American Helen Maroulis won her third world championship Thursday in Norway. (Photo courtesy USA Wrestling)
Courtesy USA Wrestling
OSLO, Norway, Oct. 7, 2021 – The U.S. women’s wrestling team closed out a memorable Senior world championships with two more medals, including a spectacular performance by the legendary Helen Maroulis to win her third career world championship and a strong second place finish as a team.
Maroulis, a 2016 Olympic champion, added a world championship to her 2015 and 2017 world titles, thanks to a pin over Anshu of India in the 57 kg (125.6 pounds) finals.
Maroulis went into the break trailing a 1-0 match to Anshu on an activity clock point but wasted no time in the second period. After scoring a spin-behind takedown, Maroulis ran an arm bar and put Anshu on her back. Maroulis got Anshu flat with two minutes left on the clock.
Anshu is a 2021 Asian champion, who placed ninth in the 2020 Olympic Games and was a 2017 Cadet world champion.
Maroulis has now won seven career world and Olympic medals. At the world championships, she has three victories, one silver medal and one bronze medal. At the Olympics, she won in 2016 and was third in 2021 in Tokyo earlier this year.
American Tamyra Mensah Stock, the 2020 Olympic champion and 2019 world champion, bounced back after a stunning loss in the 68 kg semifinals on Wednesday to bring home a bronze medal, with a 10-1 victory over Adele Hanzlickova of the Czech Republic.
Hanzlickova got to a leg and forced Mensah Stock out of bounds for the first point of the match for a 1-0 lead, but the Tokyo 2020 champion dominated the rest of the way. In total, Mensah Stock scored five takedowns, mixing sweep singles and counter takedowns for a commanding victory.
Mensah Stock now boasts four career world and Olympic medals, an Olympic gold, a world gold and two world bronze medals.
2017 Junior world champion Maya Nelson lost a close 4-3 battle in the 59 kg bronze-medal bout to Shoovdor Baatarjav of Mongolia and finished fifth in her first Senior world Cchampionships.
Nelson took the early lead, with a step out and a takedown in the first period for a 3-0 lead at the break. Nelson sustained a shoulder injury which may have affected the outcome. Nelson returned to the mat after receiving medical attention, but Baatarjav scored a pair of takedowns and held on late for the 4-3 win.
Team USA placed second in the team standings with 147 points, behind team champion Japan with 196 points. Mongolia placed third with 78 points.
The USA won a record seven medals in Oslo, matching the most ever won by a U.S. women’s team at a world championship meet. The Americans won seven medals at the 2003 world championship at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
SENIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Oslo, Norway, October 7
Group Three women’s freestyle final results
57 kg
Gold – Helen Maroulis (USA)
Silver – Anshu (India)
Bronze – Sae Nanjo (Japan)
Bronze – Davaachimeg Erkhembayar (Mongolia)
Gold – Maroulis fall Anshu, 4:00
Bronze – Nanjo dec. Chumikova, 7-3
Bronze – Erkhembayar dec. Vynnyk, 11-8
59 kg
Gold – Bilyana Dudova (Bulgaria)
Silver – Akie Hanai (Japan)
Bronze – Sarita (India)
Bronze – Shoovdor Baatarjav (Mongolia)
5th – Maya Nelson (USA)
Gold – Dudova dec. Hanai, 6-4
Bronze – Baatarjav dec. Nelson, 4-3
Bronze – Sarita dec. Lindborg, 8-2
68 kg
Gold – Meerim Zhumanazarova (Kyrgyzstan)
Silver – Rin Miyaji (Japan)
Bronze – Tamyra Mensah Stock (USA)
Bronze – Khanum Velieva (Russian Wrestling Federation)
Gold – Zhumanazarova pin Miyaji, 2:11
Bronze – Mensah Stock dec. Hanzlickova, 10-1
Bronze – Velieva fall Di Bacco, 5:33
72 kg
Gold – Masako Furuichi (Japan)
Silver – Zhamila Bakberhenova (Kazakhstan)
Bronze – Buse Cavusoglu Tosun (Turkey)
Bronze – Anna Schnell (Germany)
10th – Kylie Welker (USA)
Gold – Furuichi dec. Bakberhenova, 3-0
Bronze – Cavusoglu Tosun no contest Vescan
Bronze – Medet Kyzy tech fall Osniach Shustova, 12-1 1:35
U.S. women’s freestyle Group Three final results
57 kg – No. 4 seed Helen Maroulis (Rockville, Md./Sunkist Kids), gold medal
WIN Jeannie Kessler (Austria), pin 2:34
WIN Veronika Chumikova (Russian Wrestling Federation), 10-1
WIN Sae Nanjo (Japan), 6-4
WIN Anshu (India), pin 4:00
59 kg – No. 4 seed Maya Nelson (Denver, Colo., Sunkist Kids), 5th place
WIN Ebru Dagbasi (Turkey), 7-0
WIN Krystsina Sazykina (Belarus), pin 5:56
LOSS Akie Hanai (Japan), 4-1
LOSS Shoovdor Baatarjav (Mongolia), 4-3
68 kg – No. 1 seed Tamyra Mensah-Stock (Colorado Springs, Colo./USOPTC/Titan Mercury WC), bronze medal
WIN Anastasia Lavenchuk (Ukraine), 8-0
LOSS Rin Miyagi (Japan), pin 0:21
WIN Adele Hanzlickova (Czech Republic), 10-1
72 kg – Kylie Welker (Waterford, Wis./Titan Mercury WC), 10th place
LOSS Buse Cavusoglu Tosun (Turkey), 8-1
Final team standings
Top 10 teams — 1. Japan 196, 2. United States 147, 3. Mongolia 79, 4. Ukraine 73, 5. India 67, 6. Kyrgyzstan 65, 7. Russian Wrestling Federation 64, 8. Bulgaria 49, 9. Canada 47, 10. (tie) Moldova and Germany, 45
