Captains confirmed for women’s freestyle Captains’ Cup

All six captains have confirmed their participation for the Captains’ Cup presented by Titan Mercury Wrestling Club, which will be held Feb. 13-14 on FloWrestling. Captains for the event are Sarah Hildebrandt, Jacarra Winchester, Jenna Burkert, Kayla Miracle, Tamyra Mensah-Stock and Victoria Francis.

Athletes that qualified the USA for the Tokyo Olympics either through a medal-performance at the 2019 World Championships or a finalist finish at the 2020 Pan American Olympic Qualifier were given the first priority to become captains.  The next group to be offered were other World Team members that didn’t meet the above criteria.

With 2016 Olympic champion Helen Maroulis and five-time World champion Adeline Gray out, Burkert and Francis were selected as captains at 57 kg and 76 kg, respectively.

The captains’ duties are to draft a team and compete at their respective weight classes in the dual event that will showcase the top women’s freestyle athletes in the United States. The total prize money up for grabs is $50,000.

The draft is set for January 23 live on FloWrestling. Each team will be made up of six athletes, one at each of the Olympic weight classes (50 kg, 53 kg, 57, kg, 62 kg, 68 kg and 76 kg). There is one captain represented at each weight class, and as a result, each captain will draft five athletes to their squad on Saturday.

Below are some of the captains’ most notable achievements.

Sarah Hildebrandt (50 kg)

• Qualified the U.S. for the Olympic Games at 50 kg (Pan Am Qualifier)
• Silver at 2020 Pan American Olympic Qualifier
• Silver at 2018 Senior World Championships
• Three-time Senior World Team member (2016, 2018, 2019)
• 2020 Senior Nationals champion
• 2019 Pan American Games champion

Jacarra Winchester (53 kg)

• Qualified the U.S. for the Olympic Games at 53 kg (World Championships)
• 2019 Senior World champion at 55 kg
• Two-time Senior World Team member (2018, 2019)
• Two-time U.S. Open champion (2018, 2019)
• Third at 2014 University World Championships

Jenna Burkert (57 kg)

• Three-time Senior World Team member (2014, 2018, 2019)
• Silver at 2019 Pan American Games
• 2017 U.S. Open champion
• Fourth in 2017 World Military Championships
• Five-time Senior National Team member

Kayla Miracle (62 kg)

• Qualified the U.S. for the Olympic Games at 62 kg (Pan Am Qualifier)
• Gold at 2020 Pan American Olympic Qualifier
• Silver at 2019 U23 World Championships
• 2019 Pan American Games champion
• Two-time Junior World bronze medalist
• Eight-time age-group World Team member (Cadet, Junior, U23)

Tamyra Mensah-Stock (68 kg)

• Qualified the U.S. for the Olympic Games at 68 kg (World Championships)
• 2019 Senior World champion at 68 kg
• Bronze at 2018 Senior World Championships
• 2019 Pan American Games champion
• Three-time Ivan Yarygin champion (2017, 2018, 2019)

Victoria Francis (76 kg)

• Two-time Senior World Team member (2017, 2019)
• Fifth at 2019 World Championships at 72 kg
• Silver at 2020 Pan American Championships – not the same as Pan Am Olympic Qualifier
• 2017 U.S. Open champion
• Three-time Senior Nationals runner-up (2019, 2020)
• Bronze at 2014 Junior World Championships

Saturday’s draft will be conducted in a snake style with the draft order set as follows:

Snake Draft	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5
Mensah-Stock	1stpick	12thpick	13thpick	24thpick	25thpick
Winchester	2ndpick	11thpick	14thpick	23rdpick	26thpick
Hildebrandt	3rdpick	10thpick	15thpick	22ndpick	27thpick
Miracle	4thpick	9thpick	16thpick	21stpick	28thpick
Francis	5thpick	8thpick	17thpick	20thpick	29thpick
Burkert	6thpick	7thpick	18thpick	19thpick	30thpick