#WrestleTirana Thursday Session I Live Blog: Women's freestyle group two
by Savannah Asmann, USA Wrestling
Semifinal pairings:
53kg
Ekaterina Verbina (AIN) vs. Mako Oono (Japan)
Mariana Dragutan (Moldova) vs. Altyn Shagayeva (Kazakhstan)
57kg
Zhala Aliyeva (Azerbaijan) vs. Mia Katherine Friesen (Canada)
Elvira Kamaloglu (Turkey) vs. Sara Natami (Japan)
62kg
Alina Kasabieva (AIN) vs. Yuzuka Inagaki(Japan)
Iryna Bondar (Ukraine) vs. Bhagyashree Hanumant Fand (UWW)
65kg
Elma Zeidlere (Latvia) vs. Amina Tandelova (AIN)
Macey Kilty (United States) vs. Irina Ringaci (Moldova)
72kg
Bukrenaz Sert (Turkey) vs. Jyoti Berwal (UWW)
Wiktoria Choluj (Poland) vs. Amit Elor (United States)
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Pins equal wins for Amit Elor and Macey Kilty. Team USA sees the pair advance to the semifinals this afternoon. We await repechage fates for Mota-Pettis. Gomez's tournament run comes to an end after her first round opponent lost in the quarterfinals. Nwachukwu fell to Kuznetsova of Kazakhstan, who lost her quarterfinal match, bringing her tournament to a close.
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65 kg - Macey Kilty (United States) pin Amina Capezan (Romania), 1:11
Kilty wastes no time on offense, she pins Capezan in 1:11. Macey Kilty is heading to the semifinals!
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72 kg - Amit Elor (United States) pin Viktoryia Radzkova (AIN), 0:18
Blink and you'll miss it, Elor brings Radzkova to the mat and pins her in 18 seconds. On to the semis!
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65 kg - Macey Kilty (United States) pin Kseniya Tsiarenia (AIN), 1:49
Kilty gets the offense going off the whistle to lead 6-0. She picks up the win by fall at 1:49.
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62 kg - Irina Kuznetsova (Kazakhstan) tech. fall Adaugo Nwachukwu (United States), 12-0
Kuznetsova led 8-0 early with a takedown and a few turns. A big move on the edge pushes Kuznetsova ahead for the 12-0 win.
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62 kg - Adaugo Nwachukwu (United States) dec. Ameyalli Jessel Rojas (Mexico), 6-2
Nwachukwu builds up to a strong 6-0 lead and commands the match. Rojas gets a late takedown but Nwachukwu holds off the comeback attempt to win 6-2.
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65 kg - Macey Kilty (United States) pin Gilbery Garcia Franco (Venezuela), 1:30
Kilty led 4-0 after a quick takedown and a turn, she gets the fall at 1:30.
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57 kg - Sara Natami (Japan) pin Xochitl Mota-Pettis (United States), 5:05
Tough positioning in this match as Natami led 10-2, then got the late pin.
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72 kg - Amit Elor (United States) pin Zaneb Sghaier (Tunisia), 0:17
Elor was fast off the whistle, getting Sghaier to the mat with ease and picking up the win by fall in 17 seconds.
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53 kg - Beatrice Ferent (Romania) dec. Katie Gomez (United States), 2-1
Gomez was put on the clock and was unable to score, giving Ferent the lead. She evened the score when Ferent was put on the clock, but Gomez got put on the clock again and Ferent won 2-1.
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We're minutes away from action in Tirana, Albania at the U23 World Championships. Our second group of women's freestyle athletes take the mat today: Katie Gomez (53 kg), Xochitl Mota-Pettis (57 kg), Adaugo Nwachukwu (62 kg), Macey Kilty (65 kg) and Amit Elor (72 kg). We'll keep you updated throughout the session!