.

In the semifinals, she will face two-time defending World champion Honoka Nakai of Japan.

Awaiting repechage fate tonight is Sage Mortimer at 46 kg.

Mortimer dropped her opening match to two-time Cadet Pan American bronze medalist Serena DiBenedetto of Canada, 10-6, which featured throws from both sides.

DiBenedetto went on to defeat 2019 European champion Ekaterina Karpushkina of Russia in the quarterfinals. Should DiBenedetto win her semifinal against Xuejing Liang of China, she will pull Mortimer back into repechage.

At 53 kg, Adriana Dorado Marin wrapped up her 2019 Cadet World Championships on Thursday morning. After losing her first match to 2019 Cadet European bronze medalist Alessia Hetmanava of Belarus, 12-1, Dorado Marin was eliminated when the Belarussian failed to advance to the finals.

The semifinals are set for Thursday at 10:30 a.m. ET live on Trackwrestling.com. Follow @USAWrestling on Twitter for live updates.

2019 CADET WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

at Sofia, Bulgaria, July 28-Aug. 4

Women’s freestyle results

40 kg: Sterling Dias (Las Vegas, Nev./Slam WC)
WIN Alina Kurylenka (Belarus), 11-0
WIN Kamila Kasprow (Poland), 10-0
vs. Mushtariy Tolipbekova (Uzbekistan)

46 kg: Sage Mortimer (Mapleton, Utah/Champions WC)
LOSS Serena DiBenedetto (Canada), 10-6

53 kg: Adriana Dorado Marin (Denver, Colo./Betterman Elite)
LOSS Alessia Hetmanava (Belarus), 12-1

61 kg: Kylie Welker (Franksville, Wisc./Burlington WC)
WIN Yu Lin Lo (Taipei), 11-0
WIN Tatyana Kabanova (Russia), fall 0:33

69 kg: Amit Elor (Walnut Creek, Calif./Bay Area Titans WC)
WIN Karolina Povk (Ukraine), 12-0
WIN Lili Ujfalvi (Hungary), 10-0
vs.