Maroulis wins gold, Taylor and Nette get bronze at Polyak Imre & Varga Janos Memorial Ranking Event

BUDAPEST, Hungary – 2016 Olympic champion Helen Maroulis claimed a gold medal at 57 kg in women’s freestyle at the Polyak Imre & Varga Janos Memorial Ranking Event on Friday night. Team USA also grabbed a pair of bronze medals from Felicity Taylor (53 kg) and Abigail Nette (59 kg).

Maroulis, a three-time Olympic medalist and three-time World champion, made quick work of 2024 U17 World champion Neha of India in the gold-medal match, pinning her in just 31 seconds. Maroulis hit a sweet trip which took Neha directly to her back, and Maroulis secured the fall right away.

Maroulis powered through three opponents in the first session to reach the finals. She opened with a pin of Amanda Martinez of the USA in 2:03, a rematch from Maroulis’ victory in Final X last month. In the quarterfinals, she beat 2020 Olympic silver medalist and two-time World medalist Iryna Kurachkina of UWW, 7-0, then pinned Tamara Dollak of Hungary in the semifinals in 2:17.

Taylor was impressive in par terre in her 11-0 technical fall over 2024 Olympian Zeynep Yetgil of Turkiye in the bronze-medal round. Taylor scored first on a shot clock point. After getting a takedown, Taylor tilted Yetgil four different times for exposure to close out the victory in the first period.

Taylor won her first match over 2025 Asian bronze medalist Zeinep Bayanova of Kazakhstan, 8-7, then lost her semifinal bout to 2024 Olympian Antim of India, 10-0.

Nette was in command most of her bronze-medal match against 2023 U23 World bronze medalist Anastasiia Sidelnikova of UWW, before surviving a furious comeback by Sidelnikova, 7-4. Nette jumped to a 6-0 lead at the break with two takedowns and a gut wrench. In the second period, Sidelnikova scored an early takedown to make it 6-2. In the final moments of the match, Sidelnikova hit an inside trip for a takedown to make it 6-4. Sidelnikova nearly scored a takedown as time ran out, which was not awarded. A challenge was made, and the jury ruled that time had run out, giving Nette her final point.

Nette, a 2022 Senior World Team member, fell in her opening bout to 2024 World bronze medalist Elena Brugger of Germany, 8-2.

Placing fifth after dropping a bronze-medal match was Erin Golston (50 kg). 2025 U23 European champion Natalia Pudova of UWW defeated Golston by technical fall, 10-0 in the bronze-medal bout. Pudova led 4-0 at the break, then scored a takedown and two ankle lace turns to finish off the victory.

Golston was defeated in her first match by 2024 Olympian Evin Demirhan of Turkiye, 8-0. When Demirhan reached the finals, Golston was pulled into repechage, where she won her match by injury default.

Two other U.S. women fell short of the medal rounds, 2025 U.S. Senior World Team member Audrey Jimenez (50 kg) and Amanda Martinez (57 kg).

The women’s freestyle competition concludes Saturday with the final five weight classes (55 kg, 62 kg, 65 kg, 68 kg, 76 kg). The first three Greco-Roman weight classes will also be held on Saturday (72 kg, 87 kg, 130 kg).

Wrestling begins with preliminaries at 10:30 a.m. local time, followed by semifinals at 1:30 p.m. and repechage at 2:30 p.m. The finals are set for 5:00 p.m. local time. Budapest is six hours ahead of U.S. Eastern time zone.

The event will be broadcast live by FloWrestling, with results on UWW Arena.

UWW Ranking events are used to set the seeds at the upcoming World Championships as well as help determine the year-end UWW athlete awards.

POLYAK IMRE & VARGA JANOS MEMORIAL RANKING SERIES EVENT

At Budapest, Hungary, July 18

Women’s freestyle results

50 kg

Gold - Evin Demirhan (Turkiye)

Silver - Elizabeta Smirnova (UWW)

Bronze - Neelam (India)

Bronze - Natalia Pudova (UWW)

5^th - Kseniy Stankevich (UWW)

5^th - Erin Golston (USA)

7^th - Gabija Dilyte (Lithuania)

8^th - Priyanshi Prajapat (India)

9^th - Nadezhda Sokolova (UWW)

10^th - Madison Parks (Canada)

Gold - Evin Demirhan (Turkiye) dec. Elizabeta Smirnova (UWW), 9-6

Bronze - Neelam (India) dec. Kseniy Stankevich (UWW), 6-3

Bronze - Natalia Pudova (UWW) tech fall Erin Golston (USA), 10-0, 3:42

53 kg

Gold - Antim (India)

Silver - Natalia Malysheva (UWW)

Bronze - Seoyoung Park (Korea)

Bronze - Felicity Taylor (USA)

5^th - Vestia Daniseviciute (Lithuania)

5^th - Zeynep Yetgil (Turkey)

7^th - Zeinep Bayanova (Kazakhstan)

8^th - Liliana Kapuvari (Hungary)

Gold - Antim (India) dec. Natalia Malysheva (UWW), 7-4

Bronze - Seoyoung Park (Korea) dec. Vestia Daniseviciute (Lithuania), 5-0

Bronze - Felicity Taylor (USA) tech fall Zeynep Yetgil (Turkey), 11-0, 2:59

57 kg

Gold - Helen Maroulis (USA)

Silver - Neha (India)

Bronze - Iryna Kurachkina (UWW)

Bronze - Nilufar Raimova (Kazakhstan)

5^th - Tamara Dollak (Hungary)

5^th - Roza Szenttamasi (Hungary)

7^th - Youngjin Kwon (Korea)

8^th - Amanda Martinez (USA)

9^th - Olga Khoroshavtseva (UWW)

10^th - Elvira Suleyman Kamaloglu (Turkiye)

Gold - Helen Maroulis (USA) pin Neha (India), 0:31

Bronze - Iryna Kurachkina (UWW) dec. Tamara Dollak (Hungary), 10-3

Bronze - Nilufar Raimova (Kazakhstan) dec. Roza Szenttamasi (Hungary), 7-4

59 kg

Gold - Erika Bognar (Hungary)

Silver - Elena Brugger (Germany)

Bronze - Abigail Nette (USA)

Bronze - Nazeya Bulanaya (UWW)

5^th - Anastasiia Sidelnikova (UWW)

5^th - Arian Carpio (Phillippines)

7^th - Othelie Hoeie (Norway)

8^th - Bediha Gun (Turkiye)

9^th - Marina Simonyan (UWW)

Gold - Erika Bognar (Hungary) dec. Elena Brugger (Germany), 2-1

Bronze - Abigail Nette (USA) dec. Anastasiia Sidelnikova (UWW), 7-4

Bronze - Nazeya Bulanaya (UWW) pin Arian Carpio (Phillippines), 0:35

72 kg

Gold - Harshita (India)

Silver - Zhamila Bakbergenova (Kazakhstan)

Bronze - Kseniia Burakova (UWW)

4th - Kristina Bratchikova (UWW)

Kseniia Burakova (UWW) dec. Kristina Bratchikova (UWW), 6-3

Harshita (India) disq. Pauline LeCarpentier (France), 4:06

Zhamila Bakbergenova (Kazakhstan) tech fall Kristina Bratchikova (UWW), 11-1, 4:49

Harshita (India) pin Kseniia Burakova (UWW), 5:18

Kristina Bratchikova (UWW) disq. Pauline LeCarpentier (France)

Zhamila Bakbergenova (Kazakhstan) dec. Kseniia Burakova (UWW), 10-2

Zhamila Bakbergenova (Kazakhstan) disq. Pauline LeCarpentier (France)

Harshita (India) inj. dft. Kristina Bratchikova (UWW)

Kseniia Burakova (UWW) disq. Pauline LeCarpentier (France)

Harshita (India) tech fall Zhamila Bakbergenova (Kazakhstan), 10-0, 3:35

U.S. Women's freestyle results

50 kg – Audrey Jimenez (Tempe, Ariz./Lehigh Valley WC/Titan Mercury WC), 12^th place

LOSS Priyanshi Prajapat (India), 3-0

50 kg – Erin Golston (Denton, Texas/New York AC), 5^th place

LOSS Evin Demirhan (Turkiye), 8-0

WIN Priyashi Prajapat (India), inj. dft. 0:02

LOSS Natalia Pudova (UWW), tech fall, 10-0, 3:42

 53 kg – Felicity Taylor (Iowa City, Iowa/Titan Mercury WC), bronze medal

VS Zeinep Bayanova (Kazakhstan), 8-7

LOSS Antim (India), tech fall, 10-0, 5:51

WIN Zeynep Yetgil (Turkiye), tech fall 11-0, 2:59

57 kg – Helen Maroulis (Rockville, Md./Titan Mercury WC), gold medal

WIN Amanda Martinez (United States), pin 2:03

WIN Iryna Kurachkina (UWW), 7-0

WIN Tamara Dollak (Hungary), pin, 2:17

WIN Neha (India), pin 0:31

57 kg – Amanda Martinez (Riverside, Ill./Cardinal WC/Titan Mercury WC), 8^th place

LOSS Helen Maroulis (United States), pin 2:03

LOSS Iryna Kurachkina (UWW), pin 5:50

59 kg – Abigail Nette (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army WCAP), bronze medal

LOSS Elena Brugger (Germany), 8-2

WIN Anastasiia Sidelnikova (UWW), 7-4

Remaining schedule, local time

(Budapest is six hours ahead of U.S. Eastern time)

Saturday, July 19

(Women’s Freestyle 55 kg, 62 kg, 65 kg, 68 kg, 76 kg, Greco-Roman 72 kg, 87 kg, 130 kg)

10:30 a.m. – Qualification rounds

1:30 p.m. – Semifinals

2:30 p.m. – Repechage

5:00 p.m. – Finals

Sunday, July 20

(Greco-Roman 55 kg, 60 kg, 63 kg, 67 kg, 77 kg, 82 kg, 97 kg)

10:30 a.m. – Qualification rounds

1:30 p.m. – Semifinals

2:30 p.m. – Repechage

5:00 p.m. – Finals