Sancho, Stefanowicz and Miracle receive draws for day 3 of Olympic Games
by Taylor Miller, USA Wrestling
The draw for three U.S. Olympic wrestlers, Greco-Roman wrestlers Alejandro Sancho (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army WCAP) at 67 kg and John Stefanowicz (Camp LeJeune, N.C./U.S. Marines) at 87 kg, plus women’s freestyler Kayla Miracle (Tempe, Ariz./Sunkist Kids) at 62 kg have been conducted on Monday afternoon.
These are the final two U.S. Greco-Roman wrestlers who will compete at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. All three U.S. athletes who start competition on Tuesday will be competing in their first Olympic Games.
Sancho, who is competing on his first Senior Olympic or World team, will open up against Artem Surkov of Russia, who was the 2018 World champion. He also owns a silver from the 2019 World Championships and a pair of bronzes from 2015 and 2017. Surkov enters at the No. 3 seed.
Sancho is unseeded. The other seeded athlete in Sancho’s half-bracket is No. 2 Mohamed Ibrahim Elsayed of Egypt, a two-time U23 World champion. He took fifth at the 2019 Senior World Championships.
Competing in the other half-bracket is No. 1 seed and 2016 Olympic champion Ismael Borrero Molina of Cuba and No. 4 seed and 2019 bronze medalist Mate Nemes of Serbia. Borrero, who won his 2016 title at 59 kg, also has World golds from 2015 and 2019.
Sancho was a 2019 U.S. Senior Nationals champion and qualified the USA for the Olympic Games by placing second at the 2020 Pan American Olympic Qualifier. He beat 2012 Olympian Ellis Coleman to make the U.S. team for Tokyo. Sancho competed in the 2017 U23 Worlds and the 2014 Junior Worlds. He competed for the Northern Michigan U.S. Olympic Training Site in college, and is a native of Miami, Fla.
USA Wrestling preview for 67 kg in Greco-Roman
Stefanowicz, who was a member of the 2019 U.S. Senior World Team, will face Ivan Huklek of Croatia in the first round. Huklek is a 2017 U23 World silver medalist. He qualified through a first-place finish at the 2021 World Olympic Qualifier.
Stefanowicz is unseeded. Competing in his half bracket is No. 2 seed and reigning World champion Zhan Beleniuk of Ukraine and No. 3 Rustam Assakalov from Uzbekistan. Beleniuk is a 2015 and 2019 World champion as well as the 2016 Olympic silver medalist. Assakalov is a 2015 World silver medalist and a 2019 World bronze medalist.
Competing in the other half-bracket is top-seeded and two-time World medalist Viktor Lorincz of Hungary and No. 4 Daniel Gregorich Hechevarria of Cuba, who is a two-time U23 World medalist.
Stefanowicz made the 2019 U.S. Senior World Team at 82 kg and moved up to 87 kg for the Olympic year. He is a two-time Pan American Championships champion and has won numerous medals at the Armed Forces Championships. He serves in the U.S. Marine Corps and is on the All-Marine Wrestling Team. Stefanowicz hails from Fawn Grove, Pa.
USA Wrestling preview for 87 kg in Greco-Roman
Representing the women’s freestyle squad is Miracle, who was a member of the 2019 Senior World Team. She will open up against Jia Long from China, who has only competed twice internationally. She won the Asian Olympic Games Qualifier earlier this year and collected bronze at the 2020 Matteo Pellicone.
Miracle received the No. 4 seed at her weight class. Also in her half-bracket is No. 1 seed and 2019 World champion Aisuluu Tynbekova of Kyrgyzstan.
Competing in the other half-bracket are No. 2 seed and past World champion Taybe Yusein of Bulgaria and No. 3 seed Kukako Kawai of Japan.
Miracle competed at the 2019 Senior World Championships where she placed eighth. She has won three U.S. Senior Nationals titles. Her international career includes a silver medal at the 2012 Cadet World Championships, bronze medals at the 2014 and 2016 Junior World Championships and a silver medal at the 2019 U23 World Championships. She was a four-time WCWA national champion for Campbellsville University, and hails from Culver, Ind.
USA Wrestling preview for 68 kg women’s freestyle
U.S. Greco-Roman first round draw
67 kg – Alejandro Sancho (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army WCAP)
vs. Artem Surkov (Russia)
87 kg – John Stefanowicz (Camp LeJeune, N.C./U.S. Marines)
vs. Ivan Huklek (Croatia)
U.S. women’s freestyle first round draw
62 kg – Kayla Miracle (Tempe, Ariz./Sunkist Kids)
vs. Jia Long (China)
Competition schedule for Tuesday, Aug. 3 (local time in Tokyo
11 a.m. – Qualification rounds (GR 67, 87; WFS 62 kg)
11 a.m. – Repechage (GR 77, 97; WFS 68 kg)
6:15 p.m. – Semifinals (GR 67, 87; WFS 62 kg)
7:30 p.m.- Finals (GR 77, 97; WFS 68 kg)
Competition schedule – U.S. Eastern time zone
August 2, 10 p.m. ET – Qualification rounds (GR 67, 87; WFS 62 kg)
August 2, 10 p.m. ET – Repechage (GR 77, 97; WFS 68 kg)
August 3, 5:15 a.m. ET – Semifinals (GR 67, 87; WFS 62 kg)
August 3, 6:30 a.m. ET- Finals (GR 77, 97; WFS 68 kg)
For additional information, visit:
United World Wrestling Olympics website
DRAW FOR Tuesday, August 3
57 kg – Helen Maroulis (Rockville, Md./Sunkist Kids)
57 kg – Thomas Gilman (State College, Pa./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC)
86 kg – David Taylor (State College, Pa./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC)
Wednesday, August 4
53 kg – Jacarra Winchester (Colorado Springs, Colo./USOPTC/Titan Mercury WC)
74 kg – Kyle Dake (Ithaca, N.Y./Spartan Combat WC/Titan Mercury WC)
125 kg – Gable Steveson (Apple Valley, Minn./Gopher WC RTC)
Thursday, August 5
50 kg – Sarah Hildebrandt (Colorado Springs, Colo./USOPTC/New York AC)
97 kg – Kyle Snyder (State College, Pa./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC)