Haley Augello falls in 48 kg repechage ending Olympic bronze medal bid

Haley Augello (USA) drives through a double leg against Zhuidyz Eshimova (Kazakhstan) in the 48 kg repechage. Photo: John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com.

RIO DE JANEIRO – The Olympic dream came to a disappointing end for budding U.S. star Haley Augello in the repechage round against two-time World medalist Zhuidyz Eshimova of Kazakhstan.


In typical Augello fashion, she pressed the pace from start to finish against Eshimova, controlling the majority of the bout. Ultimately, an errant shot attempt leading to Eshimova points would be her downfall in the 3-2 decision.


“It’s a heartbreak, especially when you are training hard for something,” Augello said moments after her loss. “In the sport of wrestling, I like to look at it as a game of cat and mouse. If you want to be the mouse, that’s fine. If you want to run, that’s fine. I am young. I am not as experienced. Just the second time wrestling international at 48 kg. So you can be the mouse if you want. I am going to hunt you down. I’ll get you next time.”


Augello opened her tournament with a dominant win over 2015 World bronze medalist Jessica Blaszka of Netherlands, 7-0. In her quarterfinal, Augello was close to upending three-time World champion Eri Tosaka of Japan, but couldn’t hang on for the upset bid.


“She has come a long way in a very short amount of time. As you can see, she is giving everything. She did that,” said U.S. head coach Terry Steiner. “But, the bottom line is you can’t come in here hoping for calls. You have to make your own breaks, and do the right things to rise above all of that, and we didn’t do that today.”


All Olympic medal matches have now been set at 48 kg, 58 kg and 69 kg in women’s freestyle.


Day two of the women’s freestyle competition will pick up at 9 a.m. (ET) on Thursday with the 53 kg, 63 kg and 75 kg tournaments. Taking the mat for the U.S. squad are three-time World champion Adeline Gray, 2015 World champion Helen Maroulis and 2012 World champion Elena Pirozhkova.


Every match from the 2016 Olympic Games can be viewed live courtesy of NBC at NBCOlympics.com. Complete brackets and match-by-match results can be found at unitedworldwrestling.org.


2016 OLYMPIC GAMES

Aug. 14-21 at Carioca Arena 2 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil


Finals Matchups

48 kg/105.5 lbs.

Gold – Eri Tosaka (Japan) vs. Mariya Stadnik (Azerbaijan)

Bronze – Yanan Sun (China) vs. Zhuidyz Eshimova (Kazakhstan)

Bronze – Elitsa Yankova (Bulgaria) vs. Patricia Bermudez (Argentina)


58 kg/128 lbs.

Gold – Kaori Icho (Japan) vs. Valeria Koblova (Russia)

Bronze – Yuliya Ratkevich (Azerbaijan) vs. Marwa Amri (Tunisia)

Bronze – Aisuluu Tynybekova (Kyrgyzstan) vs. Sakshi Malik (India)


69 kg/152 lbs.

Gold – Natalia Vorobieva (Russia) vs. Sara Dosho (Japan)

Bronze – Enas Ahmed (Egypt) vs. Elmira Syzdykova (Kazakhstan)

Bronze – Jenny Fransson (Sweden) vs. Dorothy Yeats (Canada)


U.S. women’s freestyle results

48 kg/105.5 lbs. – Haley Augello, Lockport, Ill. (New York AC)

WIN Jessica Blaszka (Netherlands), 7-0

LOSS Eri Tosaka (Japan), 11-2

LOSS Zhuidyz Eshimova (Kazakhstan), 3-2