#WomensWednesday: Picking the Mount Rushmore of U.S. women wrestlers
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by Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling
Tricia Saunders photo courtesy of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. Adeline Gray photo by Larry Slater. Helen Maroulis photo by Tony Rotundo. Kristie Davis photo is USA Wrestling file photo.
The sports community regularly has fun by picking their version of the “Mount Rushmore” of specific sports, the four biggest heroes in history. Mount Rushmore in South Dakota features four U.S. presidents in a huge granite sculpture for all to see. Likewise, different sports “Mount Rushmores” celebrate the biggest names in their discipline.
Selecting my personal Mount Rushmore of U.S. women’s wrestling was not as difficult as it might seem. We have a rich history of great women wrestlers from the United States, going back at least three decades. However, the four biggest names stand out above the others based upon achievements and impact. My list includes two Hall of Famers and two current superstars who are still adding to their legacy. This is one person’s opinion…
Tricia Saunders
The legend, the pioneer, the best athlete and most active leader of the early years of women’s wrestling. Tricia Saunders set the standard for all U.S. women wrestlers to follow. Her impact is beyond her four Senior World titles and one Senior World silver medal. It started when she was a kid in Michigan, competing at Tricia McNaughton, who had to go to court for the right to wrestle against boys. She was a great youth wrestler, but abandoned the sport in college because of a lack of opportunity. When USA Wrestling began fielding Women’s World Teams in 1989, Tricia heard about it, moved to Phoenix where her brother Andy McNaughton wrestled at Arizona State, and quickly became a world-class wrestling athlete.
She was the first U.S. Senior World champion in women’s wrestling, and for decades had the most World titles among U.S. women with four. She also became a leader, standing up for women in wrestling, serving on committees, reaching out to others seeking to grow the sport. Nobody carried the banner for women’s wrestling like Tricia Saunders did. She also personally mentored numerous young women who went on to be great wrestlers for Team USA. The sad part is that her career was over before her sport was added to the Olympics. The cool part is that she and her husband Townsend Saunders were the official coaches of the first U.S. Olympic Team in women’s wrestling in 2004. She was the first woman inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, and the first U.S. woman in the UWW International Wrestling Hall of Fame. She set the stage for the rest of the Mount Rushmore women wrestlers to make their mark.
Kristie Davis
There is no woman wrestler who displayed more consistent excellence on the Senior level than Kristie Davis, where she stands at the top of some important U.S. records. A native of upstate New York, she competed under three last names, Stenglein, Marano and Davis, but she was the same champion right from the get-go. Kristie Davis won a record nine World medals at the Senior level, going nine-for-nine in her first nine World appearances. She has won more Senior World medals than any other U.S. woman, and is tied with Bruce Baumgartner for the most among any U.S. wrestler, regardless of gender. Kristie was known for her mental and physical toughness, and ability to perform under pressure. She is the definition of a gamer.
Like many great champions, Kristie Davis was excellent at a very early age. She was a teenager when she won her first Senior World medal, a silver medal at the 1986 Senior Worlds in Sofia, Bulgaria. She ran off four straight Senior World silver medals to get her career untracked. In 1998, she became the first U.S. woman to win a Junior World title. In 2000, she became just the third U.S. woman to win a Senior World title, then three years later in Madison Square Garden in her native New York, she added a second Senior World title in 2003. She competed in a number of weight classes, didn’t make every U.S. Senior World Team she tried out for, but her 10 Senior World appearances is impressive. Davis even went back to college later in life and won a pair of WCWA college national titles. She did not make an Olympic team, which is a testament to the quality of her opponents. Her daughter Kayla Marano won a Cadet World medal, and Kristie continues to impact the sport as a college coach. She became the second U.S. woman inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.
Adeline Gray
Along with her other Mt. Rushmore stars, Adeline Gray was successful as a young wrestler, coming out of Colorado and quickly establishing herself as a star at the Senior level. In 2019, Adeline Gray set the record for the most Senior World gold medals in U.S. history, regardless of gender, by winning her fifth Senior World gold. That puts her ahead of Saunders, John Smith and Jordan Burroughs, easily among the greatest in World history. Gray also has two World bronze medals, giving her seven career World medals, putting her high on another list of U.S. wrestling legends. Gray became the first U.S. wrestler to win Junior, University and Senior World gold medals in a career. Add in an appearance in the 2016 Olympic Games, and her resume stands up against any wrestler ever to represent our nation. And she is not done yet.
Gray is on Mount Rushmore for much more than statistics. She has reached a medal round in every Senior World Championships she ever entered, starting with a fifth-place finish in 2009, followed by seven straight medal performances. This is consistent excellence. After missing the medal round in the 2016 Rio Olympics, Gray took off a year to heal from injuries and roared back with two straight World gold medals. Coach Terry Steiner has called her the strongest woman on earth, but that is only part of her formula for success. Gray also has tremendous technical skills, including one of the most effective ankle-lace turns in wrestling history. She has proven she can win close matches, and even battle back from behind to win, meaning she is always capable of finding a way to get her arm raised. COVID-19 has delayed her run for a second Olympic Team, but when we return to competition, she will be ready to add to her legacy with Tokyo 2021 as her target.
Helen Maroulis
Forever, Helen Maroulis will be remembered as the first U.S. woman to win an Olympic gold medal in wrestling, with her memorable performance at the 2016 Olympics. To reach this achievement, she had to beat three-time Olympic champion Saori Yoshida of Japan in the finals, an amazing performance. That Olympic gold was sandwiched by a pair of World gold medals, as Maroulis won her first World title in Las Vegas in 2015, then added a second World title in 2017 in Paris. Three straight gold medals is an amazing feat, matched only by a handful of athletes in our sport. Her dominance at the 2017 Senior Worlds, and the technical mastery that she displayed there, had many believe she was the greatest wrestler on the planet that year. Add in a 2012 World silver and a 2014 World bronze, and her five Senior World or Olympic medals is tremendous. And like Gray, she is not done yet.
Great athletes are often successful at a young age, and Maroulis made her first Senior World Team in 2008, which is the first year she was age eligible. Her four Junior World teams and three Junior World medals is another example. Along with her Simon Fraser teammate Victoria Anthony, they became the first two women to win four WCWA college national titles. The Helen Maroulis story is one of overcoming major challenges and great perseverance. Since her 2017 gold medal, Maroulis has battled injuries, including a serious concussion problem. However, early in 2020, she was back competing at a high level, qualifying the USA for the Tokyo Games at the Pan American Olympic Qualifier. Then COVID-19 hit, and the Olympics are pushed back a year. We all look forward to seeing what Helen Maroulis will bring to the mat when our sport opens back up.
Others who were considered for Mount Rushmore, and are certainly deserving of Hall of Fame induction
Sara McMann – McMann was the first U.S. woman to reach a gold-medal match at the Olympic Games, when she won a silver medal at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece. She was edged in the finals by Kaori Icho of Japan, who went on to win four Olympic titles. McMann had wins over Icho during her career. Add in her other World medals, a 2003 World silver, 2005 World bronze and a 2007 World bronze, and you are something special. Later, she had considerable success in Mixed Martial Arts.
Patricia Miranda – Miranda was the first U.S. woman to receive an Olympic medal, winning the 48 kg bronze at the 2004 Athens Games. Her first World medal was a silver in 2000. She added a World silver in 2003 and a World bronze in 2006. A teammate with McMann on the first Olympic women’s wrestling team, Miranda was covered extensively in the media and truly helped promote women’s wrestling to the general public.
Sandra Bacher – Wrestling was Bacher’s second sport, after being a three-time Olympian in judo. She wrestled late in her judo career and was an instant success, winning a World medal of each kind: 1999 World gold, 1997 World silver and 1998 World bronze. Like Saunders, she was on the only U.S. Women's Team to win the Senior World Title in 1999, when the USA beat Japan by one point. If wrestling was in the 2000 Olympics, she would have been a huge name if she competed in two different sports. Her wrestling career ended before women first wrestled at the 2004 Olympic Games.
Clarissa Chun – With a Senior World gold medal in 2008 and an Olympic bronze medal in 2012, Clarissa Chun has the hardware to justify a spot in the Hall of Fame. Chun made two Olympic teams, placing fifth in the 2008 Olympics and beating Olympic medalist Miranda to make that team. She was on two Junior World teams and five Senior World teams in addition to her two Olympic appearances. She wrestled 16 years on the Senior level. Add in her role as an Assistant Women’s National Coach and her impact continues through the next generation.
Elena Pirozhkova – Pirozhkova, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Russia, wrestled in high school in Massachusetts, then came straight to the U.S. Olympic Training Center, where she became a star for Team USA. She won a Senior World title in 2012, then added three other Senior World medals, silvers in 2010 and 2014 and a bronze in 2013. Add in Olympic Team berths in 2012 and 2016, plus a University World title in 2010. She is now a women’s college coach.
Iris Smith – Smith knocked down a barrier when she became the first African American to win a Senior World gold medal in women’s wrestling in 2005 in Budapest. She defeated a legend in Kyoko Hamaguchi of Japan in the finals there. Smith appeared in three Senior Worlds, and won a 2010 World Military gold medal and a 2014 World Military bronze medal. Smith was pioneer, one of the first women to train fulltime at the U.S. Olympic Training Center, and one of the first women in the U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program, paving the way for opportunities for future women wrestlers.
Shannon Williams – Another of the early pioneers, Williams won four Senior World silver medals, a tremendous feat, and competed on seven Senior World teams, never placing lower than fifth in the World meet. She won numerous national titles, and added a gold at one of very first Pan American Championships for women. In addition to her excellence, she was a great ambassador for women’s wrestling, and went on to be a successful coach, where she coached both boys and girls.
Randi Miller - Only five U.S. women have won Olympic medals, and Randi Miller's run to the bronze medal at the 2008 Olympic Games is worthy of Hall recognition.To make the U.S. Olympic Team, she beat 2004 Olympic silver medalist Sara McMann in the finals. At the Beijing Olympics, she won four of five bouts, losing only to Olympic champion Kaori Icho. Her bronze-medal win was over multiple World champion Martine Degrenier of Canada. Miller was a top U.S. star for many years, winning a Military World gold and the Pan American Championships as well.
It is my contention that every U.S. athlete who has won either a Senior World title or an Olympic gold medal deserves to be a Distinguished Member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame at some point. For U.S. men, most of our past gold medalists who are eligible have gotten inducted already. On the women’s side, Bacher, Smith, Pirozhkova and Chun have not yet gone into the Hall. Recent champions like Gray, Maroulis, Jacarra Winchester and Tamyra Mensah-Stock should also go in once they have retired long enough to be eligible. We can expect to see these women and others recognized at the highest level in the future.
The sports community regularly has fun by picking their version of the “Mount Rushmore” of specific sports, the four biggest heroes in history. Mount Rushmore in South Dakota features four U.S. presidents in a huge granite sculpture for all to see. Likewise, different sports “Mount Rushmores” celebrate the biggest names in their discipline.
Selecting my personal Mount Rushmore of U.S. women’s wrestling was not as difficult as it might seem. We have a rich history of great women wrestlers from the United States, going back at least three decades. However, the four biggest names stand out above the others based upon achievements and impact. My list includes two Hall of Famers and two current superstars who are still adding to their legacy. This is one person’s opinion…
Tricia Saunders
The legend, the pioneer, the best athlete and most active leader of the early years of women’s wrestling. Tricia Saunders set the standard for all U.S. women wrestlers to follow. Her impact is beyond her four Senior World titles and one Senior World silver medal. It started when she was a kid in Michigan, competing at Tricia McNaughton, who had to go to court for the right to wrestle against boys. She was a great youth wrestler, but abandoned the sport in college because of a lack of opportunity. When USA Wrestling began fielding Women’s World Teams in 1989, Tricia heard about it, moved to Phoenix where her brother Andy McNaughton wrestled at Arizona State, and quickly became a world-class wrestling athlete.
She was the first U.S. Senior World champion in women’s wrestling, and for decades had the most World titles among U.S. women with four. She also became a leader, standing up for women in wrestling, serving on committees, reaching out to others seeking to grow the sport. Nobody carried the banner for women’s wrestling like Tricia Saunders did. She also personally mentored numerous young women who went on to be great wrestlers for Team USA. The sad part is that her career was over before her sport was added to the Olympics. The cool part is that she and her husband Townsend Saunders were the official coaches of the first U.S. Olympic Team in women’s wrestling in 2004. She was the first woman inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, and the first U.S. woman in the UWW International Wrestling Hall of Fame. She set the stage for the rest of the Mount Rushmore women wrestlers to make their mark.
Kristie Davis
There is no woman wrestler who displayed more consistent excellence on the Senior level than Kristie Davis, where she stands at the top of some important U.S. records. A native of upstate New York, she competed under three last names, Stenglein, Marano and Davis, but she was the same champion right from the get-go. Kristie Davis won a record nine World medals at the Senior level, going nine-for-nine in her first nine World appearances. She has won more Senior World medals than any other U.S. woman, and is tied with Bruce Baumgartner for the most among any U.S. wrestler, regardless of gender. Kristie was known for her mental and physical toughness, and ability to perform under pressure. She is the definition of a gamer.
Like many great champions, Kristie Davis was excellent at a very early age. She was a teenager when she won her first Senior World medal, a silver medal at the 1986 Senior Worlds in Sofia, Bulgaria. She ran off four straight Senior World silver medals to get her career untracked. In 1998, she became the first U.S. woman to win a Junior World title. In 2000, she became just the third U.S. woman to win a Senior World title, then three years later in Madison Square Garden in her native New York, she added a second Senior World title in 2003. She competed in a number of weight classes, didn’t make every U.S. Senior World Team she tried out for, but her 10 Senior World appearances is impressive. Davis even went back to college later in life and won a pair of WCWA college national titles. She did not make an Olympic team, which is a testament to the quality of her opponents. Her daughter Kayla Marano won a Cadet World medal, and Kristie continues to impact the sport as a college coach. She became the second U.S. woman inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.
Adeline Gray
Along with her other Mt. Rushmore stars, Adeline Gray was successful as a young wrestler, coming out of Colorado and quickly establishing herself as a star at the Senior level. In 2019, Adeline Gray set the record for the most Senior World gold medals in U.S. history, regardless of gender, by winning her fifth Senior World gold. That puts her ahead of Saunders, John Smith and Jordan Burroughs, easily among the greatest in World history. Gray also has two World bronze medals, giving her seven career World medals, putting her high on another list of U.S. wrestling legends. Gray became the first U.S. wrestler to win Junior, University and Senior World gold medals in a career. Add in an appearance in the 2016 Olympic Games, and her resume stands up against any wrestler ever to represent our nation. And she is not done yet.
Gray is on Mount Rushmore for much more than statistics. She has reached a medal round in every Senior World Championships she ever entered, starting with a fifth-place finish in 2009, followed by seven straight medal performances. This is consistent excellence. After missing the medal round in the 2016 Rio Olympics, Gray took off a year to heal from injuries and roared back with two straight World gold medals. Coach Terry Steiner has called her the strongest woman on earth, but that is only part of her formula for success. Gray also has tremendous technical skills, including one of the most effective ankle-lace turns in wrestling history. She has proven she can win close matches, and even battle back from behind to win, meaning she is always capable of finding a way to get her arm raised. COVID-19 has delayed her run for a second Olympic Team, but when we return to competition, she will be ready to add to her legacy with Tokyo 2021 as her target.
Helen Maroulis
Forever, Helen Maroulis will be remembered as the first U.S. woman to win an Olympic gold medal in wrestling, with her memorable performance at the 2016 Olympics. To reach this achievement, she had to beat three-time Olympic champion Saori Yoshida of Japan in the finals, an amazing performance. That Olympic gold was sandwiched by a pair of World gold medals, as Maroulis won her first World title in Las Vegas in 2015, then added a second World title in 2017 in Paris. Three straight gold medals is an amazing feat, matched only by a handful of athletes in our sport. Her dominance at the 2017 Senior Worlds, and the technical mastery that she displayed there, had many believe she was the greatest wrestler on the planet that year. Add in a 2012 World silver and a 2014 World bronze, and her five Senior World or Olympic medals is tremendous. And like Gray, she is not done yet.
Great athletes are often successful at a young age, and Maroulis made her first Senior World Team in 2008, which is the first year she was age eligible. Her four Junior World teams and three Junior World medals is another example. Along with her Simon Fraser teammate Victoria Anthony, they became the first two women to win four WCWA college national titles. The Helen Maroulis story is one of overcoming major challenges and great perseverance. Since her 2017 gold medal, Maroulis has battled injuries, including a serious concussion problem. However, early in 2020, she was back competing at a high level, qualifying the USA for the Tokyo Games at the Pan American Olympic Qualifier. Then COVID-19 hit, and the Olympics are pushed back a year. We all look forward to seeing what Helen Maroulis will bring to the mat when our sport opens back up.
Others who were considered for Mount Rushmore, and are certainly deserving of Hall of Fame induction
Sara McMann – McMann was the first U.S. woman to reach a gold-medal match at the Olympic Games, when she won a silver medal at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece. She was edged in the finals by Kaori Icho of Japan, who went on to win four Olympic titles. McMann had wins over Icho during her career. Add in her other World medals, a 2003 World silver, 2005 World bronze and a 2007 World bronze, and you are something special. Later, she had considerable success in Mixed Martial Arts.
Patricia Miranda – Miranda was the first U.S. woman to receive an Olympic medal, winning the 48 kg bronze at the 2004 Athens Games. Her first World medal was a silver in 2000. She added a World silver in 2003 and a World bronze in 2006. A teammate with McMann on the first Olympic women’s wrestling team, Miranda was covered extensively in the media and truly helped promote women’s wrestling to the general public.
Sandra Bacher – Wrestling was Bacher’s second sport, after being a three-time Olympian in judo. She wrestled late in her judo career and was an instant success, winning a World medal of each kind: 1999 World gold, 1997 World silver and 1998 World bronze. Like Saunders, she was on the only U.S. Women's Team to win the Senior World Title in 1999, when the USA beat Japan by one point. If wrestling was in the 2000 Olympics, she would have been a huge name if she competed in two different sports. Her wrestling career ended before women first wrestled at the 2004 Olympic Games.
Clarissa Chun – With a Senior World gold medal in 2008 and an Olympic bronze medal in 2012, Clarissa Chun has the hardware to justify a spot in the Hall of Fame. Chun made two Olympic teams, placing fifth in the 2008 Olympics and beating Olympic medalist Miranda to make that team. She was on two Junior World teams and five Senior World teams in addition to her two Olympic appearances. She wrestled 16 years on the Senior level. Add in her role as an Assistant Women’s National Coach and her impact continues through the next generation.
Elena Pirozhkova – Pirozhkova, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Russia, wrestled in high school in Massachusetts, then came straight to the U.S. Olympic Training Center, where she became a star for Team USA. She won a Senior World title in 2012, then added three other Senior World medals, silvers in 2010 and 2014 and a bronze in 2013. Add in Olympic Team berths in 2012 and 2016, plus a University World title in 2010. She is now a women’s college coach.
Iris Smith – Smith knocked down a barrier when she became the first African American to win a Senior World gold medal in women’s wrestling in 2005 in Budapest. She defeated a legend in Kyoko Hamaguchi of Japan in the finals there. Smith appeared in three Senior Worlds, and won a 2010 World Military gold medal and a 2014 World Military bronze medal. Smith was pioneer, one of the first women to train fulltime at the U.S. Olympic Training Center, and one of the first women in the U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program, paving the way for opportunities for future women wrestlers.
Shannon Williams – Another of the early pioneers, Williams won four Senior World silver medals, a tremendous feat, and competed on seven Senior World teams, never placing lower than fifth in the World meet. She won numerous national titles, and added a gold at one of very first Pan American Championships for women. In addition to her excellence, she was a great ambassador for women’s wrestling, and went on to be a successful coach, where she coached both boys and girls.
Randi Miller - Only five U.S. women have won Olympic medals, and Randi Miller's run to the bronze medal at the 2008 Olympic Games is worthy of Hall recognition.To make the U.S. Olympic Team, she beat 2004 Olympic silver medalist Sara McMann in the finals. At the Beijing Olympics, she won four of five bouts, losing only to Olympic champion Kaori Icho. Her bronze-medal win was over multiple World champion Martine Degrenier of Canada. Miller was a top U.S. star for many years, winning a Military World gold and the Pan American Championships as well.
It is my contention that every U.S. athlete who has won either a Senior World title or an Olympic gold medal deserves to be a Distinguished Member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame at some point. For U.S. men, most of our past gold medalists who are eligible have gotten inducted already. On the women’s side, Bacher, Smith, Pirozhkova and Chun have not yet gone into the Hall. Recent champions like Gray, Maroulis, Jacarra Winchester and Tamyra Mensah-Stock should also go in once they have retired long enough to be eligible. We can expect to see these women and others recognized at the highest level in the future.
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