Takedown Report

Women’s Wrestling News (2021) – # 17 {Olympics}

TDR Editor’s Notes ; Getting closer to the 5th Olympics with Women’s Wrestling. As we all know this sport, or group within the sport of wrestling has grown in numbers, in depth, in talent and in acceptance by wrestling fans. It is great to see more wrestling and wrestling coverage. Looking forward to the return of more complete wrestling action in the coming winter season. Keep on Wrestling! E-mail us at the Editor’s office at martinkfleming@gmail.com
Blog # 2952 (7/28/21)
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1 } – 2021 Tokyo Olympics: Hildebrandt confident in her chances to claim gold in Tokyo
The third time was, indeed, a charm, and now Sarah Hildebrandt wants to turn it into gold. “I am excited about it,” she said, with a laugh. “It’s like, finally.” Twice before, Hildebrandt, a 2015 graduate of King University, had competed in the U.S. Olympic Trials, only to fall short of her goal in both 2012 and 2016.
Not this time. “I feel like I have settled into the sense that ‘Ok, I am ready to start training again’ but then I kind of get down for a little while and I just get all excited and giddy again,” said Hildebrandt, in a phone interview last week from the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Hildebrandt completed in the U.S. Olympic Trials on April 3 in Fort Worth Texas, defeating Victoria Anthony twice, 12-2 and 10-0 in technical falls in the grand finals, earning her spot on the Olympic team in the 50-kilogram/110-pound weight class. “Since I had qualified in the weight class for the Olympics Trials I was already sitting in the final,” Hildebrandt said. “There was the tournament leading up to it and the winner of that wrestled me, and then it the best two out of three, and I won in two matches.” … rest of story at https://heraldcourier.com/sports/2021-tokyo-olympics-hildebrandt-confident-in-her-chances-to-claim-gold-in-tokyo/article_65097a44-9d93-11eb-bf77-67e7abd456f4.html?mc_cid=831636c404&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

And TOKYO OLYMPICS: Hildebrandt ready for challenge of the Olympics
BRISTOL, Tenn. – For the third time in as many Olympic Games, King University will have at least one participant. Former Tornado women’s wrestler Sarah Hildebrandt will compete in August for the United States of America. Five years ago, Hildebrandt came up short at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, going 2-2 at the event at 53 kilograms. However, during those trials Hildebrandt was hampered by a knee injury. “It has been a battle to stay healthy and keep my body feeling good,” Hildebrandt said. “So every time I step on the mat, I am super in tuned with my body and just grateful to even be doing what I’m doing!”
Fast-forward five years, and Hildebrandt was wrestling at 50 kilograms at the Trials in April to earn her spot on the Olympic Team. In what was one of the deepest weight classes for the Americans, Hildebrandt’s dreams became a reality, when she won the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, earning her spot in Tokyo. “We are so extremely proud of Sarah and her accomplishment of becoming an Olympian,” King head coach Jason Moorman said. “This is the dream of so many, yet so few are able to achieve such a high feat.  … rest of story at https://heraldcourier.com/sports/tokyo-olympics-hildebrandt-ready-for-challenge-of-the-olympics/article_eeb55a3e-ea95-11eb-a7a0-575114206205.html?mc_cid=dabacf228e&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

And For Olympic games, Sarah Hildebrandt turns to familiar face, Penn coach Brad Harper
SOUTH BEND — Ever wonder what Brad Harper is saying at matside as the personal coach of Tokyo Olympics-bound wrestler Sarah Hildebrandt? “Next position,” says Harper, who has been helping to guide Hildebrandt’s grappling career for nearly a decade-and-a-half. “I’m just giving her a subtle little reminder. She knows what the next position is supposed to be. She’s got three, four or five (options).”

► More:Sarah Hildebrandt and Olympic wrestling training tour come to South Bend

► More:Granger native Sarah Hildebrandt wrestles her way to a spot in the 2021 Olympics

Harper should know. He and Hildebrandt met at Penn High School 14 years ago when he was starting as head wrestling coach and she was beginning as a student. He’s been keeping her on-task pretty much ever since, especially since she’s been on the national and international scene.
Next position?  “That’s the only one that matters,” Hildebrandt says of Harper’s orders. … rest of story at https://www.southbendtribune.com/story/sports/2021/06/30/penn-wrestling-coach-brad-harper-aids-hildebrandt-olympic-games/7809098002/?mc_cid=3c07ff5887&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

2 } – WFS 5TH OLYMPIC GAMES
Team USA
Welcome back Wreaper Wrestlers! It’s almost Tokyo Olympic Games time! As we prepare for August 1 and welcome our new class of Women’s Freestyle (WFS) Olympians, let’s take a moment to remember WFS’s past Olympians! This is the 5th year for Olympic WFS wrestling. The past 4 Games featured 16 wrestlers with 2 2X Olympians (Chun & Bernard), 3 BRONZE medals (Miranda, Miller, Chun), 1 SILVER medal (McMann), and 1 Olympic GOLD medal (Maroulis). Below we’ve listed each Team USA WFS Olympic Game’s Olympians, placements, AND added this year’s newest class. Though, the fate of the Tokyo Games has yet to unfold! … rest of story at https://www.wreaperwrestling.com/wfs-5th-olympic-games/?mc_cid=f4f15d3e7b&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

3 } – Kayla Miracle is the first out LGBTQ Olympic wrestler, and she’s headed to Tokyo
Kayla Miracle has dreamed of representing Team USA an Olympian since she was 4. She’ll fulfill that dream in Tokyo.
Kayla Miracle has been dreaming of her Olympic moment since she was 4 years old. The wrestler born and raised in Indiana found the sport early in life as her siblings and father competed in and coached wrestling. As she tells us on the latest episode of the Five Rings To Rule Them All podcast, when she started in the sport, women did not compete in the Olympics in wrestling. Throughout high school, she competed against boys. In college wrestling women, she was a four-time Women’s Collegiate Wrestling Association College National champion for Campbellsville University in Kentucky.
All the while, she didn’t question her sexual orientation. Yet in recent years she has discovered she is a lesbian, now living in Arizona and dating her girlfriend who’s in the Midwest. Competing in Tokyo this July at the Summer Olympic Games is an opportunity to show that her sport of wrestling is inclusive of LGBTQ people. “With wrestling, we always try to say, ‘any body can wrestle,’” she said. “Shape, size, gender, … rest of story at https://www.outsports.com/2021/6/14/22532670/kayla-miracle-wrestling-olympics-tokyo-team-usa-lgbtq?mc_cid=3ae16b2048&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

4 } – ‘A HEART OF GOLD:’ Former Katy Morton Ranch High star Mensah-Stock bound for Olympics
As a junior at Katy Morton Ranch High School, Tamyra Mensah-Stock often declared her ambitions to anyone who cared to listen. “I have a heart of gold!” Mensah-Stock professed, whether it was to her best friend Nicole Benton, Morton Ranch head wrestling coach Mark Balser, or college coaches recruiting her. “I’m going to make it to the Olympics.” That she had barely been wrestling for a year was irrelevant. The considerable weight of her dream was merely a pesky deterrent. “But the process of getting there was unbeknownst to me,” the 28-year-old Mensah-Stock, Morton Ranch Class of 2011, says now. “But I knew it’s what I wanted. I was going to do it any way I could.”
Eleven years later, she did. Mensah-Stock, a Chicago native who grew up in Katy, Texas, is an Olympian, mission accomplished, after repeating as the 68-kilogram (150 pounds) gold medalist at the U.S. Olympic Trials in April to qualify for the 2020 Summer Olympics later this month, July 23-August 8 in Tokyo. … rest of story at https://www.click2houston.com/sports/2021/07/14/a-heart-of-gold-former-katy-morton-ranch-high-star-mensah-stock-bound-for-olympics/?mc_cid=f4f15d3e7b&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

5 } – Tamyra Mensah-Stock wrestles for family and wrestling’s growth, but most of all she wants gold
World champion plans ‘to dominate’ Tokyo Olympics after missing out on Rio Games
With 14 seconds left in Tamyra Mensah-Stock’s match with Kennedy Blades at USA Wrestling’s Olympic Trials in April, the referee called out 14 seconds, letting both women know there wasn’t much time left. Mensah-Stock had an 8-1 lead. While that deficit would be tough to make up with points in such a short time, in wrestling, a pin is always possible. Mensah-Stock won the first of the best-of-three matches. Becoming an Olympian was just within her reach. She realized she needed to keep her concentration. She told herself that she could not give up any points, much less a pin. “You don’t finish wrestling until the clock is done. So, I’ve always just had that mindset, ‘Stay ready so you ain’t got to get ready, and just stay focused until the very end,’” Mensah-Stock said. But then the final buzzer sounded. Mensah-Stock had reached her goal. She covered her face with both hands, pointed to the sky and hugged her opponent. During the post-match interview, her face broke into a broad smile, soaked with tears. … rest of story at https://www.ballysports.com/national/news/tamyra-mensah-stock-wrestles-for-family-and-wrestling-s-growth-but-most-of-all-s?mc_cid=7334e288ab&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

And Olympic wrestler Tamyra Mensah-Stock equal parts hunter and hugger
Tamyra Mensah-Stock likes to watch zombie movies. She roots for the zombies. “I like being the hunter,” she said.
Spoken like the world champion freestyle wrestler that Mensah-Stock is, albeit likely the most likable, chatty, search-and-destroy grappler stalking the mat at the Tokyo Olympic Games. Mensah-Stock, 28, of Katy arrives in Japan as the defending world champion at 150 pounds. An Olympic gold medal would give her a grand slam of sorts, added to two state championships at Morton Ranch High School and two collegiate titles at Wayland Baptist in Plainview. Women’s wrestling is hardly a glamour sport in the Olympic pecking order, but Mensah-Stock sufficiently impressed NBC Sports producers to rate a two-minute biography short that airs frequently during programming on the company’s Olympic Channel. She talks a good game, quoting the Christian rapper Andy Mineo’s line that “my biggest enemy is me, and even I can’t stop me.” … rest of story at https://www.houstonchronicle.com/texas-sports-nation/tokyo-olympics/article/Olympic-wrestler-Tamyra-Mensah-Stock-equal-parts-16316994.php?mc_cid=fb87a783fb&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

6 } – How This Olympian, Five-Time Senior World Champion Is Breaking The Stigma On Female Wrestling
The road to the Toyko Olympics has been a long and treacherous five years for the gold medal hopefuls. Having made the 2020 USA teams, many of them had to try out again for this year’s games, not knowing if they’d qualify again. Therefore, it’s not only crucial for an Olympian to focus on their physical physique, but they also have to remain mentally fit to thrive under the immense stress of being on the global stage. When the athletes acknowledge their fears, it can reduce the additional self-inflicted pressure they put on themselves. U.S. Olympic wrestler and five-time senior world champion, Adeline Gray, serves as a role model for the next generation of female wrestlers and embraces sports psychology as a way to prepare for the games mentally.  “There’s been some things that I think everyone feels,” Gray expresses. “They don’t really verbalize them and kind of let them eat away at them. One of the things is, and I think a lot of athletes in general, both men and women deal with is like ‘Is everything going to be the same after I win or lose? Is my family still going to love me? Is my husband going to love me? … rest of story at https://www.forbes.com/sites/cherylrobinson/2021/07/06/how-this-olympian-five-time-senior-world-champion-is-breaking-the-stigma-on-female-wrestling/?mc_cid=9b69983a38&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b&sh=e27a8e32e7f9

7 } – OLYMPIC GAMES PREVIEW AT 68 KG IN WOMEN’S FREESTYLE: NO. 1 SEED AND 2019 WORLD CHAMP MENSAH STOCK TO FACE TOUGH FIELD
Tamyra Mensah Stock in the 2019 Final X.
Draw: August 1
Dates of competition: Monday, August 2 and Tuesday, August 3
U.S. representative: Tamyra Mensah Stock (Colorado Springs, Colo./Titan Mercury WC/USOPTC)
Coming into the Tokyo Olympics, 2019 World champion and 2018 World bronze medalist Tamyra Mensah Stock comes in with great momentum and confidence. Mensah Stock has earned the No. 1 seed for the Olympics. In 2021, after the pandemic shutdown, Mensah Stock has won all of her international events, with titles at the Pan American Championships, the Matteo Pellicone in Italy and the Henri Deglane in France. She has an explosive offense, excellent position and will be considered the favorite to win the gold medal. Mensah Stock knows that she must be at her best because of the quality of her opponents. The two other Senior World champions from the past Olympic quad are in the field, … rest of story at https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2021/July/21/Olympic-Games-68-kg-preview-in-womens-freestyle?mc_cid=fd10261731&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

And OLYMPIC GAMES PREVIEW AT 57 KG IN WOMEN’S WRESTLING: OLYMPIC CHAMPIONS MAROULIS AND KAWAI HEADLINE FIELD
Draw: August 3
Dates of competition: Wednesday, August 4 and Thursday, August 5
U.S. representative: Helen Maroulis, Rockville, Md. (Sunkist Kids)
It is rare to have two Olympic champions in the same weight at an Olympic Games. It is even rarer when both of the Olympic champions won at the same Olympic Games. It is even stranger when neither of the Olympic champions competed at their new weight at those Olympics. Welcome to 57 kg in the women’s competition at the Tokyo Games.

2016 Olympic champions Helen Maroulis of the United States and Risako Kawai of Japan are in the field. Maroulis won her gold medal in the 2016 Rio Games at 53 kg, while Kawai won her Olympic gold medal in Rio at 63 kg. They are meeting in the middle in Tokyo at 57 kg. Let’s start with Maroulis, who shocked the world in 2016 when she defeated three-time Olympic champion Saori Yoshida in the Olympic finals. It was not such a shocker if you consider Maroulis was herself a 2015 World champion coming in and was reaching her wrestling peak. She became the first American woman to win an Olympic wrestling gold, and the next year, she won her second World title in arguably one of the most impressive performances ever in 2017 in Paris.  … rest of story at https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2021/July/15/Olympic-WFS-57-kg-preview?mc_cid=fb87a783fb&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

8 } – Adekuoroye Shuts Maroulis Out in Build Up to Tokyo Games
WARSAW, Poland (June 11) — It was the calm before the storm. Odunayo ADEKUOROYE (NGR) jumped before the start while Helen MAROULIS (USA) was focused in her customary prayer before the bout. But by the end of it, the Nigerian let out a loud scream as she punched the air after winning her quarterfinal at the Poland Open Ranking Series. Perhaps she would not have done it if it was someone else. But Adekuoroye knew a win over an Olympic champion is no mean feat. What made the win special over Maroulis was that she had lost to her in the previous two meetings. Back in 2018, the USA wrestler won 4-1 at Beat the Streets competition and she won a tight bout six years ago at the Golden Grand Prix, Baku in 2015. “When we saw the entries of the Poland Open competition, we only focused on Helen,” Purity AKUH, Adekuoroye’s coach, said. “We rewatched the two videos where she had lost to Helen and planned.” The plan was successful as Adekuoroye chalked out a shutout 13-0 win over Maroulis in the quarterfinal of the 57kg weight class.  … rest of story at https://uww.org/article/adekuoroye-shuts-maroulis-out-build-tokyo-games?mc_cid=84503a987c&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

9} – After Heartbreaking Rio Exit, Lappage Focused on Tokyo Olympics
Three hours before her bout at the Rio Olympics, Danielle Lappage made an entry in her personal wrestling journal: “August 18, 2016. 7 a.m. Today is the day I have been dreaming of for over a decade! I will be the first women’s wrestling match of the day against Ukraine- she is tough but I am better. You are an OLYMPIC CHAMPION!” All the sacrifices she had made, all the hard work she’d put in for 13 years was now on the line.
Alas, it was not meant to be. The warm-up hall at the Olympic center in Rio was full of wrestlers gearing up for the big day – the fifth of wrestling at the 2016 Games. Lappage was one of them. Like everyone else, the Canadian was also giving final touches to her preparations. “It was very random. It was a warm-up I had done hundreds of times before,” she says. “I had a lot of pain in my butt.” Lappage lay on the mat, hiding her pain from her competitors, who were training right next to her. … rest of story at https://uww.org/article/after-heartbreaking-rio-exit-lappage-focused-tokyo-olympics?mc_cid=7074fa6854&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

10 } – Russia Caps off World Olympic Qualifiers with Three Gold
With Olympic quotas safely secured, the three Russian wrestlers at the World Olympic Qualifiers in Sofia, Bulgaria were ready to clinch the three gold medals as well. While Olga KHOROSHAVTSEVA (RUS) pulled off a controlled 6-0 win over 20-year-old Andreea Beatrice ANA (ROU) in the 53kg final, her teammates Veronika CHUMIKOVA (RUS) at 57kg and Liubov OVCHAROVA (RUS) at 62kg claimed the top medal as their opponents injury defaulted. There was little action in the other finals as well as Seema BISLA (IND) won gold at 50kg after Lucia Yamileth YEPEZ GUZMAN (ECU) decided to not compete after an injury. At 68kg, local girl Mimi HRISTOVA (BUL) was crowned the champion after Elis MANOLOVA (AZE) to skip the final due to the same reason. Alla BELINSKA (UKR) was also the beneficiary of a similar situation as Yasemin ADAR (TUR) pulled out of the 76kg due to injury. “I need to forget my past wins and start over the next day and that is why I wrestle for the gold medal,” Khoroshavtseva said after beating Ana 6-0 in the finals. … rest of story at https://uww.org/article/russia-caps-world-olympic-qualifiers-three-gold?mc_cid=6292a9adee&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

11 } – Four wrestlers nominated to represent Team Canada at Tokyo 2020
TORONTO – Wrestling Canada Lutte and the Canadian Olympic Committee have announced Team Canada’s wrestling team nominated to compete at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. The four athletes qualified for Team Canada based on their performances at the 2020 Pan American Olympic Qualification Tournament that took place from March 13 to 15 in Ottawa. “This past year has challenged us in exceptional ways and I feel more than ever the strength of my community and my team behind me,” said Rio 2016 Olympic champion Erica Wiebe, who will compete in the women’s 76kg event. “It’s the greatest privilege in the world to compete for Team Canada and I will step onto the mats in Tokyo ready to compete.” Danielle Lappage made her Olympic debut alongside Wiebe at Rio 2016 but was forced to forfeit after sustaining a ruptured hamstring while warming up for her opening match. Having taken the time necessary to recover physically and mentally, Lappage came back to competition in 2018 and didn’t miss the podium in any of her international events. That included a 65kg silver at the world championships. … rest of story at https://wrestling.ca/four-wrestlers-nominated-to-represent-team-canada-at-tokyo-2020/?mc_cid=e6c3ba1225&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

12 } – Olympic champion wrestler Erica Wiebe prepared for different experience in Tokyo
Erica Wiebe says her path to becoming an Olympic champion wrestler has taught her how to roll with the punches. She’s using that mindset to prepare for a Tokyo Olympics that will look much different than what she originally anticipated. Wiebe was one of four wrestlers nominated to Canada’s Olympic team Wednesday, along with Danielle Lappage, Amar Dhesi and Jordan Steen. Wiebe, who won gold in the women’s 75-kilogram event in her Olympic debut at the 2016 Rio Games, said she has had to adjust her expectations of what the environment will be like when she goes for a second gold in Tokyo. The 2020 Games were pushed back a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and restrictions in Japan mean fans outside the country will not be able to attend the Games. … rest of story at https://lethbridgenewsnow.com/2021/05/19/olympic-champion-wrestler-erica-wiebe-prepared-for-different-experience-in-tokyo/?mc_cid=e6c3ba1225&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

July 28, 2021 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized