US women’s wrestling places fourth at United World Wrestling World Cup

The U.S. women lost to Mongolia, 7-3, in the third place match on Sunday at Xtream Arena.

Joseph Cress/Iowa City Press Citizen

Felicity Taylor of the United States, left, wrestles Maria Prevolaraki of Greece at 53 kg during the United World Wrestling women’s freestyle World Cup, Saturday, Dec. 10, 2022, at Xtream Arena in Coralville, Iowa.

Kenna Roering, Sports Reporter
December 11, 2022

The United World Wrestling Women’s Freestyle World Cup took place on Saturday and Sunday at Xtream Arena in Coralville, marking the first time the women’s and men’s Freestyle World Cup were held side-by-side.

The U.S. women went 1-2 on the weekend and placed fourth after falling to Mongolia on Sunday. 

“I really liked our fight,” U.S. women’s wrestling head coach Terry Steiner said after placing fourth. “Obviously we want more wins, but I can’t take anything away from how they went out and approached this match [against Mongolia] and the last match … The energy and fight was there and that’s all you can ask for as a coach.”

The U.S. women opened the weekend with an 8-2 loss to China. Not much went right for the U.S. as China swept the first six weights. 

The U.S. picked up two wins against China at 72 and 76 kilograms. Four-time world champion Amit Elor, one of two wrestlers ever to claim a world title in each the junior, senior, and U23 age-levels in the same season, beat China’s Qiandegenchagan, 5-0, at 72 kilograms. 

Then, Dymond Guilford, a two-time NAIA National Champion and U23 World Silver Medalist, beat China’s Juan Wang, 7-2, at 76 kilograms. 

Iowa women’s wrestler and U.S. world team member Felicity Taylor did not compete against China at 53 kg. 

The U.S. women rebounded on Saturday night with a 6-4 victory over a talented All-World squad, which is represented by top athletes whose countries did not qualify for the World Cup.

Taylor made her World Cup debut against the All-World team on Saturday night. Taylor battled three-time world medalist Maria Prevolaraki of Greece and lost, 4-1. 

Taylor took a 1-0 lead with Prevolaraki on the shot clock but she could not finish off any moves. Prevolaraki scored two takedowns to win as Taylor did not allow any exposure points.

U.S. women’s wrestler Kayla Miracle notched a 9-3 victory at 62 kilograms over Kyrgyzstan’s Aisuluu Tynybekova, a two-time world champion who defeated Miracle in the 2021 world finals. 

“[Tynybekova] didn’t just beat me [last year], she kind of made me look dumb on the world stage,” Miracle said after her 9-3 win. “… There are a lot of positions I need to work on and stuff I need to do to get better, but I’m pretty pumped about that one.”

Jenna Burkert of the U.S. beat Canada’s Karla Godinez, 4-0, in a battle between World bronze medalists.

After suffering a neck injury at Final X Stillwater in June, Burkert was not sure she would ever wrestle again, but she kept fighting.

“I was very close [to being done with wrestling],” Burkert said after her 4-0 win. “Being the stubborn person that I am, I wanted to continue on. I ultimately made the decision to step back up in September. I wanted to be here. I wanted to be in Iowa for the World Cup.”

 

The U.S. victory over the All-World team was capped off by pins at 65 kilograms and 76 kilograms by U.S. women’s wrestlers Mallory Velte and Yelena Makoyed, respectively. 

Velte pinned Mimi Hristova of Bulgaria, who she faced in the bronze medal match at senior worlds in September and beat, 11-2. 

 

“I knew it was going to be a tough match,” Velte said after the win over Hristova. “I never saw myself being able to go for bonus points, so it was really cool and awesome to be able to do that for my team and myself.”

Makoyed pinned two-time world champion Yasemin Adar Yigit of Turkey to close out the dual.

The U.S. women wrestled for third on Sunday and lost, 7-3, to Mongolia. Burkert, Miracle, and Velte all had close matches. 

Burkert lost to Olympic bronze medalist Bolortuya Bat Ochir, 7-6. Miracle fell, 16-5, to 2014 World champion Tserenchimed Sukhee. Velte lost, 9-6, to Senior World champion and two-time World bronze medalist Orkhon Purevdorj.

Taylor lost to Otgonjargal Ganbaatar, 12-1, on Sunday. Ganbaatar placed 12th for Mongolia at the World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia in September.

The U.S. got on the board against Mongolia with a last-second step out point win by Alexander Hedrick over Erdenesuvd Bat Erdene. 

 

Guilford closed out the dual on a high note for the U.S. with a dominant 10-0 tech fall over three-time Mongolian Olympic team member Burmaa Ochirbat.

“I’m kinda sad for our team and how we placed so far, but it’s a learning opportunity for all of us so I am excited for that,” Guilford said after the U.S. loss to Mongolia. “… I really just want to crisp up my shots and such. That’s my main focus right now, setting my [shots] up a little bit more.”