Tony Ramos won the challenge tournament at 57 kilos, and will now face Sam Hazewinekl (Photo/Larry Slater)Dustin Kilgore, who did not compete at the U.S. Open due to injury, won the challenge tournament at 97 kilos, knocking off David Zabriskie in the quarterfinals, Cayle Byers in the semifinals and Deron Winn in the finals. Against Winn, Kilgore scored a takedown in each period to pace him to a 5-1 victory. Tonight he will square off against Olympic gold medalist Jake Varner in the best-of-three finals.
Zack Rey bounced back from a fourth-place finish at the U.S. Open to win the challenge tournament at 125 kilos. In the semifinals he avenged a loss from the U.S. Open by defeating second-seeded Tyrell Fortune, 6-1. In the finals Rey was dominant against surprise finalist Nick Gwiazdowski, who upset top-seeded Dom Bradley in the semifinals. In the finals Rey raced out to a 5-0 lead after the opening period, and then added two takedowns in the final period to win 9-3.
In the women's freestyle competition, U.S. Open runner-up Victoria Anthony was dominant in Saturday's opening session as she reached the best-of-three finals at 48 kilos. In the semifinals she won by technical fall, 12-1, over WCWA national champion Emily Webster. Then in the finals of the challenge tournament she used an inside trip to earn a second-period fall over Olympic bronze medalist and World champion Clarissa Chun. Anthony, a four-time WCWA national champion, was leading 11-0 at the time of the fall. It was Anthony's second straight win over Chun. The previous meeting came in the semifinals of this year's U.S. Open, a match Chun controlled before Anthony used a late headlock to steal the victory. Anthony's best-of-three finals opponent will be two-time World bronze medalist Alyssa Lampe.
Olympian Kelsey Campbell, who missed the U.S. Open, won the challenge tournament as the No. 5 seed at 58 kilos. Her challenge tournament finals victory came over sixth-seeded Jacarra Winchester, 6-2, in a match that saw a controversial finish. Campbell was leading 4-2 in the second period before a late flurry in which Winchester nearly scored two points, but instead it was Campbell who received the two points and earned the victory after the challenge. Tonight Campbell will meet U.S. Open champion Alli Ragan in the best-of-three finals.
Veronica Carlson and Julia Salata will meet in the best-of-three finals at 69 kilos in women's freestyle. U.S. Open champion Randi Miller did not weigh in on Friday, which means no wrestler in the weight class earned an automatic berth in the best-of-three finals. Carlson crushed Kayla Aggio 9-0 to reach the finals. Salata edged Tamyra Mensah, 8-7, in her semifinal victory.
Tonight's best-of-three finals are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. CT.
Day 1 Best-of-three finals matchups
Men's freestyle:
57 kilos: Sam Hazewinkel vs. Tony Ramos
97 kilos: Jake Varner vs. Dustin Kilgore
125 kilos: Tervel Dlagnev vs. Zack Rey
Women's freestyle:
48 kilos: Alyssa Lampe vs. Victoria Anthony
58 kilos: Alli Ragan vs. Kelsey Campbell
69 kilos: Veronica Carlson vs. Julia Salata
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now