The duo surrendered only two points between them over seven matches.
Helen Maroulis gets her hand raised after a victory at the Worlds (Photo/Jeff Beshey, The Guillotine)Brent Metcalf, the lone U.S. freestyle wrestler competing on Thursday, advanced to the round of 16 before losing to world No. 1 Seyedahmad Mohammadi of Iran. Metcalf was eliminated from the competition when Mohammadi lost in the semifinals to Italy's Frank Chamizo.
Maroulis reached the gold-medal match at 55 kilos by taking out China's Qianyu Pang 5-0. She scored a takedown in each of the two periods, and also scored off the shot clock in the second period.
Maroulis won in the quarterfinals with a second-period fall over Evelina Georgieva Nikolova of Bulgaria. Maroulis picked up three takedowns in the first period, with the last once coming as the period came to a close. She ended the match in the second period, picking up a takedown and then turning Nikolova and earning the fall.
She cruised to an easy 10-0 technical superiority over Brenda Fernandez Salazar of Mexico in her first match. Maroulis scored two takedowns in the first minute of the match. Then a short time later scored another takedown and then used two turns to finish the match.
Maroulis has fed off the crowd's energy all day.
"I normally don't pay attention to the crowd, but it's just so cool because I've never been to a World Championships where you have USA fans cheering this loudly," said Maroulis. "It's cool. Everyone is really enthusiastic. The stands are filled up. It's awesome."
Maroulis will meet returning World silver medalist Irina Ologonova of Russia in the gold-medal match. She credited her coach Valentin Kalika for helping to get her to the finals.
"I'm just going to wrestle hard," Maroulis said when asked about her gold-medal match. "I'm just putting the stuff Valentin taught me to practice. It's making a huge difference. I have so much confidence with him, my coach, the team, USA behind me. It's been an incredible journey."
Adeline Gray battles Aline da Silva of Brazil in the semifinals (Photo/Jeff Beshey, The Guillotine).Gray jumped out to a 2-0 lead after a first-period takedown. In the second period Silva secured a takedown and put Gray in danger, nearly earning a fall. Gray quickly responded with a takedown and then went back to her lace to get two turns and go up 6-2. She added another takedown and turn late to win 10-2.
Gray talked about the moment of danger in the second period against Silva.
"I had a little moment where I was like, 'I am not getting pinned out here.' I think that little moment is kind of good for you sometimes to keep it real and make sure you understand that you've got to go out there and fight for every moment and every position."
Gray made quick work of her quarterfinal opponent Daria Osocka of Poland, earning another 10-0 technical superiority in the first period. Grey went up 4-0 early with a takedown and lace. She made it 6-0 with another takedown two minutes into the match, and then locked up her lace and ended the match with multiple turns.
Gray earned shutout victory in her second match, beating multiple-time World medalist Vasilisa Marzaliuk of Belarus 6-0. Midway through the first period Gray scored a takedown and transitioned to a lace for a turn to go up 4-0. She added a second-period takedown and controlled the match throughout.
She started her day by hammering Naranchimeg Gelegjamts of Mongolia 10-0. Gray scored early and often, picking up a takedown and transitioning to a lace, which she scored twice with to go up 6-0. Another Gray takedown and lace ended the match in the first period.
Gray will meet China's Qian Zhou in the gold medal match. Last year the two met first round at the World Championships, with Gray coming from behind to win 11-10. It's a match she has been looking forward to.
"This should have been the finals last year," said Gray. "I'm kind of excited that we kind of get our due time because last year this was a first-round match. I knew that we were the best two girls in the world, so I'm excited to go out there and just prove that I deserve to be here."
Metcalf fell in the round of 16 to top-ranked Mohammadi. The Iranian scored a point off the shot clock, and then added a takedown to lead 3-0 at the break. Metcalf tightened the score with a takedown in the second period to make it 3-2. With less than 40 seconds left Mohammadi counter attacked and scored a takedown to go up 5-2. Metcalf, though, kept pressing forward and eventually picked up a late takedown to go down one, and nearly had a turn in the closing seconds of the match.
"You lose to good opponent, and you've got to put that on me to get better and figure it out," said Metcalf.
Brent Metcalf won two matches but failed to earn a medal (Photo/Jeff Beshey, The Guillotine)."That was a battle," Metcalf said.
He opened with a dominating 11-0 technical fall over Norbert Lukacs of Hungary. Metcalf scored his first point off the shot clock, and then added three takedown in the opening period, with the last one coming in the final three seconds of the period. He put the match away early in the second period after two more takedowns.
Ragan was blanked 5-0 in her second match against Colombia's Jackeline Renteria, a two-time Olympic bronze medalist. Renteria scored a point off a step out and then picked up a takedown to go up 3-0 at the break. Renteria added a second-period takedown while shutting down Ragan. She was eliminated from the competition when Japanese wrestling legend Kaori Icho won by technical superiority over Renteria in the semifinals.
Prior to her loss to Renteria, Ragan started her tournament with a 3-2 come-from-behind victory over Shoovdor Baatarjav of Mongolia. The Mongolian went up 2-0 in the first after a takedown. Ragan inched closer in the second period after scoring on the shot clock. Then with under 30 seconds left Ragan scored with a crotch lift and held on for the one-point victory.
Clodgo, competing in her first World Championships on the senior level, fell in her first match to Katerina Vidiaux Lopez of Cuba 11-6. Clodgo struck first with a takedown to go up 2-0. The Cuban would get a step-out point to make it 2-1, which is how the first period ended. In the second period Lopez broke the match open with a takedown and then a four-point throw to go up 7-2. Another takedown for Lopez made it 9-2. Clodgo had a later rally, scoring off a takedown and gut wrench turn to make it 9-6. Then in the closing seconds Clodgo tried a desperation thrown and was taken down to lose by five. Clodgo was knocked out of the tournament when Lopez fell in her next match to Japan's Risako Kawai.
"It was an honor to be able to represent the U.S at our home tournament," said the 25-year-old Clodgo. "I do wish I did better and I do have higher expectations for myself. Luckily I have plenty of things to work on and know what I need to do for the future and 2016, but was definitely an honor to be representing the U.S."
Thursday's final session begins at 6:30 p.m. PT.
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