Women have rare struggle at Worlds
From Media Reports
So much for momentum.
Just days after the United States’ men’s freestyle and Greco-Roman teams acquired seven medals in 14 weights, the women’s freestyle team settled for just two medals — bronzes by veterans Patricia Miranda (112.25) and Kristie Marano (158.5) — at the 2006 World Championships in Guangzhou, China.
The U.S. women’s total was half the number won a year ago in Budapest, Hungary, and five less than the Americans won at the 2003 World Championships.
“We have some changing to do,” said U.S. coach Terry Steiner, who saw three former World medalists — Tina George (121), Sara McMann (138.75) and Katie Downing (147.5) — fail to place in China. “In situations like this, it is easy to point fingers and blame. The first thing I have to do is look in the mirror and make some changes myself. From there, we also will look at changes in the program. There is a reason that we went from 2003, when we won seven medals, to now when we have to scrap to get two medals. It starts with the leadership down. I have to make changes. That is where it starts.
“We have people who are great workers. We have to change the way we are working as individuals. We have to change our focuses, both as individuals and as a team. It is time to intervene. We have to change now or it will be the same next year. We have the right people to win. We have to change how we do things. It’s a battle. We need to want it. We need to stick with the changes when we make them.”
“W
e have a clear vision. We have gotten away from being a team. We are too much individuals. The programs that win here are teams. They work together, they feed off each other. We have to have that. We use to be like that. We need to return to it. It is time to change.”
The following is a weight-by-weight breakdown of all the American women freestylers.
48K/105.5 pounds
Mary Kelly (New York AC) knew her first World tournament had to be tougher than what she faced in her first match on Sept. 29, when the native of Mahomet, Ill., used a power half-nelson to pin Le Thi Trang (Vietnam) in just 37 seconds.
And Kelly found how tough this tournament is when she was eliminated one match later to Francine De Paola (Italy) who needed three periods to defeat Kelly, 2-0, 1-1, 2-1. Kelly appeared ready to win the match in the second period before De Paola forced a third period when she took the American down with eight seconds left. In the final period, the Italian hit on two doubles, the match-deciding takedown coming with 13 seconds left.
“I think the thing I am most upset about is getting taken down (in the second period),” said Kelly who was eliminated when De Paola lost in the semifinals to eventual champion Chicharu Icho (Japan). “I should have stayed more with what I was doing in the first period. I think I could have wrestled better the second match. “I am disappointed. I really wanted to bring home a medal. I think if I did something else differently, I could have won.”
51K/112.25 pounds
Patricia Miranda (Sunkist Kids WC) finally took care of the “Ukraine” problem. Now the native of Manteca, Calif., has to focus on Japan, namely two-time World champ Hitomi Sakamoto, who defeated Miranda, 3-0, 2-0, in a quarterfinal match, forcing Miranda — a four-time World medalist — to settle for something less than gold.
“Nobody wants to seem ungrateful for a World medal,” said Miranda, who took a year off from competition after she also finished third in the 2004 Olympics and second in both the 2000 and 2003 Worlds. “There are definitely things today that I need to improve on. There are things I disappointed myself with. For instance, I have to hold myself accountable if I don’t get going in matches.
“I see this weight class as a two-horse race. Right now, Hitomi (Sakamoto) is winning. But, I am making progress. I am taking small steps. There were 30 seconds to a minute where I wrestled how I need to, how I must to win. She was mortal for 30 seconds. I hadn’t seen that before. It’s a step. The rest of the four minutes I have to work on. It’s a mixed emotional day. I didn’t do what I wanted to. My attitude is not to give up. It is to be accountable and work on it immediately when I get home.”
After that loss, Miranda took a forfeit from Bekzat Mustafina (Kazakhstan) before beating Oleksandanda Kohut (Ukraine), 1-0, 1-0. It was another Ukraine wrestler Irini Merleni, who defeated Miranda in the 2003 Worlds and 2004 Olympics. But Miranda was more focused on her future.
“In the last match, I could have taken the next step towards next year, and I didn’t do it,” said Miranda, who collected a takedown in each period against Kohut. “Sure, I won the match. But it is not about beating Ukraine. It is about getting closer to beating that other athlete. I aim to do that by 2007. I don’t want to feel ungrateful. I think there were things in my control that I didn’t do, and that is the sour note.”
55K/121 pounds
Tina George (U.S. Army) lost a coin flip, then lost her only match at the Worlds as the two-time World silver medalist (2002 and 2003) lost to Thi Giang Nghiem (Vietnam), 4-0, 1-2, 1-0, as the Vietnamese wrestler used the clinch advantage to score a takedown in the overtime period.
Nghiem also caught George on her back 22 seconds into the first period and held the American there for over 30 seconds, before George forced a third period when she scored a pair of takedowns in the second period; the final one coming with 21 seconds left.
This was the shortest Worlds experience for the 25-year-old native of Erie, Pa, who was competing in her seventh World Championships.
59K/130 pounds
Erin Tomeo (Sunkist Kids WC), who had not competed in a World Championship in five years, showed very little rust as the native of Grove City, Pa., pinned her first two opponents in China: Emma Gemma Silverio (Phillipines), with a cradle in 25 seconds, and Hoie Gudrin (Norway), on an arm bar with 20 seconds left in the first period.
But her competition jumped quite a bit in the quarterfinals, where she lost to 2005 silver medalist Li Hui Su (China), 4-4, 1-3, 4-3, as the Chinese wrestler was awarded all her points when Tomeo countered a Li double with a lift and launched Li back over her head at the 1:38 mark, only to see Li be given four points (three for exposure and one for a takedown) and Tomeo two for exposure in the exchange.
Tomeo got a chance to continue wrestling when Hui Su moved into the finals, but the American was eliminated from medal contention when she lost to Natalya Sinishin (Ukraine), 2-0, 4-1, in a consolation match as the Ukranian scored three points off a scramble in the second period.
“I didn’t put it all out there,” said Tomeo, who finished 13th in 2001. “It wasn’t my best wrestling for sure. I think my head was in a good place. I left the loss to China behind me. I had a good warmup. I was relaxed and ready to go. But something changed when I stepped on the mat.”
63K/138.75 pounds
Sara McMann (Sunkist Kids WC), who was eliminated from gold medal contention the three previous years in either the World or Olympic competition by Japan’s Kaori Icho, never got a shot at her Japanese nemesis in China. That’s because McMann, who now calls Iowa City, Iowa, her home, lost a quarterfinal bout to Monika Rogien (Poland), 1-0, 2-1, as the Polish wrestler scored all her points on counter moves to McMann’s attacks.
This loss, and Rogien’s semifinal loss to Icho, who eventually won her fifth World title, ended any medal chance for McMann, who had collected a silver medal at the 2003 Worlds, and a pair of bronze medals (at the 2004 Olympics and 2005 Worlds) before coming to China this year.
In her only other 2006 Worlds match, McMann defeated Sandra Amado (Colombia), 1-0, 6-0.
67K/147.5 pounds
There would be no second straight medal for Katie Downing (Sunkist WC), who waited nearly a decade to make her first World team in 2005. Masira Admiraal (Netherlands) made sure of that after she defeated Downing, 1-0, 1-0, in a second-round match. Downing, who earned a first-round bye, lost each period after the Dutch wrestler earned the clinch advantage to score a pair of pushouts that ended two periods that were scoreless after two minutes each.
Downing was then eliminated from consolation competition after Admiraal lost to China’s Rui Xue Jing in a quarterfinal match.
“I’m disappointed in myself, knowing everything that went into this year,” said the Indianapolis, Ind., native. “I get to carry this with me for the whole year. I know how much our coaches put into us to get prepared. My whole town is behind me here. It’s like I let more people down.”
72K/158.5 pounds
Three years may have past but Kristie Marano (New York AC) proved she is still one of the best-ever woman wrestlers by earning her eighth World medal, Oct. 1.
That was the day, five-time World champion Kyoko Hamaguchi (Japan) pinned Marano, 1:47, in a second-round match, only to see Marano, a native of Albany, N.Y., come back to win a pair of consolation matches — a third-period pin against Ochirbat Burmaa (Mongolia) and an injury default over Svitlana Saenko (Ukraine) — before beating Ohenewa Akuffo (Canada), 1-1, 4-0, for the bronze medal.
“It is always good to come to the World Championships and win a medal,” said Marano, who also has a pair of World championships (2000 and 2003) and four silver medals and one bronze medal on her World resume. “It’s not the ideal medal. But it is still third in the world.”
Marano was down 1-0 in the first period to Akuffo but rallied with a takedown to even the match, giving her the period win as she scored last. Marano snapped Akuffo down for a takedown at 1:32 in the second period, tilting her to her back for the rest of the match.
“In the first 30 seconds, she came after me hard,” Marano said. “I realized I had to step it up a couple of notches or I ‘d take a beating. All that the coaching staff worked on in the last eight weeks really paid off here.”
(The information and quotes in this story were provided by TheMat.com.)
So much for momentum.
Just days after the United States’ men’s freestyle and Greco-Roman teams acquired seven medals in 14 weights, the women’s freestyle team settled for just two medals — bronzes by veterans Patricia Miranda (112.25) and Kristie Marano (158.5) — at the 2006 World Championships in Guangzhou, China.
The U.S. women’s total was half the number won a year ago in Budapest, Hungary, and five less than the Americans won at the 2003 World Championships.
“We have some changing to do,” said U.S. coach Terry Steiner, who saw three former World medalists — Tina George (121), Sara McMann (138.75) and Katie Downing (147.5) — fail to place in China. “In situations like this, it is easy to point fingers and blame. The first thing I have to do is look in the mirror and make some changes myself. From there, we also will look at changes in the program. There is a reason that we went from 2003, when we won seven medals, to now when we have to scrap to get two medals. It starts with the leadership down. I have to make changes. That is where it starts.
“We have people who are great workers. We have to change the way we are working as individuals. We have to change our focuses, both as individuals and as a team. It is time to intervene. We have to change now or it will be the same next year. We have the right people to win. We have to change how we do things. It’s a battle. We need to want it. We need to stick with the changes when we make them.”
“W
e have a clear vision. We have gotten away from being a team. We are too much individuals. The programs that win here are teams. They work together, they feed off each other. We have to have that. We use to be like that. We need to return to it. It is time to change.”The following is a weight-by-weight breakdown of all the American women freestylers.
48K/105.5 pounds
Mary Kelly (New York AC) knew her first World tournament had to be tougher than what she faced in her first match on Sept. 29, when the native of Mahomet, Ill., used a power half-nelson to pin Le Thi Trang (Vietnam) in just 37 seconds.
And Kelly found how tough this tournament is when she was eliminated one match later to Francine De Paola (Italy) who needed three periods to defeat Kelly, 2-0, 1-1, 2-1. Kelly appeared ready to win the match in the second period before De Paola forced a third period when she took the American down with eight seconds left. In the final period, the Italian hit on two doubles, the match-deciding takedown coming with 13 seconds left.
“I think the thing I am most upset about is getting taken down (in the second period),” said Kelly who was eliminated when De Paola lost in the semifinals to eventual champion Chicharu Icho (Japan). “I should have stayed more with what I was doing in the first period. I think I could have wrestled better the second match. “I am disappointed. I really wanted to bring home a medal. I think if I did something else differently, I could have won.”
51K/112.25 pounds
Patricia Miranda (Sunkist Kids WC) finally took care of the “Ukraine” problem. Now the native of Manteca, Calif., has to focus on Japan, namely two-time World champ Hitomi Sakamoto, who defeated Miranda, 3-0, 2-0, in a quarterfinal match, forcing Miranda — a four-time World medalist — to settle for something less than gold.
“Nobody wants to seem ungrateful for a World medal,” said Miranda, who took a year off from competition after she also finished third in the 2004 Olympics and second in both the 2000 and 2003 Worlds. “There are definitely things today that I need to improve on. There are things I disappointed myself with. For instance, I have to hold myself accountable if I don’t get going in matches.
“I see this weight class as a two-horse race. Right now, Hitomi (Sakamoto) is winning. But, I am making progress. I am taking small steps. There were 30 seconds to a minute where I wrestled how I need to, how I must to win. She was mortal for 30 seconds. I hadn’t seen that before. It’s a step. The rest of the four minutes I have to work on. It’s a mixed emotional day. I didn’t do what I wanted to. My attitude is not to give up. It is to be accountable and work on it immediately when I get home.”
After that loss, Miranda took a forfeit from Bekzat Mustafina (Kazakhstan) before beating Oleksandanda Kohut (Ukraine), 1-0, 1-0. It was another Ukraine wrestler Irini Merleni, who defeated Miranda in the 2003 Worlds and 2004 Olympics. But Miranda was more focused on her future.
“In the last match, I could have taken the next step towards next year, and I didn’t do it,” said Miranda, who collected a takedown in each period against Kohut. “Sure, I won the match. But it is not about beating Ukraine. It is about getting closer to beating that other athlete. I aim to do that by 2007. I don’t want to feel ungrateful. I think there were things in my control that I didn’t do, and that is the sour note.”
55K/121 pounds
Tina George (U.S. Army) lost a coin flip, then lost her only match at the Worlds as the two-time World silver medalist (2002 and 2003) lost to Thi Giang Nghiem (Vietnam), 4-0, 1-2, 1-0, as the Vietnamese wrestler used the clinch advantage to score a takedown in the overtime period.
Nghiem also caught George on her back 22 seconds into the first period and held the American there for over 30 seconds, before George forced a third period when she scored a pair of takedowns in the second period; the final one coming with 21 seconds left.
This was the shortest Worlds experience for the 25-year-old native of Erie, Pa, who was competing in her seventh World Championships.
59K/130 pounds
Erin Tomeo (Sunkist Kids WC), who had not competed in a World Championship in five years, showed very little rust as the native of Grove City, Pa., pinned her first two opponents in China: Emma Gemma Silverio (Phillipines), with a cradle in 25 seconds, and Hoie Gudrin (Norway), on an arm bar with 20 seconds left in the first period.
But her competition jumped quite a bit in the quarterfinals, where she lost to 2005 silver medalist Li Hui Su (China), 4-4, 1-3, 4-3, as the Chinese wrestler was awarded all her points when Tomeo countered a Li double with a lift and launched Li back over her head at the 1:38 mark, only to see Li be given four points (three for exposure and one for a takedown) and Tomeo two for exposure in the exchange.
Tomeo got a chance to continue wrestling when Hui Su moved into the finals, but the American was eliminated from medal contention when she lost to Natalya Sinishin (Ukraine), 2-0, 4-1, in a consolation match as the Ukranian scored three points off a scramble in the second period.
“I didn’t put it all out there,” said Tomeo, who finished 13th in 2001. “It wasn’t my best wrestling for sure. I think my head was in a good place. I left the loss to China behind me. I had a good warmup. I was relaxed and ready to go. But something changed when I stepped on the mat.”
63K/138.75 pounds
Sara McMann (Sunkist Kids WC), who was eliminated from gold medal contention the three previous years in either the World or Olympic competition by Japan’s Kaori Icho, never got a shot at her Japanese nemesis in China. That’s because McMann, who now calls Iowa City, Iowa, her home, lost a quarterfinal bout to Monika Rogien (Poland), 1-0, 2-1, as the Polish wrestler scored all her points on counter moves to McMann’s attacks.
This loss, and Rogien’s semifinal loss to Icho, who eventually won her fifth World title, ended any medal chance for McMann, who had collected a silver medal at the 2003 Worlds, and a pair of bronze medals (at the 2004 Olympics and 2005 Worlds) before coming to China this year.
In her only other 2006 Worlds match, McMann defeated Sandra Amado (Colombia), 1-0, 6-0.
67K/147.5 pounds
There would be no second straight medal for Katie Downing (Sunkist WC), who waited nearly a decade to make her first World team in 2005. Masira Admiraal (Netherlands) made sure of that after she defeated Downing, 1-0, 1-0, in a second-round match. Downing, who earned a first-round bye, lost each period after the Dutch wrestler earned the clinch advantage to score a pair of pushouts that ended two periods that were scoreless after two minutes each.
Downing was then eliminated from consolation competition after Admiraal lost to China’s Rui Xue Jing in a quarterfinal match.
“I’m disappointed in myself, knowing everything that went into this year,” said the Indianapolis, Ind., native. “I get to carry this with me for the whole year. I know how much our coaches put into us to get prepared. My whole town is behind me here. It’s like I let more people down.”
72K/158.5 pounds
Three years may have past but Kristie Marano (New York AC) proved she is still one of the best-ever woman wrestlers by earning her eighth World medal, Oct. 1.
That was the day, five-time World champion Kyoko Hamaguchi (Japan) pinned Marano, 1:47, in a second-round match, only to see Marano, a native of Albany, N.Y., come back to win a pair of consolation matches — a third-period pin against Ochirbat Burmaa (Mongolia) and an injury default over Svitlana Saenko (Ukraine) — before beating Ohenewa Akuffo (Canada), 1-1, 4-0, for the bronze medal.
“It is always good to come to the World Championships and win a medal,” said Marano, who also has a pair of World championships (2000 and 2003) and four silver medals and one bronze medal on her World resume. “It’s not the ideal medal. But it is still third in the world.”
Marano was down 1-0 in the first period to Akuffo but rallied with a takedown to even the match, giving her the period win as she scored last. Marano snapped Akuffo down for a takedown at 1:32 in the second period, tilting her to her back for the rest of the match.
“In the first 30 seconds, she came after me hard,” Marano said. “I realized I had to step it up a couple of notches or I ‘d take a beating. All that the coaching staff worked on in the last eight weeks really paid off here.”
(The information and quotes in this story were provided by TheMat.com.)