Three U.S. women receive draws at Polyak Imre and Varga Janos Memorial

BUDAPEST, Hungary – 2024 U.S. Olympic Team member Kayla Miracle headlines a pack of three U.S. women who will compete at the Polyak Imre and Varga Janos Memorial this week. The brackets have been finalized for all 10 women’s freestyle weight classes at the notable UWW Ranking Series event.

Miracle, a two-time World finalist and four-time age-group World medalist for Team USA, sits atop the 62 kg bracket, awaiting the winner of a preliminary match between Individual Neutral Athlete Anna Shcherbakova and Orkhon Purevdorj or Mongolia.

Shcherbakova hasn’t logged an international result since 2021 but does have solid credentials that include an Alexander Medved International title and an Ivan Yargygin Grand Prix medal. The more likely opponent for Miracle is Purevdorj, who was a World champion in 2017 and competed at the 2016 Olympic Games, placing seventh overall. Purevdorj is expected to represent Mongolia in the Paris Olympics.

2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials runner-up Audrey Jimenez will battle Individual Neutral Athlete Nadezhda Sokolova in an exciting opening round matchup at 50 kg. Jimenez is one of the top up-and-comers for the U.S. women as a four-time age-group World medalist. Sokolova was a World bronze medalist in 2021 and holds six age-group World medals. She is also expected to compete in Paris.

2023 U.S. Senior Nationals champion Amanda Martinez is slotted in Group B of a round-robin bracket at 55 kg. She is guaranteed two opponents— Roza Szenttamasi of Hungary and Marina Sedneva of Kazakhstan. Szenttamasi was a 2022 U20 World bronze medalist. Sedneva is a four-time age-group World medalist and two-time Asian bronze medalist. The top two athletes in Group B will advance to the semifinals against the top two in Group A.

The women’s freestyle tournament will be wrestled on Friday and Saturday, with the action beginning at 10:30 a.m. local time each day. Budapest is located six hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Time.

The event is streaming live to the U.S. audience on FloWrestling.com. Updated brackets and results are available on UWW Arena.

The Polyak Imre and Varga Janos Memorial is the last UWW Ranking Series event of the season, giving athletes a final chance to up their rankings prior to the Olympic Games. For a complete breakdown of how the ranking points are awarded, visit UWW.org.