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U.S. Olympic Women's Freestyle Preview

A highly-touted team looks to capture the first Olympic Gold for the USA in Women's Freestyle Wrestling.

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U.S. Olympic Women's Freestyle Preview
Tony Rotundo/WrestlersAreWarriors.com

TeamUSA Olympic Wrestling Schedule

Day 4, 8/17: Women’s Freestyle 48KG, 58G*, 69KG*

Starting for the women’s team on day 1 of WFS competition will be the young Haley Augello. Already a 2x WCWA champion with two more years of eligibility, Augello had to beat 2x World Bronze Alyssa Lampe and current World No. 15 Victoria Anthony to make the team (both Lampe and Anthony also had past World 5th place finishes). In the finals of the First World-Olympic Qualifier, Augello lost a 9-2 match to 2014 World Bronze, current World No. 13 Kim Hyon-Gyong of North Korea.


Augello is currently ranked World No. 17 after the Spanish Grand Prix. Augello did not compete, but Victoria Anthony (Olympic Alternate) did. Wrestling math is not always right, but at the Spanish GP, Anthony beat Vinesh of India (World No. 14) on her way to a 3rd-place finish. Also in the field in Spain was Columbia’s London Olympian Carolina Castillo Hidalgo (World No. 9), who beat Romania’s Alina Vuc (World No. 7) in the semi-finals. Vuc beat Elitsa Yankova of Bulgaria (World No. 8) in the quarterfinals.

For Augello, the Spanish GP results hint that she may be “right” there with the pack. If she's better than this pack-of-three, she's virtually in the hunt to medal. As she will wrestle alone on Day 4 of wrestling competition, she’ll have the whole of team USA cheering for her.

Day 5, 8/18: Women’s Freestyle 53KG, 63KG, 75KG

On day 5 of competition, the United States will field an incredible squad. Of the three women, two were 2015 World Champions, all three are World Champions, and all have multiple World medals.

2015 World Champion at 55KG and first-time Olympian Helen Maroulis has dropped two kilos and looks to earn her first Olympic medal to add to her ever-increasing list of accolades. Currently World No. 1 at 55KG, Maroulis puts herself amongst the favorites of the deep 53KG weight-class. Maroulis also earned a World Silver in 2012 and a World Bronze in 2014, both at 55KG.


At the top of the 53KG rankings is arguably the most decorated freestyle wrestler of all time, World No. 1 Saori Yoshida of Japan, who won every World/Olympic title at WFS55KG from 2002-2013, before a UWW weight-class overhaul brought Yoshida down to 53KG. In 2014 and 2015 the Japanese legend won two more gold medals and looks to attain an unprecedented 4th-Olympic title this year.

Also at the top of the weight-class is World No. 2 and 2015 World Silver Sofia Mattsson of Sweden. Mattsson has been the runner-up to Yoshida the past two years, but she is always a threat considering the 2-1 match she had with Yoshida in the 2015 World finals. Mattsson is a 2009 World Champion at 51KG and has reached the world finals at three different weight-classes (51KG, 59KG, and 53KG with respect to chronology). She owns five World medals so far.

At World No. 3 is Odunayo Adekuoroye of Nigeria, who shocked the field last year earning a World Bronze in Vegas. Another looming contender is World No. 5 Jong Myong-Suk of North Korea, who won the other Bronze at the Vegas 2015 Worlds.

Maroulis recorded wins over both Adekuoroye and Mattsson last winter at the 2015 UWW Golden Gran Prix, 6-6 criteria and 2-1, respectively. While a win is a win, those are both very close matches with two dangerous opponents. This will be a very interesting weight-class to watch; I still have Maroulis set to medal.

The veteran Elena Pirozhkova, now a 10x World/Olympic team member (2x Olympian), has returned to 63KG after an unsuccessful venture to 69KG in 2015. Currently ranked World No. 14 at 69KG, Pirozhkova reached medal matches in all World Championships from 2010-2014, earning medals in 4 of her 5 attempts across that span (two silvers, a bronze, and a 2012 World Championship). She will look for her first Olympic medal here. Pirozhkova’s ranking may be deceiving, as she is amongst the top-contenders at 63KG.


The current World No. 1 at 63KG is a familiar foe for Pirozhkova, one Yulia Tkach of Ukraine. Tkach beat Pirozhkova 4-2 in the 2014 63KG World finals. The 2014 World Champion also captured a 2015 World Bronze after losing first round, battling all the way back through the repechage.

Coming in at World No. 2 is 2x and defending World Champion, the “Mongolian Queen” Soronzonbold Battsetseg. Soronzonbold won her first title in 2010 at 59KG before moving up to 63KG. She captured an Olympic Bronze in London 2012, as well as a World Silver in 2013 before tasting gold again in 2015, beating current World No. 3 Risako Kawai of Japan in the finals by fall. Pirozhkova has prior meetings with Soronzonbold, losing 3-9 FALL in the 2013 Worlds and beating her in a 6-4 match at the 2014 Worlds.

Pirozhkova also had victories over World No. 4 Maria Mamashuk of Belarus, 4-1, World No. 17 Valeria Lazinskaya of Russia, 7-6, and World No. 8 Taybe Yusein of Bulgaria, 4-3, en route to the 2015 UWW Grand Prix title last winter. At the Poland Open earlier this summer, she also picked up a victory over World No. 14 Henna Johansson of Sweden. The Poland Open wasn’t all good, however, as Pirozhkova lost 3-1 to World No. 7 Xu Rui of China and 4-1 to the familiar Taybe Yusein.

At 75KG, 3x and defending World Champion Adeline Gray enters her first Olympic Games as the favorite and ranked World No. 1 by UWW. Gray also has two World Bronze medals to her name. She has medaled at every World Championships starting in 2011. Gray beat World No. 13 Justina DiStasio of Canada at the 2016 Beat the Streets Gala 11-0 TF, though Canada’s World No. 2 Erica Wiebe is the likely representative for the Games. Gray may be the best chance for the USA to capture its first-ever Olympic Gold in Women’s Freestyle. Gray scraps at a level that often cracks her opponents, and she will definitely have a target on her back heading into the Olympic tournament. I have no reason to doubt her ranking as the #1 75KG in the World.

(Rankings based on UWW Pre-Olympic Women's Freestyle rankings)

Check out the other USAWrestling teams competing in Rio:

US Greco-Roman preview

US Men’s Freestyle preview

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